The Americano (1955)

Two brothers have a contract to sell three Brahma bulls to a rancher in South America. They will get a fortune for these bulls--enough so they can buy a big spread of their own. Once one brother (Glenn Ford) arrives in South America, however, he finds things a bit confusing--who is who in a range war raging in the Brazilian forests? There are three different sides vying for power and Ford is left wondering just who he can trust.This is a sloppy and slow-paced film. It takes a terribly long time for anything to happen and it's just not that interesting a film. But what irritated me was how sloppy the film looked and sounded. It was supposed to be Brazil--so why was everyone speaking Spanish, not Portuguese. Too much scratchy old stock footage is used--and I have no idea why, since they actually DID go to South America to film part of the movie. In addition, I laughed when I saw an American Mountain Lion--painted black to look like a Jaguar! It was very clearly NOT a Jaguar. And, the film showed some American Alligators and one of the characters talked about the danger in the forest from Cobras--which are found only in Africa and Asia. While I don't look for perfection in a film, such sloppiness is irritating and shows a lack of regard for the audience. The same can be said in regard to the pacing--it's as if they know they had a bad film and didn't care.The worst moment in the film? It could have been when the cockatiel was ogling the woman bathing in the lagoon. However, I can't say this for sure because about 90% through the film I gave up and turned it off--it was THAT bad. And, for your information, I almost always watch all of the films I review and do this about 99.76% of the time.

The Americano (1955) ** 1/2 (out of 4) William Castle's Western is pretty familiar on many grounds but it's also a lot different on others, which makes it worth checking out. American Sam Dent (Glenn Ford) heads to Brazil to sell his cattle so that he and his brother can live better but once there he gets in the middle of a land owner (Frank Lovejoy) and a "bandit" (Cesar Romero) who are battling each other. THE AMERICANO, story wise, really doesn't offer us anything we haven't seen countless times before so if you're looking for something original then you're certainly not going to find it here. Based on story alone this film would be worth skipping but what makes it so entertaining and worth watching are the locations. The Brazilian jungle really makes for an interesting setting and I must admit that it was a lot of fun seeing some routine Western scenes "updated" for the location. How many times have we seen a scene where the cowboy must take the cattle across some water? Well, in the scene here the problem is that there are crocodiles and piranhas in the water. How many times have we seen the cowboy beat or threaten a bad guy into telling the truth about something? Well, in this film those same piranhas are used to get him to talk. I really enjoyed seeing these familiar scenes updated to the setting and throw in the Technicolor and this really makes the film worth seeing. It also features some good performances with Ford leading the way playing a good guy like only he can. Lovejoy was extremely entertaining and steals every scene he's in and Romero is also very good in his role. Castle's direction isn't anything ground-breaking but he does a good job piecing everything together and keeping the film flowing at a nice pace.

I'm a big fan of Glenn Ford, Frank Lovejoy, and Cesar Romero, but this movie goes terribly astray. One must take into account that when this movie was made, the world was less sophisticated, so the lame travelogue aspects of the first half hour were probably exciting, new, and "never-seen-before" footage. Now it is obvious, boring, and an incredibly poor job of editing some location shooting with bad stock footage. Lovejoy and Romero are both presented as smiling bad guys, with Glenn Ford and the audience left to uncover who is truly bad and who Ford should side with. Romero's character was over-the-top and annoying, while I thought Lovejoy gave a very nice, textured portrayal. That being said, I just couldn't care less about either of them, their range war, or who Ford was going to side with. He was back and forth between the two men so often, I started to get dizzy, and, remarkably, throughout most of the 90 minutes, NOTHING gets done! It's just a boring see-saw.There are murders, attempted rapes, treachery, and much thievery, but neither the script, nor the director (William Castle), generate even the SLIGHTEST bit of tension. A perfect example: In the beginning of the film, Cesar Romero is supposed to lead Ford and his bulls across a river, but warns of the Pirahna fish that will devour the bulls, so he chases a crocodile into the river downstream, the Pirahna chase after the croc, and our hero gets his bulls across safely. It is OBVIOUSLY a set-up for later, but throughout the film, they ride TWO times across the river without even pausing or "distracting" the fish, which completely undermines the set-up. The ultimate undermining shows its effect during the scene toward the end of the film where they threaten to drop the bad guy's henchman into the river if he doesn't confess. Because the Pirahna threat has been undermined throughout half the film instead of bolstered by constant tension and references, the scene becomes a hokey "convenience" that holds zero tension. It's ruined and wasted moments like that which drag the film down.The script is awful, with a banal plot that goes nowhere, generates no interest, and has a thoroughly unsatisfying ending. Speaking of the ending, we are forced to endure a painfully awkward romance between Ford and a female rancher (Theiss) who have ZERO chemistry together. Ford is lecherous and smarmy (which are not particularly enjoyable qualities in a supposed hero), but he eventually beds Theiss. Ford then sides with Theiss when everything she owns is destroyed so the bad guy can take her land. Ford & Theiss have formed a great bond and romantic relationship, right? Evidently, not, as the end of the movie consists of the evil henchman (Hoyos) that Ford has been at odds with since the beginning of the movie being killed in a boring fight scene with... CESAR ROMERO (Uhh, what was the purpose of building the "tension" and animosity between Hoyos and Ford then?)! Ford goes up against the main bad guy and kills him...OFFSCREEN! And then the movie ends without a single shot of, or reference to, Ursula Theiss, her ranch, her relationship with Ford, etc.! Ford just kills the bad guy, walks off into the jungle, The End. Huh?! Every possible plot point is tied up in the MOST unsatisfactory way. It was as if the producers went out of there way to ruin every aspect of this movie.I am being incredibly generous and giving this movie a 2 out of 10 because of solid performances by Glenn Ford, Frank Lovejoy, and the insanely sexy Abbe Lane...they did the best they could with a boring script and truly awful directing job by the usually entertaining William Castle.

The idea of giving a South American location as transfusion to an old formula doesn't really change much in this transplanted "western". Texan cowboy Glen Ford is commissioned to deliver three prime Brahma bulls to a Brazilian rancher, Frank Lovejoy, who has dreams of "Empire" even if it means ridding the area of any farmers who disturb the landscape. Nothing here in the story to suggest good or new idea, but the presence of TWO screen beauties, Ursula Theiss and Abbe Lane, do make for an occasional worthwhile focus while we romp through a variety of predicaments in the jungles and farmland of some vivid color filming. I recommend you see it just for Ms. Lane's song/dance around the wilderness campfire. Out of nowhere the jungle trek peasant workers pull out musical instruments and play as if they just finished their training of five years at Julliard. Her virtuoso performance is enticing enough to keep Caesar Romero grinning and puts Glenn Ford in the mood for something else with Ms Theiss besides the three Brahma bulls he's been courting throughout the movie. Abbe's luscious good looks and body teasing actions are not quite equal to Maria Montez in "Cobra Woman", but definitely puts her on the remember chart. Nature lovers will appreciate the throw-in shots of alligators, Parana fish, leopards, giant snakes, monkeys, exotic birds and big bugs. I kept thinking Frank Buck must be somewhere in the supporting cast.In a Brazilian nutshell the whole doesn't come close to equaling a few parts, but it's worth a look if you like beautiful ladies, and don't mind a passive Glenn Ford who seems to want it all to end as soon as possible...Maximus