That was an excellent one.

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

A Disappointing Continuation

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

In case you saw To the Shores of Tripoli, a 1942 military romance starring John Payne and Maureen O'Hara, you might assume Tripoli, a 1950 military romance starring John Payne and Maureen O'Hara, would be exactly the same movie. It's not. Neither one of them is very good, but they are quite different.Tripoli takes place in the early 1800s. Pirates in Libya fight against the Marines, and the subsequent march through the desert and battle show audiences why the first line of the USMC theme song starts the way it does. However, the movie is pretty boring, and without the forced romance between John and Maureen, it might have put me to sleep. She starts the movie involved with Phillip Reed, and it's clear she has no real feelings for him but is only after his money and his title. But, since Hollywood was pretty racist back then, it's beyond clear she won't end up with the non-white guy. There's really no suspense, and it's no surprise that she falls for the first white guy she meets.Unless this part of history or battle in particular really interests you, find yourself another war movie. There are thousands to choose from.

This would not have been worth much seeing if it hadn't been for the expedition made from upper Egypt down to Libya with hardships and sandstorms and other frustrating complications along the way by Qattara (Remember "Ice Cold in Alex?" This was 140 years earlier.). This is the realistic part of the film, and it is the more interesting for taking place in 1805 - the war in question is that against Napoleon, which is never mentioned. Maureen O'Hara is a stranded countess courted by a local prince, John Payne runs into her by chance and gets trouble with her from the start, so it seems he just seeks her out to have someone to quarrel with. It's the usual story. Their quarrel and nagging goes on throughout the film until it's time for them to focus their interest on more important matters, like a navy which doesn't want to take orders from John Payne. The military battle in the end is just the usual tearing down the whole city stone by stone after first demolishing the interiors of every palace worth some sight-seeing. Howard de Silva saves the show as an intrepid Greek captain with a company of his own, and hardly anyone of the Americans would have survived without his contribution. It was the first time the American flag was planted outside the States and unfortunately not the last time. A silly story made as spectacular as possible and saved only by history and adventure, but the music throughout is excellent.

The audience gets jipped out of seeing an interesting film because Hollywood is too busy writing checks for unnecessary production values that cost the studio a small mint.See the oxen, camels, and fake palm trees as John Payne runs around trying not to look too embarrassed wearing his marching band hat. Meanwhile, Maureen O'Hara does her spitting and grunting shtick as she scowls through the whole flick (as usual). Mostly boring with few script directions.Hollywood put a lot of effort into these silly costume adventures because the producers are all deadheads with a penchant for wasting time and money.

I have to disagree with the other reviewers of this film, in that what they thought was a plus I found extremely negative. That of course I am talking about the incredibly annoying character Countess D'Arneau played by Maureen O'Hara. The character of the Countess D'Arneau seems like it was written for a different movie, or every other action was written for a different movie. The movie therefore cannot choose which way it wants to go, sweet romantic comedy or macho manly movie about solders racing across the desert. Unfortunately it tries to do both and fails miserably. It is very possible to re-cut the film and take out every scene with Maureen O'Hara. This would leave us with a dandy little historical war film (although short). Obviously this left me very disappointed because there are so few films about the time and subject and when one is as good as this it gets ruined by Hollywoods need to put a leading lady into every film.Bottom line... Unless you are willing to fast forward through the needless drivel avoid this one. If you are willing than the rest is a well acted and well staged piece of American history.