Shout at the Devil *** (1976, Lee Marvin, Roger Moore, Barbara Parkins, Ian Holm) – Classic Movie Review 8444

Director Peter R Hunt’s 1976 British war adventure film Shout at the Devil is a robust and welcome if undistinguished old-style action adventure thriller, with Lee Marvin as boozy American entrepreneur Colonel Flynn O’Flynn and Roger Moore as aristocratic old Etonian Sebastian Oldsmith linking up to protect their ivory-poaching business against a German official in pre-World War One Zanzibar.

The two much-missed, favourite actors are very amiable company in their cliched parts, care has been extended on a big-budget production with good action sequences, and the story provides considerable solid entertainment value amid some slack and silly slapstick comedy and some longueurs that are not surprising with a 149 running time.

Barbara Parkins plays O’Flynn’s attractive young daughter Rosa, Ian Holm plays O’Flynn’s mute servant Mohammed, and Reinhard [Rene] Kolldehoff plays German Commissioner Herman Fleischer, the Military Commander of Southern Province.

The screenplay by Wilbur Smith, Stanley Price and Alastair Reid is based on Wilbur Smith’s novel. The main story is loosely based on events concerning the sinking of the light cruiser SMS Königsberg in 1915. Film rights were bought by producer Michael Klinger, who also bought the rights to the Wilbur Smith novel Gold Mine (1970) and several other Smith novels that were never made.

The American release dealt with the over-extended running time problem by lopping off 25 minutes and the 1980 reissue cut a whopping 58 minutes.

Also in the cast are Maurice Denham, Jean Kent, Robert Lang, George Coulouris, Karl Michael Vogler, Murray Melvin, Bernard Horsfall, Peter Copley, Horst Janson, Gernot Endemann, Gerard Paquis and Renu Setna.

The score is by Maurice Jarre.

Moore recalled: ‘Working with Lee Marvin hauls you up, forces you to try to reach his level. I love this gentleman. Thanks to him I have given my best performance ever. I can only be as good as the other guy.’

Much of the team had worked on the movie of the Wilbur Smith novel Gold Mine (1970), filmed as Gold (1974).

Shooting began in March 1975 and took 15 weeks. The film was shot on location in Malta and in South Africa, controversially because of the Apartheid regime. The South African filming was based in the town of Port St Johns.

The budget was $9-10 million with $3.5 million provided by AIP. It was one of the most successful British films of 1976, grossing £15 million.

RIP Zambian-born South African novelist Wilbur Smith, who died on 13 November 2021, aged 88.

Tony Klinger writes: ‘We made two of Wilbur’s books into films, Gold and Shout at the Devil. I knew him from his first days as a notable, best-selling author. My father [Michael Klinger] helped him set up business wise. As a teller of stories he was one of the very best.’

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8444

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Roger Moore plays aristocratic old Etonian Sebastian Oldsmith.