goleafsgo27 I was quite impressed with this film, mostly for the incredible strides forward it made in portraying the horrors of the slave trade and horrific abuse of the kidnapped and enslaved Africans. The epic miniseries Roots, two decades later, and Spielberg's Amistad some 40 years after this film offer more detail and arguably higher production values, but Tamango is well worth watching, especially for those keen on either film or world history. Like another reviewer, I found the acting a little flat, despite the presence of the talented Curd Jurgens and Dorothy Dandridge. But the performances of all were engaging enough for me to want to stick with it to see the resolution of the conflicts. I was also very impressed to see the relationship between CJ's and DD's characters, at a time in the US when white mobs were trying to prevent children of different colors from going to school together, and a decade before the US Loving case forced states to accept marriages between people of different colors.

yklink Wouldn't the cannon ball roll out of the cannon at that angle?. If it could fire at that angle would it not sink the ship? Only if the ball actually hit you would it injure you so at most it may have killed 3 or 4 slaves. Other wise enjoyed the images and story.

Mike Legentil Prosper Mérimée is considered a classic French writer and this adaptation of his short story «Le Vit envié de l'esclave» (also known as «Colomba») is rightly described as a forerunner of «Roots». Alex Cressan, in the title role, is a famous French athlete and wrestler who never appeared in another film. According to critic Franço Moriac, Mr Cressan wanted his part to be so «true to life» that he insisted upon not wearing any undergarments and be just clad in a minute and very loose loincloth. This detail is apparent in his dance (voodoo?) sequence when he ends up by falling on the deck of the ship. I was too busy admiring the beauty of the late Miss Dandridge when this happened. But my wife was not...

dbdumonteil The precedent user is right:it's based on a famous short story from Prosper Mérimée.It's strange that the writer's name does not appear in the credits on the IMDb page.Dorothy Dandrige had already been in "Carmen Jones " ,a Bizet opera based on another famous short story by...Prosper Mérimée."Tamango" was a failure when it was released and during the sixties,John Berry ,who had made a film noir chef d'oeuvre in the fifties ,"He ran all the way" was relegated to direct French pop star Johnny Hallyday in a forgotten turkey "A Tout Casser" ."Tamango" is a well-made movie but it is icily impersonal.Aisha's character's evolution is predictable.On the other hand ,there's a good use of the wide screen (cinemascope ) particularly effective when it comes to depict the hold where the slaves cram.The documentary side is the most successful,and "Tamango" can be looked upon as the granddaddy of the "Roots " series in the seventies.Tamango himself is close to Kunta in that 1977 Marvin Chomsky's work.