classicsoncall You almost lose track of the story whenever Gene Tierney's on screen in this picture, absolutely gorgeous with an air of exotic mystery to boot. It's curious to me how many reviewers for the film on this site take it for granted that the Nazis were behind the treachery and gun smuggling going on in the story. However, there's no mention of Nazis, no German characters, and if you didn't know any world history, you'd be hard pressed to place the action during World War II. That's a reasonably good guess however, given Pallini's (Joseph Calleia) competent dissertation on a global power's strategy to take over the world with Africa as a linchpin. The emphasis on Africa doesn't take on much significance in hindsight, but still makes for a good story.It's interesting how the writers worked a native curse into the story with that 'one man of six' will die before it's over. Then white hunter Dewey (Harry Carey) arrives and things get moving. I had to control a chuckle when Marc Lawrence first showed up here as the Arab gun runner Hammud. He's played so many villains in his career that it wasn't unusual to cast him as a foreigner, but he looked a bit out of place here. Was that supposed to be an Afro?So Gene Tierney's top billed here, but it seems to me Bruce Cabot did the heavy lifting as Commissioner Crawford, aka Bwana Mkubwa. George Sanders manages to earn respect as Major Coombes after arriving on scene with a hell-bent for leather military style before realizing he'd better switch tactics to get the most out of his people. Too bad Pallini couldn't hang around to the end of the story, he was an interesting character.I didn't think I would like this one as it first started but it had a way of working it's mystery. The finale seemed to have a contrived heroic feel to it, but after all, the good guys had to come out on top, and the Cabot/Tierney romance didn't get in the way of the story. The closing scene with Sir Cedric Hardwicke extolling the virtues of freedom loving Brits was inspiring even if a bit forced. Still, I'd rather have the Allies win the day than those pesky, invisible Nazis.

ferbs54 On the wall of my foyer hangs a framed issue of "Life" magazine dated November 10, 1941. Its front cover features a B&W photo of an impossibly beautiful, 21-year-old Gene Tierney from her new motion picture, "Sundown." Well, needless to say, I have wanted to see this film for years, but every time it pops up on one of the local PBS stations here in NYC late at night, it always seems to be in a lousy-looking 16mm print. Thank goodness I waited for this supremely crisp-looking DVD to be released! "Sundown" turns out to be a pretty well done WW2 action movie, dealing with an English outpost in Kenya, those nasty Nazis supplying guns to the natives, and a young caravan trader (Tierney) who helps the Brits out. And what a cast we have here: Bruce Cabot, George Sanders, Harry Carey and Cedric Hardwicke are their usual fine selves, and (sneeze and you'll miss 'em) Woody Strode and Dorothy Dandridge add interesting support. But it is top-billed Tierney, here in her 5th film, who steals the show. Decked out in harem girl attire for most of the picture, she really is something to behold. In her 1979 autobiography "Self-Portrait," Tierney reveals that "Sundown"''s authentic-looking locales were actually filmed at Ship Rock Hill, New Mexico, and that she couldn't stand the hot weather and the reek of camels during the shoot. She also tells us that one of the camels tried to nip her on the derriere. Finally...a camel after my own heart!

Snow Leopard Interesting settings and a good cast contribute significantly to this solid drama about intrigue in the desert during the Second World War. In features Gene Tierney in a role that, while perhaps slightly oddly cast, makes particularly good use of her elegant beauty, and also gives her a good variety of material to work with.The story starts with George Sanders, as a by-the-book British official, sent to take over a desert outpost previously run in a rather lax manner by Bruce Cabot's character. The two have to work out their disagreements over native policy while tracking down an Axis plot to supply arms to unfriendly natives. Tierney comes in as a half-Arab, half-English owner of an extensive trading network, bequeathed to her by her father. Both sides are naturally eager to have her work with them.It's a good setup, and in general it makes good use of it. There are some good action scenes, but there is also some substance in the character development and in the cross-cultural interactions. The pace is steady, though it might miss a couple of good opportunities to switch into high gear, since there is never a feeling of any particular urgency until quite close to the end.Sanders and Tierney are both in very good form, which is almost enough in itself to make the movie worth seeing. The story is good, and there is hardly a moment when something of interest is not going on.

mdmphd This early B entry into the patriotic category slapped a gorgeous young Gene Tierney on the ads and posters, but you have to wait a good time before you glimpse her, riding in a Hollywoodized camel train. Previously, we've set up George Sanders and Bruce Cabot in the desert as guys who barely get along, but must rally in the face of attack. I've seen Sanders as so many enjoyable cads that it was fun to witness a rare good guy turn. However, Bruce Cabot's allure is pretty much a mystery to me - he's base and unsubtle in comparison, but I've always felt he'd just emerged, smiling, from under a car, covered in grease and a sixth grade education. Some people like 'em that way, as did Gene's gypsy queen character. This is an action adventure filler, tho, and just as we've been warned of invading locals with guns, ready to sabotage and attack the Brits in their land, there is a final gun battle in which we must lose a main character for the good of all. This feature requires nothing more than your barest attention on a Saturday afternoon, a programmer that made whatever else it was paired with better. It was almost more interesting identifying the great supporting cast and a surprise appearance by Dorothy Dandridge in one of her first roles. A two or two and a half stars out of five.-MDM