3/5 In one, a great bandito. In the other, rubies, whipping, a cute baby elephant and the plague. Stick with the bandit
  by C. O. DeRiemer (San Antonio, Texas, USA)
Appointment in Honduras:
For a Glenn Ford junkie, which is easy for me to be with the films he made in the late Forties and early Fifties, Appointment in Honduras is a temptation hard to resist. Ford hadn't become a superstar yet. Most of his movies during this period had decent budgets and solid co-stars. A lot of them were adventures and westerns. Appointment in Honduras, however, has a lot of clichés to overcome before you can decide if Ford makes it worthwhile. In fact, next to Ford, the best thing about the movie is Rodolfo Acosta who plays Reyes, a murdering bandito who has charm and ruthlessness. Compared to Ford's stalwart integrity and firm-jawed decisiveness, Acosta's cheerful lack of conscience makes the movie interesting.

Ford co-stars with Ann Sheridan and Zachary Scott. They re passengers on a tramp freighter carrying five prisoners to Nicaragua. Jim Corbett (Ford), a tough guy with more grease on his hair than your car needs for an oil change, frees the prisoners, takes over the ship and then lands on the coast. They'll head inland. They take fellow passengers Harry and Sylvia Sheppard (Scott and Sheridan) with them as hostages. Corbett is carrying a money belt stuffed with currency. As they start to hack their way through the jungle toward Guatemala, we learn Corbett is bringing the money to help overthrow a ruthless dictator. What he hasn't counted on is Reyes' determination to come out ahead, or that Harry Sheppard, weak, sleazy and sniveling, is rich enough to tempt the criminals. It doesn't help that Sylvia Sheppard didn't have time to pack when they left the ship. For most of the movie Ann Sheridan has only a nightgown, cut low, to wear. Corbett may avert his eyes, but Reyes enjoys the view.

The jungle is strictly back-lot make believe. One can almost see the potted banana plants being shifted around for each new scene. Every menace that every jungle movie ever had shows up...piranhas, pumas, crocodiles, an anaconda, biting ants, bats, malaria, and a cloud of what were either locusts or really sturdy mosquitoes. Ford's grim determination and Scott's sneering become tiresome. The emerging romance between Corbett and Sylvia is intriguing but unlikely, since after two days of sweating in the fetid jungle neither probably wants to stand downwind from the other, much less embrace.

But the movie has enough of Ford's underplaying to justify staying with it. Ann Sheridan, in my book one of the best of the Forties movie stars, doesn't have much to do except look worried. Sheridan's film career was just about over, but she still was a star who was sexy, good-humored, intelligent and warm-hearted. For those who also like this period in Ford's career, even if the movies weren't always very good, try Lust for Gold (1949), The White Tower (1950), The Secret of Convict Lake (1951), Affair in Trinidad (1952), The Green Glove (1954) and Plunder of the Sun (Special Collector's Edition) (1953.

Escape to Burma:
"He's made love to you, hasn't he?" snarls policeman Cardigan to teak plantation owner Gwen Martin. "Women always think they're sure of a man who makes love to them...but they never are."

We're in Burma, and the object of Cardigan's anger and Gwen's love is Robert Brecan (Robert Ryan), accused of murdering the son of the Sawbwa. Brecan is on the run and meets Gwen (Barbara Stanwyck) by chance at her isolated plantation. The two fall almost instantly in love. But the Sawbwa wants the killer of his son so he can deal out justice the old-fashioned way...death by a thousand lashes. Cardigan (David Farrar) wants him to stand trial in Rangoon. Brecan, taciturn and tough, says he didn't kill the prince but won't say anything more. Justice finally is done, but only after we deal with a bag of rubies, happy natives, cute baby elephants, amusing chimps, murderous bandits and the plague. The movie has some of the most awful dialogue Stanwyck and Ryan ever had to deal with. "Why would a woman like you want to spend her life in a teak forest?" asks Ryan of Stanwyck. She thinks for a moment. "I like it...I've grown up with the elephants." "Just the same," he tells her, "it's a tough job for a woman."

