Untamed (1955) User Reviews

Splendid African Adventure

[jpdoherty · 6/10 · 26 January 2010]

Fox's UNTAMED (1955) is a splendid romantic adventure story set in 1850's Africa. Beautifully photographed in Cinemascope and DeLuxe colour by Leo Tover it was nicely written for the screen by Talbot Jennings, Frank Fenton and Michael Blankfort and was based on the novel by Helga Moray. Tyrone Power was the star and once again was directed by his favourite director and friend Henry King. Co-starring, in the pivotal female lead, was the lovely Susan Hayward. And rounding out the fine cast was Richard Egan (never better), Agnes Moorhead, Brad Dexter, John Justin and Hope Emerson. Although he was the star in two Cinemascope productions for Columbia Pictures - "The Long Grey Long" (1955) and "The Eddie Duchin Story" (1956) UNTAMED was just one of only three Cinemascope pictures Tyrone Power would appear in for 20th Century Fox, his home studio for more than 15 years. The others being "King Of The Khyber Rifles" (1953)and "The Sun Also Rises" (1957). The latter being the only one to be released on DVD. Quite unbelievably neither "Khyber" nor UNTAMED have ever been issued in any format whatsoever! WHY?

Time and place is immediately established by Susan Hayward's voice-over at the opening of UNTAMED as she informs us "This is County Limerick Ireland - the year is 1847". Hayward is Katie O'Neill the spirited daughter of rich land owner and horse breeder Squire O'Neill (Henry O'Neill). A Boer leader Paul Von Riebeck (Power) arrives from South Africa to buy some horses and after Katie causes him to be unseated from his horse during a Fox hunt ("I came to Ireland to buy horses - not to be killed by one") the two fall in love. But love isn't strong enough to hold Von Riebeck in Ireland and as a Dutch Free State commander must return to Africa to build up his country. Heartbroken, Katie later marries neighbour Sean Kildare (John Justin) and the following year when the potato famine ravages and decimates Ireland Katie and her family, along with the thousands of Irish, emigrate to Africa to start a new life. After the movie's excellent set piece of a Zulu attack on their settler's wagon train in which Katie's husband is killed she meets up again with Von Riebeck and after many eventualities, including a well staged Bullwhip fight between Paul and rival Kurt (Richard Egan), Katie and Paul finally come together for a happy ending.

Complimenting the picture throughout is the lavish music score by the great Franz Waxman.There is a rich full orchestral romantic main theme heard first under the titles and given different treatments as the story demands. Also there is a ravishing love theme for the tender scenes with Katie and Paul. Augmented by biting brass figures the Zulu attack on the settler's wagons is scored for an array of African percussion instruments and is rousingly and dramatically rhythmic. Waxman's evocative music perfectly captures the movie's complex moods of adventure, love, pathos, bitterness and jealousy. Alongside "Prince Valiant" (1954) UNTAMED is Waxman's finest adventure score!

UNTAMED is a somewhat forgotten minor epic and is possibly so because of its unavailability on either disc or tape which is something of a shame on the part of Fox Home Entertainment. But for those who are familiar with it it remains a memorable, enjoyable and colourful Cinemascope romance with two great stars in a picture that should be appreciated more and better known than it is.

Sprawling adventure epic has too much of everything and not enough solid drama...

[Doylenf · 5/10 · 11 September 2009]

Some rugged pioneer adventurers, headed by TYRONE POWER, SUSAN HAYWARD, JOHN JUSTIN and RICHARD EGAN, end up in South Africa fighting Zulus after fleeing Ireland because of the potato famine. This is one of those big sprawling Technicolor epics designed to lure patrons away from their TV sets in the mid '50s to watch spectacular action unfold against handsome landscapes.

Susan Hayward is the feisty Irish heroine who marries John Justin but has her eyes set on following her true love--Tyrone Power--to South Africa. When hubby Justin is killed in a Zulu attack, she sets her mind on winning Tyrone's hand in marriage. She has to cope with Richard Egan, who is also lusting after her. There's a very realistically staged fight with a bull whip between Power and Egan--and you know who wins. But the script has her mistreating both men, enough so to make you wonder what makes her tick. It's an oddly defined role.

The story is a sprawling one and Henry King has directed some of it with his usual skill. The supporting cast includes HOPE EMERSON and AGNES MOOREHEAD, so obviously the studio treated this one as a big epic adventure story that would look handsomely rugged on the big screen.

Hayward faces all her hardships in Scarlett O'Hara manner. "Then we'll plough and seed. And then we'll come back," she says at one point to Agnes Moorehead after the latest catastrophe. Tyrone Power spends much of his time off camera but you know he's going to be the hero who returns to help her begin a new life. She becomes a wealthy woman after bartering with a native for a hefty diamond, and meets Power again years later at the Governor's Ball. But she and Power have another stormy disagreement and the story goes on and on.

It's basically an unrewarding mixture of adventure and romance with poor character motivations and a muddled script that lacks a strong focus. Hayward does some extravagant overacting as the ill-tempered heroine, Egan has the strongest male role and Power is totally wasted.

