CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

fullheadofsteam If this spectacular epic were rated solely on importance of the story, high production quality, including direction, sets, locations, costumes, and cinematography, then who knows, America's Stanley Kramer may have been compared to England's David Lean. And that's the only reason this movie deserves one star above mediocre. Sadly, it is the absolute worst casting for a big-budget, cast of thousands production that keeps it from being taken as seriously and as enjoyably as it should. Sinatra as a Spaniard is just plain pathetic, as he imitates (poorly) a Mexican accent, and he seems very disengaged from beautiful Sophia Loren, with whom he is supposed to be in love. Then there's the addition of the much older Cary Grant playing an English officer who becomes enamored of Sophia, and thereby a rival of Sinatra's, as Grant is more wooden and uncharming than any other of his many movie roles that you might think of. Oh, if only Sophia could save the casting mistakes, and she really tries, but with two male leads who each lack credibility and screen watchability in their own rights, Sophia can't save the characters so miscast and poorly portrayed. Theodore Bikel appears, in somewhat lesser but important role as a French general, but it is terribly difficult to distinguish specifically what accent he is using (or trying to use). So, best advice is to watch the movie uncritically with regard to the main cast, and enjoy the drama and magnificent production! Would I watch it again? Sadly, no.

utgard14 Much ado about a cannon in this overlong piece of historical hokum. British naval officer Cary Grant works with Spanish guerrilla fighter Frank Sinatra (!) to retrieve a huge cannon thrown away by the French. Sinatra and Grant want to transport the big gun across Spain to give it back to Napoleon, only not the way he might like. Speaking of big guns, sexy Sophia Loren plays Sinatra's woman. Grant naturally falls for her. Who can blame him? Grant seems bored most of the time. He only comes to life to smooch Sophia. Even his many scenes yelling at Frank are lifeless. Sinatra is badly miscast in one of his worst roles. His hair! Oh lord his hair! Loren looks ravishing and has a memorable dance scene. It's a good looking movie, with lots of nice Spanish scenery and a fine score by George Antheil. But the script is terrible and the limited premise doesn't support a film this long. I mean really how much footage of people pulling a cannon do you need to see?

writers_reign The huge, ponderous canon is an apt metaphor for a lumbering, ponderous movie with almost nothing going for it despite a trio of 'stars' who were also accomplished actors - when they put their minds to it - spectacular scenery and, on paper, a 'bowy own paper' adventure story just made to put bums on seats. Alas, Edward and Edna Anhalt, the husband-and-wife writing team failed to add any flair to C.S. Forrester's staid novel, The Gun, least of all believably dialogue and the lack of chemistry between all three leads has to be seen to be believed, especially since the woman in question was Sophia Loren, who enjoyed a passionate off-screen romance with Grant but incredibly brought none of the fire onto the set. Sinatra more or less phoned it in and I speak as a lifelong admirer of both his singing and acting. In sum: one to miss.

jamdonahoo There are two big reasons to watch this film. The giant cannon which is the real star of the movie and Miss Loren's bosoms. No make that three reasons. Cary Grant, after his dreadful performance in The Howard's of Virginia seventeen years earlier, had vowed never to make another costume drama but was lured back to the genre perhaps because of the proximity of Sophia. Unfortunately his role in TP&TP was just about as ludicrous. Cary prances around Spain in a costume that made him look like Gainsborough's Blue Boy. Sinatra was woefully miscast as a Spanish revolutionary and he is laughable in the role. The movie should be watched, not purchased, for the laughs and Miss Loren's considerable physical attributes.