Santiago (1956)

Later in his career, the quality in most of Alan Ladd's films dropped dramatically. Surprisingly, after his terrific performance in "Shane", it was all downhill from there...and "Santiago" is as downhill as you can go!The film is set in the late 19th century--just before the Spanish- American War. Two groups of gun-runners are trying to outmaneuver each other and take advantage of trouble brewing in Cuba. While neither guy in charge cares about the revolution, one is comic book bad (Lloyd Nolan) and his character has no depth whatsoever. Heck, had they had Bluto from the Popeye cartoons play the guy, it would have been just as realistic. As for the other, it's played by Ladd and his character is very inconsistent throughout the film--going from selfish and greedy to selfless and kind!! None of this makes any sense and it's made worse by a very weak and uninteresting script and a love interest who is less appealing than a sheep. All in all, Ladd deserved better...and you can do better.

The problem is that the heroes are supposedly fighting for the Cuban cause (against the Spanish invaders) but Cuba fell into American hands the same year;it would have been acceptable if Cash had remained an arms dealer ,just working for .....cash;but he tries to redeem himself,he's got a high moral conscience :he was a military man and he could never get over his shame,his demotion.His sense of honor is still intact and when he meets the beautiful Isabella,the rebels' Passionaria ,he is ripe for rehabilitation.If you forget history-and the "cultural"lines at the beginning-you have a watchable adventures movie which begins as a western ,continues as some kind of pirate tale and ends with a long walk through the jungle.As for Ladd,he did much worse than that :" guns of the Timberland" and mainly "Orazio e Curiazo " in which he plays like a zombie.

Santiago was one of those routine action adventure programmers that Alan Ladd's agent Sue Carol insisted on casting him instead of letting him gradually transition to character roles. But when you're married to the agent and as agreeable a fellow as Ladd apparently was during his life you can't turn your agent down so easily.This is one of the few American made films that deals with the Cuban rebellion as opposed to the Spanish-American War, not that there are that many that deal with it. The setting is Cuba in 1895 and the island which did not choose to participate in the general revolt against colonial Spain is finally getting tired of being a colony.The plot concerns two American gun runners, Alan Ladd and Lloyd Nolan who hate each other both looking to sell guns to the Cuban rebels for cash on the barrel-head. To collect they have to go to Cuba with the delivery. Along for the ride is Rosanna Podesta who is a Cuban patriot and both men are interested in her, Nolan quite cynical and open about it. It all doesn't make for a pleasant voyage to Cuba aboard Captain Chill Wills's old Mississippi steamboat used for transportation.When they're on Lloyd Nolan and Chill Wills dominate the film. Nolan who never gave a bad performance on the big or small screen is a really thoroughly rotten human being. Ladd and he have quite a bit of history between them and Ladd has excellent reason to hate his guts.No player on the planet was ever safe from Chill Wills's scene stealing antics especially as he got older and honed that particular aspect of his craft to perfection. Wills understudied Humphrey Bogart from The African Queen on how to pilot this drunken riverboat captain through the film. In a better film the Academy might have noticed this character.Lots of action comes hard and fast in Santiago. The film is nicely paced and should appeal to fans of that genre and of the players involved.

It's not easy to explain what went wrong with SANTIAGO. It has a basic good story, a top-level cast, and an experienced director; yet it lies virtually flat as a pancake as it unravels on screen. It suffers a serious failure to involve the audience in either the adventure or the romance.This picture was made by Alan Ladd's production company. To Ladd's credit it's next to impossible to see this picture. Never issued in VHS or DVD, never re-issued, difficult to ever find a listing on eBay.Leave this one alone and seek out Iron Mistress, Boy on a Dolphin, or two dozen other very good films starring Alan Ladd.