Katie O'Neill is a very unsatisfying character

[romarub · 5/10 · 23 December 2005]

I was amazed that Katie (Susan Hayward) could be such a bitch - so self-centered, so arrogant, so unappreciative, and so willfully embroiling Paul (Tyrone Power) and Kurt (Richard Egan) in a contest over her affections - and not be justifiably rewarded, even a little, by film's end. She slaps Paul in the face, teases and flirts, then rejects, then accepts Kurt, all while being in love (?) with Paul. I found it most incredible that Paul could lower himself to the point of actually pursuing (let alone ending up with) her after she tells him that she'd married her husband and had a child with him, watched him die (without a twinge of emotion) defending her and the wagon train, and came to South Africa in the first place just so she could be near him, Paul! This woman is unscrupulous to the nth degree, and that she could avoid any degree of lasting hellfire, and could repeatedly twist the two male love interests (Paul and Kurt) around her little finger throughout the film, was wholly unsatisfying. Kurt was somewhat hotheaded, and I'd have expected him to come to the end he does. But Paul seemed more rational, and should have disassociated himself from this woman as soon as he got that slap - but didn't. Life may be unjust, but in the movies we expect to see villainy uncovered and subject to its own reward. Not only was Katie not so repaid, but the male leads looked stupid in the process for not seeing who and what she really was. Thumbs down, all around!

Taming the Veldt

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 23 December 2005]

With the end of the South African apartheid government and the events leading to that end of the past 50 years or so, Untamed was consigned to the 20th Century Fox vaults and has rarely been seen for a generation. Not that it was anything all that great to begin with.

Taken on its own terms and divorced from racial politics, Untamed is a sprawling Edna Ferber like saga of the founding of the Orange Free State and the journey of that group of Dutch settlers called Voortrekkers that made it happen. Tyrone Power is the leader of this group who has dreams of an empire. Dreams so big that Susan Hayward and their romance come in a definite second.

Power meets Hayward in Ireland where he's come to buy horses and the sparks fly at first sight. But he returns to South Africa and Susan marries good old reliable John Justin.

Later after the potato famine hits Ireland, the great Irish diaspora occurs and the Irish scatter throughout the globe. John and Susan go to South Africa and Sue not only meets Power again, but she also comes under the lustful eye of Richard Egan. Justin is killed, Sue wants Ty, Richard wants Sue, but Sue can't see him for beans.

I get the impression that there is a lot more to the original novel than what is shown here, but the story is poorly adapted. Using the comparison to Ferber, Richard Egan plays the Jett Rink part here. It's as though Jett Rink was crushing out on Scarlett O'Hara. Maybe they should have gotten Edna Ferber herself to adapt this work by another author, Helga Moray.

The action sequences are done well however. The Zulu attack on the laager is as well staged as in any John Ford western and the final battle between Power's commandos and Egan's outlaws is also exciting.

By the way the word laager is the South African term they gave for the circle of wagons that the voortrekkers made when camping for the night. We've seen many a western where they circled the wagons, but in South Africa they had a name for it. Voortrekker is the name of the Dutch pioneers who made the journey.

If you are a fan of the two leads as I am, make every effort to catch Untamed in the infrequent times it is shown.

Richard Egan takes a Dumpin' and keeps on Stumpin'

[jdjen · 21 January 2003]

I love "Untamed," but not in the same way as previous commentators. It is arguably the dumb-funniest piece of Hollywood formulaic crap every produced. Basically, Henry King remade "Gone With The Wind," set it in South Africa using standard Western gimmicks. Christ, they must have raided "Gunfight at OK Corral's" wardrobe, and cocked every cowboy hat on one side. But the joke's on them because it is such overwrought camp that I can't stop laughing. It's great! I especially love the way Susan Hayward keeps dumping, picking up, and re-dumping every sap who comes along. Plus, this chick's got to be the luckiest woman on the face of the earth. Nevermind the nasty image of her swindling starving natives by trading her worthless junk for their precious metals. Who else but a "Wild Irish Rose" stumbles upon a diamond the size of a goose-egg? And when the money runs out (no one knows why), she intrepidly sets off with her brood to mine for more gems, murderous claim-jumpers notwithstanding. Tyrone Power used this film as a practice session for "The Sun Also Rises." He's limp throughout. Richard Egan, however, is hilarious as Hayward's ubiquitous dumpee. He defends her against attacking Zulus. She dumps him. He offers to marry her. She dumps him. He plows her fields, plants her crops and builds her house. She not only dumps him again, but amputates his leg! In the end, Egan turns outlaw, still carrying a torch for Hayward. It is here that Rita Morena, the long-suffering half-breed wench, delivers the coup de grace: "...WHAT'S LEFT OF HIM IS MINE!"

Scarlett O'Hara crosses the veldt: big, enjoyable hokum

[rfkeser · 7/10 · 27 November 1999]

Everyone works hard to make this grand-scaled hokum as enjoyable as possible. As a redheaded Irish spitfire, Susan Hayward finally gets her chance to play Scarlett O'Hara, but packs all her chiffons and crinolines [with matching shoes and stockings] in a covered wagon and sets off to cross the veldt with wise Agnes Moorehead and a cast of thousands [well, hundreds]. She's chasing Tyrone Power across South Africa, although he's something of a stiff, but she also loves hearty Richard Egan. The script stuffs in everything from a fancy dress ball to an emergency amputation. Henry King directs it all with some intensity, especially a harrowing and spectacular Zulu attack, and uses the wide screen well to capture the spaciousness of the land. Should be seen on the big screen at least in letterbox].

Irish lass journeys to South Africa during the 1850s to reconnect with lost love,

[snicewanger · 6/10 · 29 August 2015]

20Th Century Fox produced and released some epic motion pictures in Delux Color and CinemaScope in the 1950's such as The Robe, The Egyptian.Untamed was one such movie with would be advertised as monumental and sweeping in it's scope.. The story of a young women named Katie O'Neill Kildare born of the Irish landed gentry who loses everything in the Irish Potato Famine of 1847. She and husband Sean migrate to South Africa and join Boar pioneers to become part of the Great Trek and help settle the Orange Free State.

