NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Patience Watson One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

bkoganbing The main problem with The Americano I feel is it's a film that should never have been undertaken by a studio that was on its way out. Yet RKO was in fact lucky enough to get this thing done and released at all. At least one member of the original cast, Sarita Montiel, never finished it and her scenes had to be reshot with Abbe Lane.The Americano is a story about a Texas cattle breeder who has bred three prize Brahma bulls and is selling them to a rancher in Brazil. Glenn Ford as the rancher hopes that the money will help him and his brother get started on a new place of their own. He's accompanying the bulls to Brazil and is expecting to get $2500.00 for them.Of course when he gets there his potential buyer is dead and Ford is soon involved in a local range war, something you've seen in a gazillion American westerns. The dead man's partner, Frank Lovejoy is himself the he bull of the valley trying to push out the other smaller ranchers and farmers like Ursula Thiess.It was an ambitious undertaking that RKO did, a studio that was on its last legs since Howard Hughes sold it and didn't want it for a plaything any more. The location shooting in Brazil is the best thing about The Americano. A studio like MGM or Paramount should have done this film, with a better story. As it was the film shut down and then was completed stateside in California because it ran out of money. Ford walks through the film looking like a man who was worried his salary check wouldn't clear.Cesar Romero has an interesting if undefined role as a local bandit who winds up helping the local police. As for Lovejoy there is an interesting gay subtext to his role. He tries to get Ford to stay in Brazil and partner with him, but Ford says he has to get back to Texas and his family. Then Lovejoy pays him and then sets up a robbery where one of his own men is killed so Ford has to return. Now just why was he craving Ford's company so much?Ford's got eyes for Ursula Thiess though and when he's forced to choose a side, his duty is clear. That upsets Lovejoy even more.The panorama of the Amazon forest deserved a film of the epic sweep of Gone With The Wind or even Duel In The Sun. What it got was a warmed over range war plot that could have come from a Roy Rogers film.

classicsoncall I've seen Westerns set in Mexico and Australia, but this is the first one I've seen set in Brazil. Which wouldn't have been so bad, but this was so far south of the border that it turned into an extended siesta. Considering the principals, especially the reliable Glenn Ford (I'd say always reliable, but not after seeing this one), one would expect a far more interesting story to complement the South American geography. Much more could have been done to define the rivalry between Bento Hermany (Frank Lovejoy) and the opposing homestead ranchers, among them the lovely landowner Marianna (Ursula Theiss). It's probably only the appearance of Manuel 'El Gato' (Cesar Romero) and the shimmy shimmy Teresa (Abbe Lane) that gives the picture any life at all. The truly unusual touch here would have to be all the Amazonian wildlife on display - alligators, anacondas, toucans, macaws, cockatiels, even a South American tapir. The early tease with the piranhas actually gets wasted later in the film when riders are shown crossing the river without resorting to the same ruse required earlier to distract the little buggers. I'd really like to be more positive about the film, but ultimately, I don't think I've ever seen a film before where there's so much going on that when it's over, you feel like nothing happened at all.

alexandre michel liberman (tmwest) The Americano is an entertaining film which has an interesting story, but which could have been much better. It is hard to understand why after getting known actors like Glenn Ford, Cesar Romero, Abbe Lane and Ursula Thiess, the production seems so poor like it was done on a very small budget. Mato Grosso, in Brazil where the action occurs is an impressive place, and the cinematography does no justice to it. To enjoy the film you also have to overlook the fact that Ford as a Texan coming to a remote place in Brazil has no problems with the language because they all speak English, and instead of Portuguese, Spanish seems to be their native language!!! Abbe Lane does a spectacular dance number and just that is worth the film, it does not matter that the music is by Xavier Cugat and has nothing to do with Brazil. Ford brings bulls from Texas and after he delivers them and gets 25000 dollars, what does he do? He goes and sleeps in the jungle with the money. Guess what happens!!! If the film would have come out as originally intended, filmed in Brazil and directed by Budd Boetticher it could have been much better. Unfortunately bad weather, lack of financial resources, problems with the crew were responsible for only a minimal part of the finished movie (if any) to be filmed in Brazil.

neobowler This was not a very good movie. It was so corny and lame. I did not like watching it. Glenn Ford is at his worst and his performance is rather sad. I really would not recommend this movie! There was not really anything good about it. But I have seen worse movies. I give it a 1 1/2 out of 5.