by Turner Home Ent
Sales Rank: 41978
Price: $11.49
Romance & adventure for a man trying to build a railroad in south america. Studio: Turner Hm Entertainm Release Date: 05/22/2007 Starring: John Wayne Sir Cedric Hardwicke Run time: 129 minutes
Viewer Reviews The UK movie magazine Empire ran a feature a year or so back on "The most under-rated actors in movies ".Kevin Bacon "won" and John Wayne came second ,the article going on to point out that he was often dismissed as a "star" and a "presence"rather than an actor.It is a valid point and for my money one area where he especially excelled was in playing "driven" men -those keen to get things done at whatever price .He showed this talent in two undeniable classics -Red River and The Searchers .Tycoon is nowhere near to being a classic but it does enable the Duke to show this facet of his talent to good advantage
He plays an engineer,Johnny Munroe ,entrusted with the task of building a trans -Indian railroad and not unduly fussy about methods ,driving his work force long and hard .He does not let his obsession prevent him from amorous dalliance with Maura (Laraine Day )who just happens to be the daughter of his boss Frederick Alexander (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) who objects to Munroe over both the courtship of his daughter and the draconian methods Munroe applies .Conflict is inevitable and a bitter spirit enters his soul driving him to even further levels of obsession
Wayne is fine and there is solid back up from Hardwicke and Judith Anderson with a young Anthony Quinn as a devious baddie .Day is a little flat but the love scenes with Wayne she her raise her game -it was reputed they were an off screen item as well
The script by Borden Chase and John Twist might politely be described as funtional and it really needed a stronger director than studio hack Richard Wallace to drive the movie forward .The action is plentiful and well staged with an especially good storm scene and the Technicolor photography is splendid
A solid slice of vintage Hollywood hokum is the result of all this .It is enjoyable and entertaining but not quite top drawer Duke or top drawer movie making either
