Seven Thunders (1957)

Sorry, this movie sucks

Expected more

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

SEVEN THUNDERS is a long-forgotten wartime effort that shines a light on one of the darkest events to befall Vichy France. The story is set in the slums of Marseilles, where one particular district provides a haunt for Jews and British hiding out from their Nazi oppressors who are always on the hunt for them. The upshot being that the slums were eventually dynamited, by the Nazis as depicted in this movie.This film is something of a ponderous effort that could do with a bit more suspense in order to keep the slow pace from flagging. The huge tableau of characters means that it's difficult to get to know any one in particular, or indeed sympathise with the individual. Stephen Boyd has something of an action man role, brawling with a Nazi goon on a rooftop in one stand-out action scene, and the rest is a muddle of romantic moments, plot twists, and some mild horror elements. James Robertson Justice is cast against type as a sinister doctor with a fine line in murder and disposing of the bodies of his victims in the quicklime he keeps in the cellar!

Steven Boyd and his friend, Tony Wright, have escape from a German POW camp during World War II and have made their way to Marseilles, where they find temporary shelter in the shabby apartment of a sympathizer. The apartment is shabby because it's in the Old Quarter of Marseilles, and ALL of the Old Quarter is made up on tiny crooked streets and decrepit buildings.Boyd and Wright are initially intent on getting out of Marseilles and back to their own lines but things get a little complicated when Boyd takes up with a sassy blond a la gamin and Wright strikes up a friendship with a middle-aged married lady who is, like Wright himself, a Londoner. The Nazi occupiers mostly avoid the Old Quarter because it's corrupt and dangerous. Too many soldiers sneak off to the whorehouse or decide to desert or simply disappear. Boyd and a fat, ugly, unambiguously mean Nazi soldier have a clumsy fist fight on the slate roof top and somebody falls to his death. Not even THAT scene is well handled. The decision is made by the Gestapo to remove all the residents and blow up the Old Quarter with dynamite. How can Boyd, Wright, and the blond escape? DO they escape when the buildings start to blow? Guess.That's narrative thread Number One, and it's neither exciting nor suspenseful. There's a lot of banter and flirting. An air of pointlessness seems to hang over the story of Boyd and Buddies. Why don't they get on with it? Narrative threat Number Two occupies much less screen time but is far more interesting, a kind of horror story embedded in this otherwise dull production. An elderly Jewish dentist is marooned in Marseilles. He roots around and finds an entrepreneur, James Robertson Justice, who promises to see that he reaches a free country, and there will be no charge for the service. But the dentist must convert all his currency (quite a lot, actually) into gold and bring it with him for safe keeping.The old dentist does as he's told and shows up at the appointed time with a bag full of savings in Justice's apartment. All along, Justice has been brusque but now he offers his guest a glass of cognac in celebration of the occasion. Finally relaxed, the dentist asks conversationally what Justice does for a living. Fregonese's camera dollies in to make sure we realize how important this revelation is when Justice replies, "I am a murderer." Justice then explains that, having drunk the wine, the old Jew is expiring even now. He's the 96th victim. He'll be buried in the cellar in a pit of lime and will be forgotten shortly, while Justice will keep the gold and be eight thousand pounds richer. With an evil grin, Justice asks if he might hasten the dentist's inevitable demise and offers him more of the poisoned wine. A chilling scene.But the two narrative threads hardly touch one another. Boyd and troupe do the expected -- barely -- while Justice dies without adumbration in a stupid car accident.A lot of people seem to have enjoyed this rambling tale with its slight point, so you might want to give it a try.

It's 1943, and the Germans are in control of the French port of Marseilles. Although the Nazis seem to be having plenty of fun at the local bordellos, they're upset by the amount of crime in the poor part of town, and suspicious that anti-Nazi plots are hatching there. They're absolutely right. At the beginning of the film, we meet two British soldiers who escaped from a POW camp, and are hunkering down in a tiny apartment, waiting for a chance to sail to England. But they can't possibly obey orders and stay in that apartment, so they venture out, and through them we gradually meet the rest of the people in the building and the local area. There's the charming girl next door who's also a petty thief (Anna Gaylor, looking a lot like a young Jessica Lange), an ex-pat Cockney lady with a knack for self-preservation (Kathleen Harrison), a fat and vicious Nazi with an eye for the ladies, and a sinister gentleman named Dr. Martout (James Robertson Justice) who claims to be helping refugees flee the country, but may in fact be in a completely different line of work.The script skillfully weaves all these story lines together, and keeps the tension turned up throughout. Although the opening credits label this "A British FILM" shot at Pinewood, much of it is shot on location, so the city of Marseilles plays a key role. Why is this fine- looking film, with a very competent cast and arresting visuals, so little known? This is an excellent, off-beat addition to the canon of WW2 movies.

Not a stiff upper lip to be seen. Instead, French bordellos, bread sticks, wine, lust and seething emotions are on the menu as two British escapees from a German POW camp try to hide out in the occupied port city of Marseilles while waiting for a boat back to England.I say `try' to hide out, because their presence soon becomes an open secret - the Germans seem to be the only ones not in on it. And with all those friendly locals around, that's where the lust and other emotions come in – after all what's a chap to do while sitting around in a lively French city?As well as the highly original story line, other very striking features of this movie include the superb black & white filming which lovingly captures the teeming bohemian district of Marseilles. Also one can't help being struck by the astonishingly handsome cast of relatively obscure leading actors. The two British escapees in particular could have stepped straight out of a Mr Universe competition. The better known James Robertson Justice plays only a minor but memorable role.Just for sheer imagination, style and novelty, this movie stands out as a welcome variation on the wartime escape theme. By the way, don't switch off early because the Nazis provide a spectacular surprise ending.