Susan Hayward was queen of the 20TH Century Lot at that time and got first pick of any of the roles that the studio had available. She hoped Untamed would be her Gone With the Wind and any resemblance between Katie and Scarlett O'Hara is purely intentional.Fox matinée idol Tyrone Power is Boar military commander Paul Van Riebeck who is sort the Ashley Wilkes of this tale and Katie pursues him as Scarlett pursues Ashley.Richard Egan portrays Kurt Hout a Boar settler who is in lust with Katie and is always more then willing to play the chump for her. Agnes Moorehead and Hope Emerson were two of my favorite Hollywood...er.. ah...actresses and their involvement in any film always upgraded it's quality.

Veteran director Henry King was 20TH Century Foxes top drawer helmsman and a personal friend of Powers. He ha also directed Hayward in several of her best films.King kept the story very visual.

Untamed starts out with a bang.Paul Van Riebeck comes to the O'Neill Estates in Ireland to purchases horses from Squire O'Neill , Katie's father.Paul and Katie dislike each other at first so you know that they will soon passionately in love with each other. Paul can't let his feelings for Katie interfere with his duty to his cause so he returns to South Africa to resume his mission, leaving Katie heartbroken. Like Scarlet, Katie just isn't used to being dumped by a man.So it's not surprising that when the opportunity presents itself shes off to South Africa with her husband and child in tow to... start anew.

For me the best part of Untamed is the trek and the Zulu attack. This segment is dramatic, exciting and beautify filmed. After the Commando's rescue of the wagon train,however, the story slides into soap opera and becomes fairly predicable. A good film for Hayward and Henry King fans with one of Egan;'s better performances and of course Agnes Moorehead and Hope Emerson.

UNTAMED (Henry King, 1955) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 3 December 2008]

This is surely one of the Tyrone Power vehicles that's most shown on Italian TV (in fact, it was re-proposed just last week) – but I'd somehow never bothered to watch it. Having had a recording of the film for some time, I now opted to check it out as part of my brief tribute to the popular matinée idol on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his untimely demise. Well, I must say that I really enjoyed the film for reasons I'll get to later – which makes its absence on DVD more than a little baffling; incidentally, it was the tenth of Power's eleven collaborations with director King (the following effort, THE SUN ALSO RISES [1957], is perhaps the one I'd love to watch most of the star's remaining titles) as well as the second and last in which Power is co-starred with Susan Hayward (after the excellent suspense Western RAWHIDE [1951]).

Anyway, the film is an interesting (and mainly successful) mishmash of genres: part offbeat Western (with a wagon train beset by Zulus rather than Indians!), part epic adventure (even if the widescreen aspect ratio in the edition I watched wasn't quite the full 2.55:1 format of its original presentation), and part 'woman's picture' (despite Power's top billing, he's off-screen for long stretches at a time, so that Hayward emerges as the real protagonist – given also that she's involved with three men and undergoes many a hardship during the course of the film). While the plot is thoroughly predictable (and, yet, therein lies part of its appeal), it's made with the customary professionalism one associates with the golden age of Hollywood; thus, we're treated to a handsomely-shot large-scale entertainment – complemented by a fine Franz Waxman score which goes from lush to emphatic or rousing, depending on the mood of any given scene.

Among the undeniable highlights in the episodic narrative (which spans several years) are: the opening fox hunt in Ireland, which sees hero and heroine alternating between squabbling and loving; the afore-mentioned ambush of the 'pioneers' in which Hayward's staid husband John Justin is killed; Power (who neglects Hayward through his struggle for the Boers' independence) engaging in a whip-wielding duel with his romantic rival and former best friend Richard Egan (himself lusted after by a young Rita Moreno); Egan having his leg crushed by a tree he's trying to fell (symbolizing Hayward's affair with Power) during a thunderstorm; and the climactic clash between bitter, peg-legged Egan's outlaws and the natives led by the obviously virtuous and rugged Power. The finale, then, has the hero relinquishing (not without a certain remorse) his political career to make up to the long-suffering heroine – especially since their past dalliance had borne him a son (with whom he also shares his name) he was unaware of.

Not as epic as intended

[HotToastyRag · 4/10 · 2 August 2018]

For some unknown reason, Susan Hayward falls in love with Tyrone Power, but he's in love with South Africa. He has the beautiful, incredible Susan Hayward in his arms and he wants to leave for South Africa? In any case, he feels his calling, and he plans to travel there from Ireland. She declares her love and says she'll marry him and go with him. The next day, he leaves without her. How mean and hurtful! How are we supposed to root for him?

Years later, Susan is seen sailing into South Africa, married and with a child. This was her great plan: to marry someone else, bear his child, and then reunite with Tyrone to prove how much she's loved him all these years? How are we supposed to root for her? Neither of the leads are nice people, and their motivations are really tough to get behind. It's clear someone wanted this movie to be a lush, love triangle epic, but the end result hardly succeeded. Try Elephant Walk if you want a similar setting with better characters.

