Victor Mature was always fond of telling people how bored he was in the acting profession and pretty soon he'd be out of it for the most part. He was at his most bored making The Bandit Of Zhobe an Indian Northwestern set on the real Indian frontier. He sleepwalks through this part, probably worried his paycheck wouldn't clear.
Back in the day tales of the British army defending those outer reaches of the Empire on which the sun never set were as popular with British kids as the dime novels written about the exploits of our frontier characters out west. The Bandit Of Zhobe plays like one of those westerns.
The evil Walter Gotell wants to get the frontier ablaze and what better way to do it than get the British army fighting with a neighboring native leader. Gotell has his guys attacking the British army and also has his guys in British army Sepoy uniforms go into Mature's town and massacre the place, killing his wife and child. I've seen this plot premise in many of our own westerns.
Taking on the task of bringing everyone together is Anne Aubrey, daughter of British Colonel Norman Wooland. A little bit of Rudolph Valentino's The Sheik is thrown in here with Aubrey's obvious attraction for Mature even though he's been doing terrible things to her people after he's been set on the warpath.
Best in the film without a doubt is Anthony Newley as the corporal and bodyguard of Aubrey. He proves to be quite resourceful and has the best lines the script. The final battle between Gotell's people and the British army is also well staged.
But we've seen all of it before in many an American western.
Back in the day tales of the British army defending those outer reaches of the Empire on which the sun never set were as popular with British kids as the dime novels written about the exploits of our frontier characters out west. The Bandit Of Zhobe plays like one of those westerns.
The evil Walter Gotell wants to get the frontier ablaze and what better way to do it than get the British army fighting with a neighboring native leader. Gotell has his guys attacking the British army and also has his guys in British army Sepoy uniforms go into Mature's town and massacre the place, killing his wife and child. I've seen this plot premise in many of our own westerns.
Taking on the task of bringing everyone together is Anne Aubrey, daughter of British Colonel Norman Wooland. A little bit of Rudolph Valentino's The Sheik is thrown in here with Aubrey's obvious attraction for Mature even though he's been doing terrible things to her people after he's been set on the warpath.
Best in the film without a doubt is Anthony Newley as the corporal and bodyguard of Aubrey. He proves to be quite resourceful and has the best lines the script. The final battle between Gotell's people and the British army is also well staged.
But we've seen all of it before in many an American western.