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The power and the glory book5/19/2023 The comedian James Coco (already going plump at this early age) appears briefly, unbilled, in a serious role as a Mexican soldier. Another casting choice is unfortunate in hindsight. I shan't even discuss Roddy McDowall as a Mexican Indian. Similarly, Keenan Wynn (who has impressed me in many other roles) is about the most un-Mexican actor I've ever seen, and he too is miscast here. but not for one instant do we accept her as a Chicana, and this lapse is absolutely fatal to her characterisation. Even at this young age, Patty Duke was an astonishingly talented actress. Early in the story, Laurence Olivier plays a scene with a young Mexican girl. Although a big-name cast are on offer here, most of them are sadly miscast. All of the exterior scenes were very obviously shot on an indoor soundstage. Alas, it suffers from a low budget and very slow, stolid direction. television (and for cinema release in Europe, where I saw it). This version was produced by David Susskind for U.S. The 1961 version of 'The Power and the Glory' is also faithful to the novel, but is very different. although the title change suggests a cynical (and misleading) attempt to dilute the very Catholic themes of Greene's story in favour of a more 'box-office' chase drama. It's a decent movie, quite faithful to Greene's novel. Graham Greene's novel 'The Power and the Glory' got the Hollywood treatment in 1947, as a film called 'The Fugitive' (starring Henry Fonda and directed by John Ford).
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