Romance/adventure movie set in 19th century South Africa , with plenty of fights , emotion , thrills and breathtaking battles

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 11 August 2020]

A stirring movie set in South Africa in the turbulent late 19th century , this is an African colossal with top-drawer cast . Stars Susan Hayward that in ¨I Want to live¨ , ¨The Snows of Kilimanjaro¨ and Tyrone Power that in ¨King of the Khyber Rifles¨, ¨Witness for prosecution¨ both of whom caused sensation , here in their most exciting roles . The story of a love that was greater than honor and race ; and a courage that stood alone against the fury of native rebellion on the veldt . Set in South Africa , half-legend , half-land ...alive and wondrous thanks to spectacular outdoors through the magic of sterophonic sound , big screen , and anamorphic lens . The great African landscapes , thundering path of empire, the fanatic rebels and the hordes of hundreds of Zulus . And the crowning spectacle of the woman who carved a saga of battle and love across the impressive African savannah . In 1847, when the great potato famine hits Ireland , due to this an Irish diaspora takes place , as hundreds emigrate other countries as America and South Africa . That's why among those leaving the Emerald Isle are Katie O'Neill (Susan Hayward) and her husband (Jon Justin) forced to flee and deciding that the promised land is South Africa and make their way there . Once there, they aboard a wagon train with several travellers fighting to establish the Dutch Free State . Along the way , they find out the hardships that are the reality of the homesteader experience on the veldt .Things go wrong and to complicate matters , Katie meets up with the love of her life , her old flame called Paul van Riebeck (Tyrone Power) who results to be the leader of a Dutch commando group .

An overwhelming period adventure with a cast of thousands and breathtaking battles . It is a rousing , moving , romantic tale , but rough-edged fare in ¨soap opera¨ treatment . Dealing with interesting issues , such as emigration to the troubled South Africa , imperialism , colonialism , racism and a loving triangle among an intimate trio : Tyrone Power/SusanHayward/Richard Egan . In a way , the flick is similar in vein to a Western , but transplanted in a South Africa setting . Susan Hayward outstands in an overacting , as usual ; she excelled herself in all kinds of melodrama , here is outrageously superb as what one critic wrote : a kind of Scarlett O'Hara on the veldt . Co-starts Tyrone Power as her love interest , being one of Tyrone's later movies , a bit later on , he would die while shooting in Spain : ¨Salomon and Queen Sabah¨ directed by King Vidor , being replaced by Yul Brynner , but still within his tradition of making adventure movies which spanned around the world . Power plays with some sensitivity and bravura the tough captain who commands a group of rebel Dutch . Tyrone Power gives a nice acting , as always .Tyrone seems to be more serious than the Swashbucklers or pirate movies he played when his good looks and swordmanship were both at their peak and much competition with Errol Flynn in the adventure stakes , such as : ¨Black Swan , The Zorro , Prince of Foxes , Captain from Castile and The Black Rose¨ . These enjoyable films were all well played by Power who was nearly at his most agile and deft style , as he starred various ¨Sword and Swagger¨ films and was superstar of Hollywood swashbucklers . Main starring are well accompanied by a frankly good support cast giving strong but brief performances from : Richard Egan , John Justin , Agnes Moorehead , Rita Moreno , Hope Emerson, Brad Dexter, Henry O'Neill , Robert Adler , Kevin Corcoran , among others .

It packs a colorful photography in Technicolor , in color de Luxe. Lavishly produced by Twentieth Century Fox Film Company , being enhanced by brilliant and glimmer cinematography by Leo Tover . Thrilling as well as sensitive musical score by maestro Franz Waxman . The motion picture was well directed by Henry King who was for many years associated with 20th Century Fox . He was an expert on adventure genre , a really versatile and reliable filmmaker of general entertainment movies . As Henry made ¨Stanley and Livingstone¨ , assisted uncredited in ¨Son of Fury¨ , directed the masterpiece : ¨The black swan¨ , and ¨Prince of Foxes¨ , the Biblical : ¨David and Bathseba¨ , ¨The snows of Kilimanjaro¨ and ¨Untamed¨ . As well as ¨Lloyd's of London¨ and ¨In old Chicago¨ .Rating : Decent adventure 6,5/10 . The flick will appeal to Susan Hayward and Tyrone Power fans .

Familiar ingredients with a new and unusual locale...

[moonspinner55 · 4/10 · 24 June 2010]

Farmers throughout Europe, unsuccessful with their returns, journey to South Africa to take advantage of the free and fertile land, but must pass through hostile Zulu territory first. The wagon train sequence will be familiar to any western fan: it's the Settlers versus the Indians all over again, with the Zulu tribe on the attack and out for blood (we don't even know why they are so hungry for war). Susan Hayward plays a farmer's wife from Ireland who ends up widowed and caught between two men who desire her, Tyrone Power's leader of the Boer Fighter Commandos and Richard Egan's hot-blooded homesteader. Four screenwriters adapted Helga Moray's novel, but none were able to lift this one out its vat of musty clichés. The picture does look good in widescreen and vivid color, yet the characters are neither likable, sympathetic, nor interesting. ** from ****

***1/2

[edwagreen · 9/10 · 13 June 2016]

It takes the great Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s to drive Susan Hayward and her new husband along with their baby out of Ireland and having heard all about South Africa from the dashing Tyrone Power who had previously visited her father, they embark there.

Of course, Hayward conveniently meets up with Power there and decides to get free territory there. How convenient that Sean, her husband, gets killed and Hayward is left to become impregnated by Power.

Power, as the leader of the Free Dutch has no time for Hayward and she then falls for Richard Egan, the heavy in the film. Rita Moreno is as fiery as ever but is given little to say or do here. Her jealousy of competitor Hayward is from the moment she sees her.

