Oh boy. I guess I should have known what I was getting into; genre flicks of the 50s were not commonly well made, and mostly characterized by being extremely low-budget and ungenuine. This is definitely an example of the latter type, with cheap effects (some better than others), substantial use of stock footage and recycled film, and meager, Just So writing, direction, and acting. Plot development is astoundingly simple and direct, not to mention flimsy; dialogue, scene writing, and indeed characters are blithely, painfully ham-handed, and more than a little sexist. Even at that, some such fare is better than others. 'Untamed women,' however, is not one of the better ones.
The "beards" adorning the men are grotesque in their inauthenticity. W. Merle Connell's direction is soporific and lazy, echoing George Wallace Sayre's screenplay. In circumstances like this I'm inclined to give actors the benefit of the doubt, but here it's hard to tell if weak direction and writing informs the performances, or if the cast is really just that lousy and unskilled. There are some good ideas here, perhaps, but none are employed well. I would want to say that the climax is probably the best part of the film, the part to which the most resources were devoted - yet I'm given to understand that no small part of it is also stock footage or recycled film, so my favor doesn't really get off the ground.
True, there are still worse pictures you could watch. Uninteresting as 'Untamed women' is, and in some ways dubious, it's not the absolute bottom of the barrel. It's close enough, however, that there's not really any reason to watch this. Maybe if you're extra curious or extra bored it's a way to pass the time, but otherwise, there are far too many other titles you should be watching instead.
The "beards" adorning the men are grotesque in their inauthenticity. W. Merle Connell's direction is soporific and lazy, echoing George Wallace Sayre's screenplay. In circumstances like this I'm inclined to give actors the benefit of the doubt, but here it's hard to tell if weak direction and writing informs the performances, or if the cast is really just that lousy and unskilled. There are some good ideas here, perhaps, but none are employed well. I would want to say that the climax is probably the best part of the film, the part to which the most resources were devoted - yet I'm given to understand that no small part of it is also stock footage or recycled film, so my favor doesn't really get off the ground.
True, there are still worse pictures you could watch. Uninteresting as 'Untamed women' is, and in some ways dubious, it's not the absolute bottom of the barrel. It's close enough, however, that there's not really any reason to watch this. Maybe if you're extra curious or extra bored it's a way to pass the time, but otherwise, there are far too many other titles you should be watching instead.