Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786301558303
Format: NTSC
ISBN: 6301558308
Label: Kartes Video Communi
Manufacturer: Kartes Video Communi
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Kartes Video Communi
Release Date: 1987-02-13
Running Time: 93
Studio: Kartes Video Communi
Theatrical Release Date: 1953-10-07

Customer Rating:
Summary: Sturdy seafaring yarn
Comment: Botany Bay is based on a novel by Nordoff and Hall ,the writers responsible for that oft filmed tale The Mutiny on the Bounty .The movie in some rspects is a scaled down version of that tale with some of the same ingredients -long sea voyage ,tyrannical captain and exotic locations .What it lacks is the mythical dimension that gives the Bounty movies their extra interest
Alan Ladd plays Hugh Tallant ,a medical student in England,who is unjustly convicted and sentenced to transportation to the new penal colony in New South Wales,Australia.On the voyage he clashes with the sadistic skipper Captain Paul Gilbert(James Mason)both over Gilbert's martinet authoritarianism and disciplinary style but also over a woman ,Sally Munro(Patricia Medina)to whom both are attracted

The voyage to Botany Bay is eventful-floggings and canoodling ,not to mention an outbreak of plague all add to the interest .Nor are things much betetr when they eventually get there as the Aborigines harry the settlement at every opportunity

Ladd and Medina are Okay -nothing more .Cedric Hardwicke is fine as the governor but James Mason takes the acting honours .Mason shot to stardom in the UK in the 1940's playing sadistic types in movies like The Seventh veil and The Wicked Lady and the role here is a reprise of such parts .He did them very well and he dominates all his scenes

The action is brisk ,the colour is beguiling to the eye and if you want a lean slice of sea going action this will do nicely .It just lacks that little extra to be a minor classic of its kind

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: A boring sea adventure.
Comment: Based on a novel by the team of Nordhoff and Hall, this dreary film was an obvious attempt to duplicate the success of MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY, also based on a novel by the same duo. Since, like its predecessor, it involves a long sea voyage with a sadistic captain, it can't miss, right? Unfortunately, the resulting film is very dull and is only partly redeemed by good performances, but even James Mason cannot quite save it.

---