Power learns of his son and Egan, now as evil as they come, still wants Hayward.

The lavish cinematography and endearing story make this one interesting film.

Unsuccessfully strives for epic grandeur

[AlsExGal · 6/10 · 24 January 2023]

CinemaScope adventure melodrama from 20th Century Fox and director Henry King is set In the mid-19th century, where feisty Irish farmer's daughter Katie O'Neill (Susan Hayward) moves with her family to South Africa to escape the Potato Famine. They join up with a large wagon train of settlers trying to establish a Free Dutch State in the African veldt. The settlers are led by the visionary Paul Van Riebeck (Tyrone Power) and the hot-tempered Kurt Hout (Richard Egan), and soon Katie is in a love triangle between them as they fight off hostile natives and political differences to make a new home for everyone. Also featuring Agnes Moorehead, Rita Moreno, Hope Emerson, Henry O'Neill, Brad Dexter, Kevin Corcoran, and Paul Thompson.

Shot on location in the South African wild, the scenery is beautiful and director King fills the screen with lots of activity. Power gets to give several speeches about "making the land free for all" which seems to translate into "we settlers should be able to live wherever we want and the natives just need to live with it." That kind of colonialism can get grating after a while, despite my efforts to separate the era of both the story and the movie itself. Hayward gets to do her patented strong survivor shtick, while Power looks bored and Egan seems intent on chewing up everything not tied down. The movie strives for epic grandeur but ends up just a forgettable time-waster.

The South African Scenery Wins!

[JohnHowardReid · 5/10 · 24 July 2017]

I'm sorely tempted to side with two of the previous reviewers and give this movie a nil rating, but it's not really all that bad!

Copyright 1955 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Roxy: 11 March 1955. U.S. release: 3 March 1955. U.K. release: July 1955. Australian release: 4 August 1955. 111 minutes. Censored to 109 minutes in the U.K.

SYNOPSIS: Katie O'Neill (Hayward) meets Paul Van Riebeck (Power), a South African Boer bigwig, when he comes to Ireland to buy horses. They fall for each other, but Paul does not want to get married until he establishes a Boer state in South Africa.

COMMENT: Impossibly trite. For once it's easy to choose the movie's worst feature. The banal script wins hands down over the hammy and amateurish acting and the consistently lackluster direction. The plot is, to say it as kindly as possible, such utterly ridiculous tosh, even the most unsophisticated audience would laugh it off the screen. It's also racist and badly dated. If were not so laughably unbelievable, it would have been blandly offensive. What passes for characterization are actually the most superficial and poorly motivated of cardboard figures. Even worse is the dialogue which for sheer banality and lack of drama would be difficult to match.

Admittedly, the story, poorly motivated though it is and proceeding in a series of fits and starts, does lay on a bit of action and it is set against some awesome and fascinating backgrounds. But the actors were handed an impossible task to bring warmth and sympathy to such posturing, paste-board characters. Susan turns on all the synthetic mannerisms at her command; Egan grimaces and rants; Power just says his lines. The support cast players have little impact.

King's direction is dull and even some of the action scenes are limply staged. The film runs on and on, seemingly without end. Despite some obvious back projection, the locations rather than the actors or the story, make the most impression.

King of the scope.

[dbdumonteil · 21 December 2001]

Henry King is ,par excellence, the director of the storybook works.The titles speak for themselves,particularly in this phase of his career ,the fifties:"the snows of Kilimandjaro" (1952),"love is a many splendored thing"(1955)"The sun also rises" (1957) and "tender is the night" his final effort (1961).All these movies feature some of the most beautiful actresses that Hollywood has ever known:both Hayward and Gardner in "kilimandjaro" ,Gardner alone in "sun" ,Jones in "love" and "night".

Susan Hayward is the star here.She plays a bold and impetuous heroine,a la Scarlett O'Hara,with whom she shares the Irish blood.Like her,she's always compelled to pick up the pieces and she does it with persistence. Like her she becomes a merry widow very soon.Tyrone Power( one of King's favorites:"Llyod s of London (1936)"captain from Castille (1947)"prince of foxes"(1949)and finally the impotent officer in "sun also rises")is the noble hero,full of panache.His parts look like each others in King's movies.Richard Egan has the only ambiguous role:generally cast as the villain ,he shows a friendly side in the first part.

But what matters is the cinematography:using the cinemascope as few can do,Henry King work wonders when it comes to directing movements in the crowd:the Zulu's attack ,with its splendid panoramic shots displays an extraordinary sense of space.A gigantic African western in which the Zulus play the part of the Indians.Another sublime plan :the tree struck by lightning during the fight Heyward/Egan.

Detractors will say that psychology is not King's forte:they simply do not understand that the interest does not lie in the characters but in their confrontation to a hostile environment .Actually the beauty of the landscapes enhance the characters who've got to rise to the occasion.

In 1992,Ron Howard casts Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise in "Far and away".OK they sail for America,but they are Irish and they start over in a new land.Nothing really changes.

WAGON TRAIN TREKS SOUTH AFRICA. PRISTINE WEIRD DRAMA.

[fionastaun · 6/10 · 12 September 2020]

Susan Howard sets off to farm South Africa in lovely clean outfit. Stays clean all the way through. The Zulu is magnificent. Tyrone Power acts like a stick of celery.