Stanwyck and Ryan had starred together three years earlier in Fritz Lang's Clash by Night. Perhaps they thought they'd get lucky again. Ryan sometimes looks as if he can't wait for the movie to end. Stanwyck, now 48, is an actress you pay attention to, but now she requires careful makeup and lighting. For David Farrar, a fine actor, this was just one of several ridiculous movies he made in Hollywood after he left England in 1951. There, he'd starred in Black Narcissus - Criterion Collection, The Small Back Room, Gone to Earth and other fine or interesting films. In Hollywood, he was stuck with things like The Black Shield of Falworth, The Sea Chase and Solomon and Sheba, usually in third billing. He called it quits when he was 54 and took up farming in South Africa.

If you like jungle adventures, try the novels of Mark Derby, an English author long forgotten. He wrote during the Fifties and most of his stories take place in Southeast Asia. His books are all out of print, but can be found with persistence. Two of my favorites are Sun in the Hunter's Eyes and The Sunlit Ambush.

1/5 great.dissappointment
  by John W. Amies (australia)
I am always a little wary of dvds that seem to be a bargain.In the case of this appalling double bill my suspicions were justified.I was hoping for a couple of reasonably entertaining B movies.Appointment in Honduras
is barely watchable,i spent so much time adjusting the picture i lost track of the story,such as it was.Escape to Burma was so washed out and blurry i threw it in the bin after five minutes.Amazingly this dvd recieved five star reviews!!Who is writing them?Do not waste your money on this rubbishy presentation

4/5 What a surprise!
  by William Dodd (Castle Rock, WA USA)
I'm not sure what motivated me to order this---except that I find the work of each director interesting, and the price is sure right. When I order a public domain cheapie I'm prepared for poor prints, noisy audio, etc. But I was absolutely knocked out by the print quality and transfers on BOTH of these movies. The Superscope "Burma" is even enhanced for widescreen. The color was mostly good on both movies, and I didn't notice any significant film damage or dirt. The movies are OK, interesting primarily because of the casts. Both leading ladies were a bit long in the tooth for their roles, but they still show their star quality.

VCI gets a gold star for a release that looks like WHV did it from the original elements. The artwork is enough to scare anyone away, however.

And I really wish that they wouldn't have one of their people write Amazon reviews for their product.

If you want a couple of pretty good Saturday afternoon flicks very well presented, you just can't go wrong.

4/5 RKO 1950's Adventures
  by Luciano Mauro Decusati (porto alegre, RS Brazil)
RKO double feature.

This DVD presents two RKO jungle movies produced by Benedict Bogeaus in color.
Appointment in Honduras, 1953, 79 min., with Glen Ford and Ann Sheridan. Directed by Jacques Tourneur.
Glenn Ford forces a sea captain to drop him off the Honduras Coast with a bunch of prisoners, and taking Ann Sheridan and her husband along as hostages. Jungle movies tend to be somewhat alike in that as they struggle through the jungle, you get to know what people are really like. This is no exception, but you will have to wait to last minute to find out what makes Glenn Ford's character tick.

Escape to Burma, 1955, 88 min., with Barbara Stanwick and Robert Ryan. Directed by Allan Dwann.
Robert Ryan is an adventurer suspected of murder who seeks refuge in Barbara Stanwick's tea plantation. As she is as indomitable and lonely as a woman can be, she is soon fighting the world to keep him, but is he worth the trouble?

The DVD features the actors and directors' bios plus three different trailers of RKO movies.

5/5 "The Leader in Film Noir, B-Westerns & Serials...VCI Entertainment "
  by J. Lovins (Missouri-USA)
VCI Entertainment and RKO Pictures presents a double feature of high jungle adventure... "Appointment in Honduras" (1953) and "Escape to Burma" (1955) (Dolby digitally remastered)...featuring top performances by actors of the '40s and '50s with outstanding drama and screenplays...from almost forgotten and little known films that will leave you wanting more...so pop some popcorn, sit back and enjoy the movie.

