In Lonely Places: Film Noir Beyond the City

An adventure of intrigue and mystery set in Mexico

Greed, Buried Treasure, and Glenn Ford, too!

Anthony Quinn, Ray Milland, and Barbara Stanwyck in California (1947)

Jack Lemmon and Glenn Ford in Cowboy (1958)

Burt Lancaster and Lee Remick in The Hallelujah Trail (1965)

Charles Bronson and Lee Remick in Telefon (1977)

Tina Louise, Burl Ives, and Robert Ryan in Day of the Outlaw (1959)

Donna Reed and Richard Widmark in Backlash (1956)

William Holden, Glenn Ford, George Bancroft, Edgar Buchanan, and Claire Trevor in Texas (1941)

Glenn Ford and Diana Lynn in Plunder of the Sun (1953)

Take a good look at yourself! Who'd want to kiss THAT?

Patricia Medina in Plunder of the Sun (1953)

Glenn Ford and Sean McClory in Plunder of the Sun (1953)

Sean McClory and Charles Rooner in Plunder of the Sun (1953)

Glenn Ford

Diana Lynn

Patricia Medina

Jonathan Latimer

David Dodge

American adventurer gets involved in archaeological artifact smuggling and treasure hunting in Mexico.

John Farrow

Plunder of the Sun

While much of Glenn Ford&apos;s early 1950s film output are unabashedly &apos;B&apos; movies (he filled the same niche as Robert Mitchum did, at RKO), the movies are, by and large, very entertaining, and &quot;Plunder of the Sun&quot;, shot in Mexico for Warners and John Wayne&apos;s Batjac Productions, is no exception. Directed by John Farrow, this action drama offers noir elements (an ambiguous hero, a &apos;fallen&apos; woman, brutal violence, and an &apos;expressionist&apos; use of light and shadow), John Huston-like characters (reminiscent of both &quot;The Maltese Falcon&quot; and &quot;Treasure of Sierra Madre&quot;), and an actually pretty accurate look at ancient Indian civilizations that built cities with pyramids when Europe consisted of little more than tribes.

Ford is Al Colby, a down-on-his-luck American recruited by rotund Thomas Berrien (Sidney Greenstreet-channeling Francis L. Sullivan) to slip a package through Mexican customs. When Berrien unexpectedly dies, a variety of characters offers Colby money, potential treasure, or his life, in exchange for the mysterious package, which he discovers contains part of an ancient document mapping where a hidden cache of priceless artifacts is buried. Seduced by both beautiful native girl Patricia Medina, who seems involved with all the &apos;major players&apos;, and drunken American &apos;party girl&apos; Diana Lynn (doing a &apos;Gloria Grahame&apos; impression), and &apos;educated&apos; through beatings and genial lectures by the mysterious &apos;Jefferson&apos; (scene-stealing Sean McClory), Colby teeters between succumbing to the vast wealth the document promises, and &apos;doing the right thing&apos;, and turning everything over to the Mexican authorities, who legally &apos;own&apos; the artifacts. While Ford&apos;s portrayal lacks the subtle shadings of Bogart or Mitchum, he handles the moral dilemma quite well, and he certainly can take a beating! 

With much of the action filmed at actual Aztec sites, in Oaxaca, Mexico, the film has an authentic &apos;feel&apos;, is fast-paced, and very watchable.

Certainly worth a look!

Theatrical Trailer from Warner Bros. Pictures

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYTRiZDljZjctMmMzNC00MTVkLThhZjUtMjYyMTNhMzViYzJlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNzU1NzE3NTg@._V1_.jpg

While much of Glenn Ford's early 1950s film output are unabashedly 'B' movies (he filled the same niche as Robert Mitchum did, at RKO), the movies are, by and large, very entertaining, and "Plunder of the Sun", shot in Mexico for Warners and John Wayne's Batjac Productions, is no exception. Directed by John Farrow, this action drama offers noir elements (an ambiguous hero, a 'fallen' woman, brutal violence, and an 'expressionist' use of light and shadow), John Huston-like characters (reminiscent of both "The Maltese Falcon" and "Treasure of Sierra Madre"), and an actually pretty accurate look at ancient Indian civilizations that built cities with pyramids when Europe consisted of little more than tribes.

Ford is Al Colby, a down-on-his-luck American recruited by rotund Thomas Berrien (Sidney Greenstreet-channeling Francis L. Sullivan) to slip a package through Mexican customs. When Berrien unexpectedly dies, a variety of characters offers Colby money, potential treasure, or his life, in exchange for the mysterious package, which he discovers contains part of an ancient document mapping where a hidden cache of priceless artifacts is buried. Seduced by both beautiful native girl Patricia Medina, who seems involved with all the 'major players', and drunken American 'party girl' Diana Lynn (doing a 'Gloria Grahame' impression), and 'educated' through beatings and genial lectures by the mysterious 'Jefferson' (scene-stealing Sean McClory), Colby teeters between succumbing to the vast wealth the document promises, and 'doing the right thing', and turning everything over to the Mexican authorities, who legally 'own' the artifacts. While Ford's portrayal lacks the subtle shadings of Bogart or Mitchum, he handles the moral dilemma quite well, and he certainly can take a beating! 

With much of the action filmed at actual Aztec sites, in Oaxaca, Mexico, the film has an authentic 'feel', is fast-paced, and very watchable.

Certainly worth a look!

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