Review of Viva Max

Sophisticated cosmopolite Peter Ustinov blots his copybook here with a caricature of a performance "browned up" as the eponymous "Max",a Mexican army officer unbelicose by nature who recaptures The Alamo to impress his girlfriend.Now clearly this episode of American history is a sensitive area to many,but is rather too domestic for us Europeans to understand the subtle nuances involved.Pride on both sides of the border is easily ruffled so General Max may well have had at least the tacit support of many of his fellow Mexicans.Where I feel they may have not been so happy is with the performances of Mr Ustinov and his comic book accent and Mr John Astin as his Sancho Panza. The Texans are only slightly better served,the exception being the great Mr Harry Morgan - saviour of many a picture - who,along with Mr Keenan Wynn,drags "Viva Max" up from the vaudeville level of entertainment it had reached before their appearance. Mr Ustinov,bon - viveur,writer,actor,chat show guest non - pareil and wit,was a wizard with accents as he proves here,but,to me,there is something distasteful,even patronising in his performance. It may have seemed a wacky idea in the summer of love when most of the movers and shakers in Hollywood were presumably stoned out of their gourds,but "Viva Max" has not travelled well I'm afraid.