First up we have "Appointment in Honduras" (1953) (79 min. Color)...under director Jacques Tourneur, producer Benedict Bogeaus, associate producer Bryan Foy, with original story by Jack Cornall and Mario Silveira, screenplay by Karen DeWolf, music composed by Louis Forbes...the cast includes Glenn Ford (Steve Corbett), Ann Sheridan (Sylvia Sheppard), Zachary Scott (Harry Sheppard), Rodolfo Acosta (Reyes), Jack Elam (Castro), Stuart Whitman (Radio Operator)...our story unfolds on a tramp steamer off Central America as Glenn Ford carrying money for a Honduran counter revolution along with hostages Ann Sheridan, Zachary Scott who have no idea what is going on join him...five prisoners are also released on their way to a Nicaraguan prison and the dangerous journey begins...could there be alligators, clouds of flying hornets, jungle brushfires and man eating fish along with snakes, what else is in store for our hero and his band of misfits.........special footnote, actor Glenn Ford with the help of Bette Davis gave him his first break in the film "A Stolen Life" (1946), then came the classic film noir "Gilda" (1946) with Rita Hayworth that made him a star and the most popular actor of that time, other films were "Texas" (1941), "The Desperadoes" (1943), "Lust for Gold" (1949), "The Man from Colorado" (1949), "The Big Heat" (1953), "The Man from the Alamo" (1953), "The Violent Men" (1954), "Blackboard Jungle" (1955), "The Fastest Gun Alive" (1956), "Jubal" (1956), "The Teahouse of the August Moon" (1956), "3:10 to Yuma" (1957), "Cowboy" (1958), "The Sheepman" (1958), "Pocketful of Miracles" (1961), "The Rounders" (1965)...next came the successfull TV series "Marshal of Madrid", as a modern day sheriff Ford played Sam Cade with his deputy Edgar Buchanan...appeared as Jonathan Kent (Clark Kent's father) in "Superman" (1978), and one of my favorite westerns made-for-television "The Sacketts" (1979) combines two sepearate Louis L'Amour novels "The Daybreakers" and "The Sacketts" of three brothers who migrate to the West after The Civil War..Ford married legendary tap dancer Eleanor Powell and had one son Peter Ford...Glenn will be fondly be remembered by his fans for his westerns and natural charismatic presence on the big screen.

BIOS:
1. Glenn Ford (aka Gwyllyn Samuel Newton Ford)
Birth Date: 5/01/1916 - Sainte-Christine, Quebec, Canada
Died: Still Living

Second on the double bill is "Escape to Burma" (1955) (86 min. in Color)....under director Allan Dwan, producer Benedict Bogeaus, with original story by Kenneth Perkins, screenplay by Hobart Danavan and Talbot Jennings, original music by Louis Forbes....the cast includes Barbara Stanwyck (Gwen Moore), Robert Ryan (Jim Brecan), David Farrer (Cardigan), Murvyn Vye (Makesh), Lisa Montell (Andora), Robert Warwick (The Sawbwa), Reginald Denny (Commissioner)...our story is another winner as RKO Radio gives three actors Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan and David Farrer a film they can sink their teeth into...a Far Eastern teak plantation is full of danger with panthers, tigers and a man on the run...Ryan is hunted by Farrer and Stanwyck in out to warn the man she loves...will Ryan receive a fair trail, be tortured and wind up in a brawl within the local temple...is Robert Ryan misjudged or is he really guilty of killing the Prince.......special footnote, actress Barbara Stanwyck was nominated for four Academy Awards, but never won...in 1982 Barbara was awarded an hononary Oscar for "superlative creativity and unique contribution to the art of screen acting", starreds in "Forbidden" (1932), "Stella Dallas" (1937), "Union Pacific" (1939), "The Lady Eve: (1941), "Double Indemnity" (1944),and finally in TV's "The Big Valley" (1965), but her most memorable role was Mary Carson in the ABC mini-series "The Thorn Birds" (1983).........there's a great deal of entertainment here for all the film noir fans out there...all courtesy of VCI Entertainment, who in my humble opinion is the best there is in restoring early serials and features like this one.

BIOS:
1. Barbara Stanwyck (aka Ruby Catherine Stevens)
Birth Date: 7/16/1907 - Brooklyn, New York
Died: 1/20/1990 - Santa Monica, California

SPECIAL FEATURES:
1. Actor Bios
2. Scene Selection
3. Theatrical Trailers
4. "Escape to Burma" presented in Anamorphic Widescreen

Great job by VCI Entertainment for releasing the "Appointment in Honduras" (1953) and "Escape to Burma" (1955), digital transfere with a clean, clear and crisp print...looking forward to more of the same from the '40s and '50s vintage...order your copy now from Amazon or VCI Entertainment, stay tuned once again with a top notch films from the Golden Age of Hollywood that only VCI Entertainment (King of the Serials) can deliver...just the way we like 'em!

Total Time: 165 mins on DVD ~ VCI Entertainment 8343 ~ (2/25/2003)