Los turbantes rojos

The adventure yarn as it used to be a long long time ago.There's the proud rebel "Sultan" (Brynner) who's fighting against the English (represented by a loyal brave generous officer-Howard- and a villain one -Andrews-).And Andrews looks the part ! As the case often happens,to hear the scenarists ,if a father is wicked,then the daughter is adorable:she's played by a decorative Charlotte Rampling ,who tells Howard -whom she's in love with of course-:"one day ,Sultan and you ,you will meet".Main interest remains the splendor of the landscapes.

THE LONG DUEL is a British adventure film about an Indian uprising in the 19th century presided over by a bandit leader played by the inimitable Yul Brynner. Watching it these days, it's clear that this is a very dated production, and perhaps the film was picked out for merciless spoofing in the excellent CARRY ON UP THE KHYBER.

However, it isn't a bad film, just not one of the best of the genre. It suffers from being overlong and too slow, with long scenes that drag out between the important bits. Still, the viewer is treated to the spectacle of Brynner doing his patented action man routine and Trevor Howard acting against him as the classic stiff-upper-lip Brit with a heart. Supporting actors include Harry Andrews as the idiot in charge, more minor roles for Hammer players including Andrew Keir, George Pastell, and the lovely Imogen Hassall, and the appearance of a surprisingly young Charlotte Rampling.

The action elements of the film are handled pretty well with the usual excitement. A set-piece attack on a train is a highlight here, as is the fiery ambush on the British barracks, but the film only really kicks into top gear at the excellent large-scale climax. Moments of occasional heart and poignancy make this worth a watch, meanwhile.

Brynner and his tribe are removed by the British (Andrews) for resettlement. He escapes and gathers other tribes together to take on the British.

A film of 2 halves. The first is baggy and messy with Brynner looking bored and uncomfortable and Howerd the only interesting character. It all picks up in the second half which is exciting and contains some strong battle scenes. A fair film but considering the cast and director, it should have been a lot better.

That's something you don't see every day . A western that doesn't take place in the United States , has no native American characters or white guys with American accents but THE LONG DUEL is undoubtedly a western that has been relocated from the American plains to British run India . Hey even most of the protagonists are called Indians and that's no coincidence .

THE LONG DUEL is by no means a terrible wretched movie but it is rather mediocre . The story as I mentioned is something that has appeared countless times where an injun war party has gone on the loose and it's up to a sympathetic calvary officer to negotiate with the dove and kill the hawk only this time the Indians are Hindus and the calvary officer is a fine upstanding spiffing chap

The production values are hardly outstanding with some very obvious studio exteriors and back screen projection and no doubt the PC fascists will have a field day when they see that most of the Asians aren't actually Asian at all but a bunch of British actors in dark make up . The film does contain some gun battles and fist fights so it's not exactly a total bore and one scene with a fugitive hiding down a well does contain some suspense . Make up your own mind as to the movies merits

"Sultan" (Yul Brynner) leads his largely peaceable tribe as the days of the Raj increasingly impose themselves on their day-to-day living. Imprisoned after a raid, they manage to break out of the fort but one of their guards is killed, This serves to galvanise the Governor (Maurice Denham) to appoint a solider tasked with apprehending this man before his disorder spreads. To that end he engages the rather unpopular but effective "Capt. Young" (Trevor Howard). What now ensues are a series of cat-and-mouse escapades as each man vies for the upper hand. The story of a principled man fighting for freedom against the oppressor is quite effective and both Brynner and Howard are on reasonable form as the two characters begin to respect each other, but the rest of the cast - especially the sterile Harry Andrews as "Stafford" and the even more curiously cast Andrew Keir as the turban-clad "Gungaram" - rather let the thing down. The (Spanish) location photography adds richness to the story and there is enough action to help us overlook a rather implausible romance between Howard and "Jane" (Charlotte Rampling) and the rather wordy dialogue that dogs this otherwise adequate costume drama. It ends in rather an underwhelming, if optimistic, fashion but I like the genre and this is perfectly watchable - just a bit long and not very memorable.