Films like this is what Cinemascope was made for.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 1 April 2024]

The title of the film describes two things, the land and the heroine Susan Hayward, in one of her most tempestuous parts. Since she auditioned for, and did not get the role, of Scarlett O'Hara, this is her chance to play a similar part. As a high spirited Irish lass, Hayward sets her sights on adventure Tyrone Power, but is rejected and instead marries John Justin. They head to South Africa to settle down and buy land (where Power had earlier left for), but circumstances change her availability, and she finds herself torn between Power and the rugged Richard Egan, leading to tension and lust among the African heat.

Fans of the movie "Caged" will be delighted to see the reunion of Agnes Moorehead and Hope Emerson, this time on the same side and both very pragmatic. They're the voice of reason for the very spoiled and temperamental Hayward. But there's also Rita Moreno, playing one of her hot tempered characters, making a play for Egan even though he's in love with Hayward.

This is very atmospheric film, well photographed in beautiful Technicolor and with some great action sequences involving battles with natives, issues of the weather, and the heat of passion over shadowing every single character as the winds blow down the strong tree that Hayward refused to allow Egan to cut down. The women here are just as strong as the men, and that makes for a fascinating dynamic. Comparisons to "Gone With the Wind" are obvious, but I also found it very similar to the same year's "The Rains of Ranchipur", the color remake of "The Rains Came". It's truly a spellbinding mini-epic, showing off the cinematic genius of director Henry King, even if it's not perfect.

Too much and yet too little

[blanche-2 · 5/10 · 27 October 2005]

I have no idea what anyone was thinking when this film was done. I am a huge fan of Tyrone Power but I can't say he was very good in this. I honestly don't think it was his fault. The script was rotten.

First of all, the beginning scenes, showing the romance between Katie and Paul, seemed totally like they were from another film and just slapped on at the beginning. Incredibly disjointed. I could never figure Katie out, nor did I want to. People compare the role to Scarlett O'Hara, and I guess there were similarities. I think one of the problems is that we didn't see enough of their characters before they hit South Africa so the love story could really develop for the audience. He kissed her on the staircase. Okay, so what then? "Was I just some girl you kiss and leave?" she asks. Is that all he did? Or did he have sex with her and leave? Hello, it makes a big difference. It seemed to me that all she did was throw herself at him, and I never got the impression that he loved her. Good case in point was the scene where her neck and shoulders were sore and she was stretching, etc. It took him about an hour to take the hint.

Her abuse of the Richard Egan character was ridiculous. One ends up losing respect for both of them.

Henry King usually does a great job, and of course, the action scenes are very stirring, but the characters all seemed remote.

It's possible Fox did this movie to use blocked funds in Africa. I can't think of any other reason. I read on this board that Victor Mature was supposed to play Kurt. Well, Robert Mitchum was supposed to play Paul, but he wisely never showed up and the studio got Power, who was in a hurry to finish up his contract with that place. Filming had already started. Mitchum would have seemed even less interested in Katie, and Victor Mature would have come off as even more of a fool, so it probably worked out for the best. Well, it did for those actors, anyway.

A really bad film wrapped up in a pretty and exotic package.

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 1 September 2013]

I am sure this will shock many readers, especially since she was such a popular and well-paid actress. However, I truly believe that Susan Hayward was a horrible actress--or at least she agreed to allow herself to be typecast as a horrible actress. Having seen most of her films, I can name example after example of films where she played, or shall I say over-played characters. Her acting often consisted of over-emoting and acting petulant. Don't believe me? Try watching "I Want to Live" (for which she inexplicably received an Oscar--and which was satirized by John Waters with "Female Trouble"), "David and Bathsheba", "The Conqueror", "Where Love Has Gone" and "Valley of the Dolls". All of these films are made almost hilarious due to her acting and the terrible scripts. Calling them soap opera-like is an understatement and because of this I would consider her a great 'overactress'. It's a shame, as she COULD provide a decent performance, as early in her career she was less bellicose and rather good in films like "They Won't Believe Me" and "Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman". But by the 1950s, it was all emotion and fire and not much else.

"Untamed" is yet another example of the usual Hayward formula. The film is in color and is quite glossy, features big-name supporting actors, has Hayward playing every emotion as if it's her last and her character is simply more a caricature than anyone you think could really have existed. To put it bluntly, despite the look and budget, this is a bad film...mostly due to her insane character.

When the film begins, Katie (Hayward) meets Paul (Tyrone Power). Despite them soon separating, you KNOW that they'll eventually have each other. However, very inexplicably, in the interim, she marries another man (who you just KNOW will be soon dead) and is pursued by a crazy guy (Richard Egan). It all goes on and on and on in a nice South African locale, though the film feels more like a western combined with "Peyton Place" instead of a serious film. It's also very episodic, often makes little sense and is a bit silly. The bottom line is that the film is mildly entertaining if you are looking for a laugh. But considering that it's NOT a comedy and you are not supposed to laugh at Hayward when she goes off on her screaming tirades (and it happens a lot!), it's a rather sad film. Pretty but sad.

Romantic action melodrama, short in action and long on romance...

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 9/10 · 8 August 1999]

Katie O'Neill (Susan Hayward) first meet Paul Van Riebeck (Tyrone Power), a leader of the South African Boers, when he comes to Ireland on a horse-buying trip... The two fall in love, but Paul, intent on establishing a Dutch Free State back home, has no time to settle down and refuses to marry her while he has this commitment...

Several years pass and Katie has wed Shawn Kildare (John Justin). When the great potato famine of the 1850s strikes Ireland, Katie, still in love with Paul, persuades Shawn that they should go to South Africa to start a new life...

