The Pride and the Passion (1957)

1810, Spain

Napoleon has defeated Spain and placed his brother, Joseph, on the throne. During their retreat, the shattered remnants of the Spanish Army abandon the largest cannon in their possession. Royal Navy Captain Anthony Trumbull (Cary Grant) lands in Spain with plans of retrieving the giant cannon, both to aid the British efforts against Napoleon and to keep it out of the hands of the French. With the Spanish Army in disarray, he finds himself bargaining with a shoemaker turned guerrilla leader, Miguel (Frank Sinatra). Miguel agrees to assist the captain in recovering the gun, but insists it is used to liberate Avila before it can be transported to the British. Trumbull reluctantly agrees. There follows a series of adventures as Miguel's band of guerrillas battle French patrols and recruit help along the way. More importantly, Miguel's girlfriend, Juana (Sophia Loren), falls in love with the dashing British officer. Will she stay with Miguel or leave with Anthony? This is the most important question of the film.

The story is ludicrous. The idea that these guerrillas can haul this titanic gun across the countryside while not being noticed by French cavalry patrols is silly. That the French did find them in a canyon at one point and proved unable to capture the gun was unbelievable. When the gun is finally emplaced before the walls of Avila, the French just look on in amazement but don't take any offensive action. Nope, we'll just wait here on the walls. When the wall is breached, do the French have cannon ready at the breach to mow down the Spanish guerrillas? Nope.

The love triangle is no more engaging. Miguel is hard to like and Anthony is Cary Grant! Despite some great headliners in the cast, none of them give a noteworthy performance. Sinatra is bland and boring, doing little more than reading his lines off cue cards. He is not helped by a script that has him moping about Juana's growing attachment to Anthony. Some alpha male you are, buddy. Grant is similarly hampered by a clunky script that sees him lovestruck and perhaps joining this silly campaign just to stay near Juana. Though Sophia Loren did not speak English at the time and had to deliver her lines phonetically, she gets the best role here. Of course, she is the object of everyone's affection. Exactly why this woman is following the guerrillas is unclear, but she often feels like the 3rd in command.

Mediocre. Skip.

Arabesque (1966)

American Professor David Pollock (Gregory Peck) is teaching at Oxford when he is approached to translate a hieroglyph for Nejim Beshraavi.  He declines and continues on with his day.  Shortly thereafter, he is kidnapped!  Prime Minister Hassan Jena, a famous Middle Easterner, proves to be the kidnapper.  Pollock is positively predisposed to Jena and listens to his spiel.  Jena wants Pollock to accept the commission to translate and forward the results to him.  Pollock meets with Beshraavi (Alan Badel), a man who speaks with a polite pomposity but also an unmistakable undertone of threat.  Pollock has hardly begun to translate the hieroglyph than Yasmin Azir (Sophia Loren) intrudes.  She attempts to snatch the hieroglyph, but Pollock is quicker.  Soon, Pollock finds himself as a pawn in a game of international espionage.  He is unsure of whether he can trust Yasmin, but she's near irresistible.

The story is so-so and the villains mostly unimpressive.  One is seldom worried for Pollock's safety.  The villains' competence and intelligence rise or fall with the needs of the story.  Of course, everyone double-crosses everyone.  There are few loyalties, Yasmin being the least loyal of all, it would appear.  The climax doesn't make much sense.  Why kidnap Jena?  Why fly the helicopter under the bridge?  In retrospect, the plot doesn't work, but it was still fun to watch it unfold.

Gregory Peck does not quite get the role.  This was written for Cary Grant, and Peck doesn't fill those shoes.  The comedy doesn't come easily for Peck.  His drug-induced highway dance was more cringy than funny, his hangover was unconvincing, and his Eureka moment was out of character.  On the other hand, Sophia Loren is perfect for her part.  She can play the coquette, the conniver, and the femme fatale.  She also has no trouble with the comedy.  Her deadpan comment while in the shower was hilarious.

The cinematography is creative.  There are lots of shots where characters are seen in mirrors or reflected in windows, providing a split-screen effect.  There are some peculiar angles.  The oddest shot was when the characters were descending a spiral staircase but were largely obscured by an interposing crystal chandelier.  Donen was unhappy with the script but time constraints on the availability of Peck and Loren meant he had to start shooting.  As such, he tried to hide the script behind action and daring cinematography.

Good popcorn fun.