Based on a Hammond Innes novel, this 1957 colour production is a good deal better film than its current 6.3 score on IMDB would suggest. The film is beautifully shot (with the Italian Dolomites substituting for Alberta) and mostly ably acted by a good cast. It is that rare thing, an action/adventure film that all the family can enjoy. The plot revolves around a race against time for a dying man (Bogarde) to drill for oil before his grandfather's land is flooded by dam belonging to a mining corporation, with baddie Stanley Baker pulling every dirty trick going to stop him.When I first saw the film, I was, as others have commented, less than convinced by the mixture of accents on offer. But upon reflection, Canada at that time -especially in any boom industry- was full of immigrants from all over the world. I also thought James Robertson Justice's accent was a bit weird, but I've since heard natives from that part of Scotland for real, and it is not so far off as I originally thought.In summary this film is not at all bad, well worth watching.

Campbell's Kingdom is directed by Ralph Thomas and adapted to screenplay by Robin Estridge from the Hammond Innes novel. It stars Dirk Bogarde, Stanley Baker, Michael Craig, Barbara Murray, James Robertson Justice, Athene Seyler, Robert Brown, John Laurie and Sid James. Music is by Clifton Parker and cinematography by Ernest Steward. With only six months to live, Bruce Campbell (Bogarde) arrives in the township of Come Lucky in the Rockies to take up his grandfather's inheritance. The inheritance is a valley area known as Campbell's Kingdom, a place where Bruce's grandfather insisted to his dying day that it held oil, something which caused a major rift in the township. Bruce arrives to a hostile reception, and told that his inheritance will not be allowed to stop the building of new dam, the building of which is ethically wrong but is the source of employment for most of the townsfolk. Bruce, fragile and short of friends, is determined to prove his grandfather was a honourable and correct man and so goes toe to toe with the ruthless dam builders led by Owen Morgan (Baker). The film makers take their time to build the characters and their part in the plot. Film then deftly builds up a head of steam in the second half where we are treated to genuine thrills as dirty tricks and action sequences go hand in hand. Beautifully photographed in Eastman Color by Steward (Cortina d'Ampezzo in Italy standing in for The Rockies), film is essentially a variant on Western movie staples that saw two opposing work forces (cattlemen/farmers/railroad/stageline etc) going against each other with pain and misery sure to surface. Here it's the delicate grace of Bogarde against the brawn of Baker, and both men are excellent in their portrayals. Around them are a bunch of more than competent performers to further add weight to the character dynamics, while the art department have come up with some decent sets and model work for when the story is away from the great outdoors. It's not all convincing, but the action and effects are good value in entertainment terms, while some romance helps things along considerably; even if it ultimately leads to an irritating twist at the finale.You could maybe be irked by the lack of location based accents, and even question the ethics on both sides of the argument here as the land is set up to be raped by man, but really why let such quibbles stop your enjoyment of this immensely satisfying entertainment? 7.5/10

A potboiler for highly talented Dirk Bogarde who succeeds in making his character endearing though.A "terminally-ill" man ,who,except for one sequence in which he faints ,may seem debatable for he leads a very active (and even dangerous in the last part) life;it's all clear in the end but this ending is a bit far-fetched! Stanley Baker is cast again as the villain (because he looks so much the part?).The word "kingdom" is justified ,for it's is located in an isolated place ,where Bogarde 's granddaddy was deceived ;the villains want to buy Bogarde's heritage,but the young man wants to try and find black gold on his hermitage ,helped by an old Scottish pal,a girl and her friend .To make the matters worse ,there is a dam and the movie ,ahead of its time ,ends as a disaster movie .Not a great role for Bogarde ,but watchable all the same.

If you can accept the concept of Dirk Bogarde athletically capering all over the Canadian Rockies, fighting bad guys and winning the day - then this is the movie for you.The story revolves around a guy who has been wrongly (it turns out) diagnosed with a terminal disease. Sporting a letter from his grandfather he comes to the Canadian town to prove that grandaddy's theory of "oil in them thar hills" is correct. Grandad has died, nobody believed his story of seeing oil one day after a landslide - and to complicate things evil Stanley Baker has built a dam and wants to flood the area where Grandaddy's land is. Our hero meets up with a surveyor who supports him in his quest and the whole story revolves around whether or not they will prove that the oil exists before bad Stanley floods the land.This movie is worth watching for two things - the ending when our hero is valiantly telling the dam workers of impending disaster (when they only had to look up to see it for themselves) and the unbelievable sight of the late Sid James playing a Canadian truck driver.The story is unbelievable, but the acting is quite good. This movie obviously cost a fair bit of money to make. What a pity they couldn't come up with something better for their trouble.