Counterplot (1959)

Really Surprised!

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

This IS a boring film, particularly in the beginning. I had read all the reviews posted here before watching it. If there IS a guy named Dutch in the film, why does his accent have to sound like a Dutchman? Maybe it was Fritz one reviewer was referring to. Fritz spoke English really good. Now the little Puerto Rican boy, he was something else. He spoke in broken English, but should have been coached to not make perfect Rs and Ts when he spoke, thus sounding more like a kid who couldn't speak English very well. I agree whole-heartedly with the reviewer who pointed out that a man was murdered by softly tapping his head on the floor three times. The film editor must have forgotten to cut out every other frame at that point to make it look like his head was hitting the floor hard. I gave this film a 3 because after reading the other reviews, I was ready for a terribly boring film. I felt the film could have been a lot more so... boring.

One reviewer calls this a 'gobbler of the highest order' and another 'an irritating bore'. Yet, oddly, another refers to the film as a 'classic'! So what is this film--a bore, a gobbler, a classic or something else? There are quite a few clues that "Counterplot" is a very low-budgeted film. A major indicator is the filming location of Puerto Rico. It's a nice place (I've been there a couple times) but it's not the sort of location you'd think of for an action-adventure film. Forrest Tucker was a fine enough actor, he was NOT a leading man. Having a supporting player play the lead is some indication of the money behind the picture. And, aside from Tucker, no one in the film is anyone the average viewer would recognize.As far as the plot goes, Tucker's character is in hiding. He is accused to killing a man, though what actually happened is quite different. A guy cheated him and when Tucker confronts him, the guy tries to take a poke at him and Tucker knocks the snot out of him and leaves. In the meantime, in a TERRIBLY PERFORMED SCENE, someone else kills the guy by softly smashing his head on the floor three times (it was SUPPOSED to be hard but the actor did it with so little conviction and energy it made me laugh). So, it's up to Tucker to prove someone else did it. However, I've got to be honest with you, I really didn't care. The two reviewers who hated this one were correct--the movie was unmercifully dull and put me (literally) to sleep.

What a disappointment this film turns out to be. It starts off slowly and the viewer keeps hoping something will happen - it never does! The thin plot is hardly worth the effort, the dialogue is stilted, the acting generally wooden, and the production values poor. The Dutchman must have the worst accent ever committed to film, and the whole thing is a total drag. In fact, the only reason for scoring any points at all for this borathon, is the presence of the beautiful Allison Hayes. Though even she cannot lift this sad effort off the floor, and it simply drifts along to a totally boring & unimaginative conclusion. Put quite simply - give it a very wide berth!!

Definitely a classic of the B-movie genre. Director was the man who discovered a young Joe Yule...who went on to achieve great fame as Mickey Rooney. This film was shot on location in Puerto Rico. Forrest Tucker, already a busy Hollywood actor, had an opportunity to play a romantic lead in this picture, and took it. Also starring as his love interest, Connie, was the beautiful Allison Hayes, who eventually went on to assume the mantle of B-movie cult royalty playing the eponymous role of the "big girl" in "Attack of the 50-Foot Woman". The part of Manuel, friend to the accused man, is played by talented New York newcomer Jackie Wayne, who was just coming off a 2-year run in the Broadway musical "Damn Yankees".