In my quest of tracking down starring Charles Bronson features; "You Can't Win 'Em All" aka "Soldiers of Fortune" was one of the hardest to come by. In which is a bit a surprise, because it's rather an entertainingly sturdy old-fashion boy's own adventure with feverish plotting, buoyant performances and striking scenic locations on show. Think of another Bronson feature "Villa Rides" made two years before it, as the story is kind of similar but set in a different time, different place.
It's 1922 and two former U.S army soldiers Adam Dyer and Josh Corey meet under unusual circumstances, where these rivals join together as a group of mercenaries in Turkey. They're hired by a local governor for a mission through the Mediterranean, which includes transporting his three daughters and a gold shipment. This leads to a lot of devious developments occurring on the war-torn journey.
Charles Bronson and Tony Curtis simply clicked together as the two soldiers of fortune. Curtis' happy-go-lucky approach matched up well with Bronson's laconically calculated manner. Both provided many amusingly perceptive quips, as they try to out wit each other. The snappy script keeps the sharp humour and comic elements on the cards. This along side the illustratively sun-baked Turkey backdrop with its local flavour and revolutionary wars gave British director Peter Collinson an excitingly colourful frame to work with. His uniformed handling is lively, tough and sprawling in its made-up spectacles. Random opportunities knock for the characters to take up and so does the rough and tumble action. It's punchy with enough bangs for you buck, as the madcap narrative moves at a locomotive pace. Bert Kaempfert's flighty music score is a majestically sounding arrangement that suit's the film's epic framework and exotic locations. The cast also features the likes of Leo Gordon (who also penned the film's screenplay), Patrick Magee, Horst Janson, Tony Bonner and extremely beautiful Michèle Mercier.
"You Can't Win 'Em All" is an agreeably fitting and strong-willed adventure comedy escapism.
