George Sanders, Bruce Cabot, Harry Carey, Reginald Gardner and Gene Tierney star in "Sundown," a 1941 film."Sundown" takes place in East Africa during World War II, but before the U.S. entered the conflict. The British, seeking to control the African colonies, find out that the Czechs are smuggling in guns to one of the tribes. An Arab merchant's daughter (Tierney) pretends to side with the German element in order to get at the truth.I have no idea why this film is on DVD except to show the ravishingly beautiful Gene Tierney. And ravishingly beautiful she was - her looks are the best thing about this film. The film itself is boring, and the script not very good. None of the characters are really fleshed out well enough so that we care about them, with the possible exception of the Italian prisoner of war, Pallini, played by Joseph Calleia. Director Henry Hathaway manages to build some excitement into the final battle scenes.Historically, the movie is interesting, with the U.S. filmmakers taking the side of the British here. Their control in Africa wouldn't always be so appreciated.

This film had no huge stars in it, but did have a very good cast filled with excellent supporting actors AND Gene Tierney before she became a big star. With George Sanders, Reginald Gardner, Harry Carey, Bruce Cabot, Jospeh Calleia and Cederic Hardwicke, you'd expect more from the film than it actually delivered. Most of this, I suspect, is because of a second-rate script, as director Henry Hathaway was a competent and well-established man at the helm.The film is set in East Africa during WWII--just before the Americans entered the war. The Brits are trying to control their African colonies while subversive Nazi elements are trying to stir up trouble among the locals. One of the white men in the film is a double-dealer--working for the destruction of the British Empire! But, lovely Tierney, playing a sultan's daughter(!), is out to help save the day for good ol' Britain.American film makers have long sided with the Empire and the 1930s and 40s saw a plethora of pro-empire films. Nowadays, with changed sensibilities, the notion of seeing the happy black natives dying for Queen and country seems ridiculous--and it would be hard to root for either side! Still, in its day, this propaganda piece was effective in drumming up support for the British--though when seen today, the film suffers from a long-winded script and silly casting. The one bright moment in the film is the final showdown between George Sanders and the enemy agent. Too bad after such a potent scene the film just seemed to talk and talk--losing some of its punch.

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!

The story is nonsense, and Gene Tierney couldn't act, yet this Henry Hathaway-directed a adventure picture set in North Africa is solid entertainment thanks to Hathaway's no-nonsense handling of the material, Miklos Rozsa's stirring score, and its splendidly chosen largely no-star or near-star cast: Bruce Cabot, George Sanders, Harry Carey, Cedric Hardwicke, Marc Lawrence. Cabot is especially good in the lead, and his work here makes one wonder why he didn't become a bigger name. Walter Wanger produced this one, which was a big hit, and also somewhat of a hybrid, a mix of Korda-and-Sabu style exotica with Nazi intrigue out of Fritz Lang and Hitchcock, with Tierney in the Lamarr-Lamour exotic princess role. Ersatz, and never for a minute convincing, but hard to resist.