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Sundown

Play trailer Poster for Sundown Released Oct 31, 1941 1h 31m Adventure Play Trailer Watchlist
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William Crawford (Bruce Cabot) is a British officer stationed in East Africa during World War II. His outpost is strategically important in the war effort and is constantly under risk of attack. Jan Kuypens (Carl Esmond), a Dutch scientist, and a mysterious woman named Zia (Gene Tierney) seek refuge in Crawford's fort. Zia reveals Kuypens is a traitor, forcing Crawford and his fellow British soldiers to defend the fort from Kuypens, or allow it to fall into the hands of the Nazis.

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Sundown

Critics Reviews

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Jose Maria Santos Cine-Mundial A beautiful movie that vividly narrates what arms trafficking can cause in the English colonies of Africa. [Full Review in Spanish] Sep 10, 2019 Full Review Michael W. Phillips, Jr. Goatdog's Movies [A] dazzling combination of Charles Lang's Oscar-nominated photography and director Henry Hathaway's expert staging of several night battles. Rated: 3/5 Jan 18, 2007 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Steve D Tierney is completely wasted in this lame western. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 03/20/24 Full Review Audience Member The most interesting thing about this film was realizing that WWII was going on while it was written and filmed, and that it colored the artistic choices made. Overall looks great, but just OK. The ending was long and contrasted sharply with the rest of the film. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member good WWii tale set in africa Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member Not bad desert pic set in a time of colonialism in Kenya. Gene Tierney is fantastically beautiful but still green in front of the camera and miscast but she tries. George Sanders gives the best performance and seems looser than usual. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member A pretty risible little propaganda piece, with the bizarre casting of Gene Tierney as a supposedly Arab trader (although admittedly we find out later that her father's actual name was Fletcher). Whoever thought that Bruce Cabot should be given anything but supporting roles ought to be raised for ridicule. He has all the personality of a wooden plank and cannot summon enough acting ability to glance longingly at Tierney, even when she spends half the film in a bikini top. There are some marvelous character actors running around who make the film bearable. Poor George Sanders looks rather lost and bored as the requisite silly, by-the-book British officer who finally gets wise when the American (sorry, Canadian!!!) goes rogue. One gets the sense that he was probably drinking heavily between takes just to be able to repeat his pat, uninspired lines. Really, most of these actors have done better films. See those instead. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member As World War II rages, District Commisioner Crawford (Cabot) and British Army officer Major Coombs (Sanders) get wind of a plot by the Nazis to arm violent North African tribes and set them upon the Allied forces. An exotic, mysterious caravan mistress (Tierney) arrives at their isolated outpost, but is she a friend, or is it her extensive trading network that the Nazis are using to move their weapons shipments? [center][img]http://www.geocities.com/nuelow/movsundown1.jpg[/img] [i]The beautiful Gene Tierny stars as a mysterious merchant princess in "Sundown"[/i][/center] "Sundown" is a fairly run-of-the-mill colonial drama, with the steadfast British troops and their valiant native allies standing fast against those who would bring low Britain. It's got a more interesting cast of characters than many of these films--with the liberal minded Crawford truly standing out--and the cast is mostly excellent. The film also benefits from a more exotic locale than many of these films, and the gorgeous photography takes full advantage of this, as does the script. (One bit of repetition that made me scratch my head: why did the bad guys always get gunned down in pools of water?) Aside from the great camera work, another reason to see "Sundown" is the presence of the absolutely gorgeous Gene Tierney. She truly is one of the most beautiful actresses to ever appear on film, and she doesn't do a whole lot more than walk around looking exotic and gorgeous here. If you haven't seen Tierney do majestically beautiful, you need to see this movie. Sundown Starring: Bruce Cabot, Gene Tierney, and George Sanders Director: Henry Hathaway Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Sundown

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Movie Info

Synopsis William Crawford (Bruce Cabot) is a British officer stationed in East Africa during World War II. His outpost is strategically important in the war effort and is constantly under risk of attack. Jan Kuypens (Carl Esmond), a Dutch scientist, and a mysterious woman named Zia (Gene Tierney) seek refuge in Crawford's fort. Zia reveals Kuypens is a traitor, forcing Crawford and his fellow British soldiers to defend the fort from Kuypens, or allow it to fall into the hands of the Nazis.
Director
Henry Hathaway
Producer
Walter Wanger
Distributor
United Artists
Production Co
United Artists
Genre
Adventure
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 31, 1941, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 11, 2016
Runtime
1h 31m
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