They sail with their infant son and his nurse, Aggie (Agnes Moorehead), and in Capetown, join a group of homesteaders on a trek to the interior, where en route, Katie catches the eye of handsome Kurt Hout (Richard Egan), leader of a band of outriders...

A surprise Zulu attack on the wagon train is broken up by the timely appearance of Paul Van Riebeck and his men, but during the fighting, Shawn is killed... Paul does what he can to comfort Katie but finds that Kurt Hout, an old friend, already has made clear his interest in the newly widowed homesteader...

When the wagon train finally reaches its destination, Hoffen Valley, Katie convinces Paul to settle down with her, but their happiness is short-lived... Paul leaves to continue his work with the Free State movement, unaware that Katie is carrying his child...

Kurt, very upset for not being desired, becomes a dangerous outlaw, enemy of the authority... Rita Moreno plays his mistress...

Katie is the example of the brave intelligent, ambitious, lucky lady... She proves her courage, persistence and full determination to win as a wife, a mother, and a woman in love...

Filmed in the "grandeur" of CinemaScope, "Untamed" is a romantic action melodrama, short in action and long on romance...

The role of Kurt Hout was originally intended for Victor Mature, but he was replaces by Richard Egan...

The ending of this film made me want to vomit!

[cgvsluis · 2/10 · 23 March 2022]

This is an Edna Ferber like epic tale of a spoiled, rich Irish girl named Katie O'Neill (played by Susan Hayward) who meets a Dutch-South African gentleman, Paul van Riebeck (played by the very un-Dutch Tyrone Powers...and I can promise you because I have spent my entire life surrounded by Dutch men), when he comes to her father's estate to purchase horses. She, Katie, is reckless and selfish...and she just can't understand why Paul doesn't want to just drop everything to marry her and make her happy. Paul goes back to South Africa to lead a group of commanders (Boer's) to try to create a free-Dutch state in South Africa, which he explains to Katie is really important to him and his people.

When the Irish Potato famine comes, Katie drags her husband...the unsuspecting Shawn Kildare, of all places to South Africa to start anew. They could have gone to America or Canada or the Caribbean or South America...but she drags her husband and new baby to South Africa because she is still after Paul. Katie and her husband join a wagon train to get free land...on the trip she meets Kurt Hout, one of the leaders of the wagon train and a good friend of Paul's.

Why and for what reason I couldn't tell you, Kurt falls in love with Katie and does favors for her and her husband on the drive. When her husband is killed by attacking Zulus...Kurt assumes Katie will be his (even thought he has a young and gorgeous Rita Moreno throwing herself at him at every turn), and then back in walks Paul. Kurt explains that he fought at Katie's wagon, so Paul steps back...which is the honorable thing to do...but Jatie is having none of that because she wants Paul...she has always wanted Paul. This leads to Paul and Kurt fighting with bull whips and severing their friendship for good.

As you can probably already tell I loathe women like Katie! Those who use men and care nothing for anyone but themselves, putting their wants and desires above everyone else's leaving a swath of destruction in their wake. And for the life of me, I do not understand why men go for that sort of woman?!?!?! Katie is what I would call a Scarlet O'Hara personality type and that just destroyed this film for me.

Tyrone was dashing, there were some excellent shots of the South African countryside and the Dutch architecture was interesting...but Katie getting everything she wanted in the end seemed horribly unjust and just made me want to throw up!

I wouldn't recommend this film to anyone. I would love to see more of South Africa and it's history in film.

Wild untamed thing

[TheLittleSongbird · 5/10 · 23 August 2020]

'Untamed' could and should have been good. Have always loved adventure films, with splashes of drama and romance. All the cast members have been great in other things, having seen a number of Tyrone Power films recently. Henry King did a fair share of good and more films, cannot sing my praises of 'Song of Bernadette' enough. Have always loved Franz Waxman as a composer, both his film scores and his concert music arrangements.

Although there is a good deal to like here, 'Untamed' came up rather short and was something of a disappointment. It looks wonderful and has some great scenes, but the cast are mixed, the characters never really connected with me and it does suffer badly from trying to do too much. 'Untamed' can never be accused of not trying, if anything it tries too hard and everything that sounded so interesting on paper is not done enough with.

There are a fair share of good things here. The production values are truly lavish with all of the photography leaving me in awe, the best of it is absolutely stunning, and the settings certainly looked as though a lot of time and money went into them. Waxman's score has a lot of rousing character and sweeping lushness without being over-bearing. King's direction has some inspired moments.

Namely in the well-staged action-oriented sequences. The zulu attack stuck with me. The cast were mixed, but some come off well. Richard Egan is charismatic and feisty, as is Rita Moreno, and John Justin is imposing. Ever the consummate scene stealer, Agnes Moorehead is always guaranteed to make any film she appeared in better and that's the case here.

It is a shame that Tyrone Power doesn't have an awful lot to work with and is quite bland. Susan Hayward overplays her role and comes over as very annoying. As said the characters didn't connect with me in that none are interesting or worth getting behind, plus they are ones with muddled and under-explored character motivations that don't ring true. Hayward's character writing and acting was so overdone that it was hard to believe that anybody saw anything in her, Power's has so little to it and although Egan does do a fine job in his role his character's too much of an idiot.

While King's direction has moments, it could have done with more tension and urgency in other places. The script came over as both over-stuffed, from trying to cram too much in, and undernourished, from not doing anywhere enough with the material. Which was true for the story too, really liked the action but generally it fails to excite or charm, the romantic chemistry is off because of not being able to care for the characters and there is too much content and too much of it glossed over.

