Sea Fury

Most well-known for his performances in a handful of John Ford movies, Victor McLaglen was one of the great character actors to come out of Hollywood's Golden Age. In the Ford movies, his theatrics were often a little too much, a little too jokey for my liking, but it doesn't take away from a great career.  It was one that saw him star in over 100 movies (silent and sound), even winning a Best Actor Oscar for his performance in The Informer.  He died in 1959 from a heart attack, just a year after completing his final film, 1958's Sea Fury.

It can be sad watching actors and actresses in their last films, and for McLaglen, that's true on several levels.  In his 70s by the time this movie was made, he looks every inch of 70 if not more.  He's playing a character he often played, a rough, brawling and boozing man who's led a tough life but plans on going out kicking, not lying back in bed.  McLaglen just doesn't look himself though right from the start. What makes it worse is that through all his trademark blustering is that's nearly indecipherable, mumbling his way through lines to the point it's hard to comprehend a thing he says. The performance is far from bad, but it's not up to his standards that he established over a 30-plus year career.

Captaining the Fury II, a tugboat salvage vessel, Captain Bellew (McLaglen) leads his ship into port in the Bay of Biscay hoping to get help for his long-time first officer, severely wounded in an accident.  It's in port that he meets Salgado (Roger Delgado), a poor man who tries to set up Bellew with his very beautiful young daughter, Josita (Luciana Paluzzi). The weathered old captain tries to buy young Josita's affections with many gifts and presents, but she wants nothing to do with him, much less marry him as her father intends.  Instead, she falls for Abel Houston (Stanley Baker), a new crew member aboard the Fury, who returns her affections. Going behind the captain's back, Abel starts to see Josita, knowing that eventually everything with come crashing down. As the confrontation comes to a head, the Fury receives a radio report of a wrecked ship carrying a valuable cargo. It's a race to the wreck with a rival ship, the tension momentarily thrown by the wayside.

A film generally forgotten over the years, 'Sea Fury' is an interesting piece for several reasons. If nothing else, it is McLaglen's last film, the last chance viewers have to see him before his death a year later in 1959.  More than just that though, it's dark look at action on the high seas through the eyes of a salvage vessel (a shady occupation if there ever was one). Director Cy Endfield's film has not aged well over the years, but that could just be the print I saw on TCM. Shot in black and white, 'Fury' still is a pleasure to watch. The little, tucked away coastal village in Cataluna is idyllic, like a picture of a time long since past. The musical score is Spanish-themed, a Spanish guitar playing lightly in the background, giving a soothing feeling to the story that will not end well. More on that later.

I've made no cover-up about my dislike for the love triangle plot-line in movies, TV, books, and generally...pop culture.  It's a lazy way to create conflict among a group of characters, and is about as hackneyed a topic as one you'll come across.  If you are going to go down that route, at least do it the right way, and 'Fury' definitely tries.  It is clear from the start that Paluzzi's Josita is only going along with her father's wishes to make him happy. She has no intention of ending up with McLaglen's much older, unattractive brawler.  There's the tension because Baker's Abel clearly knows it too.  This isn't a lovey-dovey triangle where the cute girl has to decide who she'll end up with. You fear for Baker's life, knowing if McLaglen's Captain finds out, he's going to take him out.  The tension and fear is genuine, even if the execution in the end disappoints.

The three main leads -- McLaglen, Baker, and Paluzzi -- are an interesting bunch. McLaglen was the most established, Baker a rising star, and Paluzzi was fast-becoming a sex kitten on-screen.  The dynamic among the three of them drives the movie, always keeping the story flowing along.  I talked about McLaglen's performance already, disappointing for a last hurrah.  Baker is the more prototypical lead, young, handsome, and strong.  Paluzzi -- at 21 years old -- is drop dead gorgeous, plain and simple.  As an actress, she's still raw, but the potential is there.  Also look for Gregoire Aslan as Fernando, a fellow member of the crew, a young Robert Shaw as a conniving officer on board, and British character actor Percy Herbert as an insubordinate member of the Fury's crew, among others, none of whom I recognized.

The tension is there, the potential for a great ending just waiting to be tapped, and then? Nothing. Happy ending. Everyone walks off into the sunset, happy with how things turned out.  As Mr. Cynical, I Love Downer Endings, it seemed obvious to me to kill Baker's character during a dangerous salvage mission near the end (there's some great footage here of an open sea rescue, very exciting and expertly handled). Even Endfield shoots the action like Baker's Abel will be killed, but he ends up making it. Happy with his big score, Bellew gives Josita to Abel, and credits roll. It was a wasted effort in my mind only because the build-up keeps working toward a downer ending, and then pulls the rug out from under you.  Still a decent enough movie, but not nearly what it could have been.

Sea Fury (1958): ** 1/2 /****