Treasure of the Golden Condor (1953)

Great Film overall

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Jean-Paul (Cornel Wilde) is left penniless and abandoned when his father dies and his sinister uncle (George Mcready) wrongfully takes the family fortune . Jean is the rightful heir to his uncle's title and lands and he then rebels against him , the Marquis De St. Malo . Later on , he escapes to sea and goes South America along with MacDougal (Finlay Currie) . The explorers arrive in Port Rio Dulce and Jean heads to the jungles of 18th century Guatemala in search of ancient treasure , all the while plotting his vengeance . Later on , Jean encounters the Blue Lagoon . But he still finds time to fall for two beautiful women Clara MacDougal (Constance Smith) and Marie , Comtesse De St. Malo (Anne Bancroft). Nice 18th-century costumer done in grand style that provides solid escapist yarn . Contains enjoyable footage of Mayan ruins shot on location in Guatemala , rugged scenery excellently photographed in Technicolor by Edward Cronjager , larger-than-life characters played by a great main cast , but all the performance class comes from prestigious secondary actors . The central section , when the prospectors mistaken for Gods , sags a bit , but starring Constance Smith delivers the glamorous native charmer for compensation . Cornel Wilde gives a decent acting as a dashing Frenchman who journeys to the far-off Mayan hills of Guatemala hunting a hidden treasure to win his fortune , come back and claim his heritage . Being based on the popular novel ¨Benjamin Blake¨ by Edison Marshall that was adapted in 1942 as ¨Son of fury¨ by John Cromwell with Tyrone Power , George Sanders , Roddy McDowall , Frances Farmer , Gene Tierney and set in Polynesian islands . This gave Cornel Wilde one of the best of his dashing early roles . He played several adventure movies , such as : ¨Sword of Lancelot¨, ¨Omar Khayyam , ¨At sword's point¨ , ¨A thousand and one nights¨ , ¨Norseman¨, ¨The fifth musketeer and directed/acted the classic ¨The naked prey¨ ¨.The motion picture was well and compellingly directed by Delmer Davis . He was a good professional who directed all kinds of genres , such as: Romantic dramas : ¨Rome adventure¨, ¨Parrish¨, ¨A summer Place¨ ; WWII : ¨Task force¨, ¨Hollywood canteen¨, ¨Destination Tokyo¨ , Noir film : ¨Dark passage¨ , ¨The red house¨ , Historical : ¨Demetrius and the gladiators¨ and especially Western : ¨The hang tree¨, ¨The Badlanders¨, ¨Cowboy¨, ¨3.10 to Yuma¨, ¨Jubal¨, ¨Drum Beat¨, and ¨ Broken arrow¨.

Treasure of the Condor was a pretty good movie, especially when compared with the garbage being produced today. Constance White was a beautiful lady, but was very unfortunate in her life and ended tragically. I remember that Cornel Wilde performed all of his own actions...including the movie "The Naked Prey" where he is forced to run for his life through jungle, chased by savages. BUT its Macready that I am asking about. I remember his voice from radio "way back" in the 40's....am I wrong? Its a very distinctive voice, and I swear I remember it because radio was the only entertainment we had in the home. Does anyone remember this? Can anybody confer with me in this mystery? If so, please let me know. [email protected]

Cornell Wilde more beefcake than Ty Powers,Macready more menacing than Sanders (both George's claimed fame as top villains).Great to see Frances Farmer in a role later played by the great Anne Bancroft,a wonderful actress.She was more ruthless when she betrayed Jean-Paul and defying her father when he reported how they were to be tossed out of the manor due to the Marquis' treachery.This explained in Son Of Fury that Edward had killed his brother and his wife,but not included in Son Of Fury to maintain suspense.Much of the dialogue is same in both films,but prefer Guatemala to Tahiti,especially since "white men not allowed to marry Polynesian women" rule within studio system.Well,love finds a way.The final fight more brutal in Son Of Fury,but you don't want to seriously hurt your stars.Maybe Macready had some gymnastic skills,as his grandson is a gymnast from 1996 team.If George did his own tumbling,he's pretty good,especially since he got drop from a stage harness hoisting him skyward which broke and he managed to be unharmed.

I absolutely loved this film as a child. When I watched it again after 60 years it was even better than I remembered. Instead of the phony Polynesians of the earlier adaptation of the original novel Benjamin Blake (Son of Fury with Tyrone Power) the acting is excellent, and the story, reset in France prior to theRevolution makes great social comments on the excesses of the aristocracy and their vile treatment of lower classes, it includes a serious interest in science and anthropology. This is definitely worth seeing. The photography is great, and the scenes of actual inhabitants of Central America in their rituals and dancing made it ring.Cornel Wilde was perfectly fine in the role. And the old Scotsman added interest and wisdom.