Not bad overall, but a disappointment. 5/10

A BIG BOMB with Great Classic Actors !

[whpratt1 · 4/10 · 14 January 2004]

This film bored me to death and was very unrealistic. Thousands upon Thousands of Zulu's attacked and outnumbered all the leading characters, but once Tyrone Power(Paul Van Riebeck),"Blood & Sand",'41 appeared, the Zulu's all gave up and went home. It is a shame that such great actors as Susan Hayward (Katie O'Neill),"I'll Cry Tomorrow",'55, Richard Egan,(Kurt Hout),"A Summer Place",'59, Agnes Moorehead (Aggie),"The Conqueror",'56 and Rita Morena(Julia),"West Side Story",'61 had to waste their time performing in this GREAT WHITE ELEPHANT ! They all must have been offered a very large salary!

Scarlett O'Hara tames the Veld, plus a few good men.

[weezeralfalfa · 9/10 · 19 March 2017]

I was struck by the contrast between the many negative comments herein and the mostly very positive comments at the DVD release site at Amazon.com. Although I appreciate some of the criticisms, on the whole, I will agree with the positive reviews. YES. SEE IT!, either at YouTube or rent or buy the DVD(expensive).

As several reviewers observed, it's easy to see some parallels with "Gone With the Wind". But, it also reminds us of a wagon train western, in which Zulus replace the usual hostile Native Americans. The Zulus put on quite a show, both before and during their attack, with lethal throwing spears. Much of the film was shot on location in Zululand. However, I'm very surprised that we didn't see one untamed animal in the African portion! Despite this, the film is not deficient in action, as one claimed, unless you need action 90% of the time.

Susan Hayward, at Katie, certainly used men to get what she wanted. But, often, she was just trying to survive with a modicum of comfort, security and dignity. She shamelessly used surrogate husband Shawn as an aid in her ambition to reconnect with adventurer Paul(Tyrone Power), in emigrating from Ireland to South Africa. If Shawn hadn't been conveniently killed in the Zulu raid, I wouldn't be surprised if she found another way for him to die, so that she could hopefully reconnect with Paul. She exploited Kurt's(Richard Egan)infatuation with her, to help her run her homestead while Paul was off with his commandos. But she refused him the physical love he craved, and he lost a leg cutting down a big tree that he knew Katie cherished.(Served him right). While he might have been a first rate farmer in the veld before he donned his peg leg, judging by the way he slapped mistress Julia(Rita Moreno) around, I'm sure Katie was hesitant to marry him, even when he had 2 legs.

The plot is driven by the conflict Paul faced, in returning to lead his wandering commandos fighting for a Dutch Free State, or staying home, helping Katie work their homestead. For him, there was no question which took priority until the cause was finished. I lost count of the times Katie told him to buzz off with his buddies and never return. But, he always eventually returned and she always accepted him back.

Katie had a lot of spunk in improving her life when the opportunity presented itself. She lucked out trading some trifles to a native for a probable huge diamond in the rough. After cashing in, she bought the house that Paul had spent his childhood in. She lived lavishly there for several years, until her money ran out, with Paul a sometimes visitor, and discovering that he had fathered a son with Katie. Happily, her money ran out about the time Paul was finishing up his political obsession. Initially, she headed off to hopefully find some more diamonds, but she found that Kurt had since set himself up as the kingpin of a criminal gang who largely controlled the diamond trade in that region, and claimed he would eventually own all the towns in the Dutch Free State. Well, Paul and his commandos had something to say about that. Paul had stolen his love's heart and destroyed his criminal empire, so Kurt went to kill him. Guess what happened, in quite dramatic fashion.

Several reviewers accuse Susan of overacting here and elsewhere. I don't see it. At least, you know she's alive. We may cringe at Katie's sometimes devious ways, but she remained true to Paul, despite his periodic disappearances.

Those Irish horses must have been some kind of special that Paul would travel months from and back to South Africa to acquire them. Katie had to stage an incident that caused Paul's horse to throw him in order to get his attention away from horses and her father. Doesn't sound like it was love at first sight on his part! Then, she expects him to offer to take her back with him to Africa, which he claims wouldn't work out for her as long as he felt he had to lead the fight for independence of the Dutch Free State.

Power and Susan are rather wooden in the Ireland segment, but limber up some in the African segment. Power isn't among my favorite actors. He's usually too wooden and formal. In contrast, I like the acting of Richard Egan. Susan is somewhere in between.

Things I really don't like

[AntiFakeReviews · 5/10 · 1 January 2022]

The horribly exaggerated, inappropriate soundtrack almost ruined our viewing. The music, just like all the movies made in the 40s' to 60s', all bombard non-stop with such unnecessary force in loud volume to synchronize with every movement of the characters, yet most of the time just proved to be totally unnecessary and annoying. I think it's the soundtrack that tried so hard actually killed the Western genre movies. This movie is no exception. So loud, so totally unnecessary, banging with every movement and moment. So disturbing and so annoying.

The terrible voice of Susan Hayward. Her voice was always like from an older woman, even she looked young enough in some of her early, very unattractive to the ears. Her overacting was also a minus, just like the pretentious soundtrack.

I gave 5/10 all to the great cinematography of the camera works, the settings and the fighting scenes, but not the storyline. Tyrone Power in this movie also failed miserably. He looked like a cardboard figure.