User Reviews

Based on a story by artist Tom Lea (who cameos as a barber), The Wonderful Country stars Robert Mitchum, Julie London, Gary Merrill, Charles McGraw & Pedro Armendáriz. It's directed by Robert Parrish, the score is from Alex North with Floyd Crosby & Alex Phillips on cinematography around the Durango location shoot.

A rich western that admirably crams in a lot of genre based themes and boasts a lead protagonist of high complex value. Tightly directed by Parrish (Saddle The Wind), who is aware that this needs no action overkill, it's really with Mitchum and Robert Ardrey's script that the film owes its success. Give or take a couple of missteps with the accent (he is playing a gringo pistolero) Mitchum dominates with his stature and laconic form of acting. He's playing Martin Brady, a man who finds himself being pulled emotionally on both sides of the Mexican/American border, the contrast between both lands, and Brady's persona too (he's effectively a man without a country), is very interesting. There's a number of well drawn characters who file in and out of Brady's life, all serving purpose to the plot, with Julie London's love interest thankfully having a more darker edge than others that were often seen in the genre. There's even an appearance of Baseball Hall Of Fame inductee Leroy 'Satchel' Paige as part of an all black army regiment. Yet another strand in this multi angled movie.

Very sedate in tone but with deep character drama at its core, Parrish's film is a thinking persons movie. Some critics have called it routine, while others have said it's complicated! I just think it's a film that needs to be watched more than once to fully digest its themes. It's not one for the action fan as such, but it is excellently written and performed by the principals. It's also a truly gorgeous movie visually and aurally. A fine film that rewards further on repeat viewings, especially for fans of the great Robert Mitchum. 7/10

Nursed back to health from a broken leg by the residents of a small US town, an American-born illegal arms dealer becomes torn between whether to return to Mexico, where he has lived most of his life, or stay on in America in this Technicolor western starring Robert Mitchum. As it turns out, Mitchum has quite some history, residing in Mexico to avoid being arrested for avenging his father's murder, yet with so many welcoming him with open arms, offering him jobs and declaring that he should stay "this side of the river... where you belong", Mitchum soon finds himself in quite a dilemma. The title is intentionally ambiguous; it is never clear whether the USA or Mexico is meant to be the wonderful place. The plot is not really helped though by the inclusion of Julie London as a love interest in the town. She is married and it is hard to root for Mitchum when he convinces her that she must not really love her husband on account of a few glances. London is pretty dull too, and then as a self-defense incident forces Mitchum to make up his mind between the US and Mexico, it feels a case of too much being thrown on the plate here. The film's best moments are the quieter ones in which Mitchum sits and genuinely ponders over which side to join. There are enough of these moments to keep the film chugging along, but it is a little hard to enthusiastically recommend it.

I'd seen some good things about this one, but I was largely disappointed in "The Wonderful Country." First off, I applaud Robert Mitchum for stretching here: he plays a white Missourian raised in Mexico, his accent and even his posture a departure for Mitchum. The problem is, it just doesn't work. (That accent sure comes and goes!) The bigger problem is an unfocused (and rather hard to follow) screenplay that has Mitchum's Martin Brady running guns into Texas for the Mexican Castro family, recuperating there after a fall from his horse, then, after he kills a man, escaping back over the Rio Grande into Mexico. There's a spark with a married woman (Julie London's dissatisfied army wife, Helen Colton), meetings with rival Castro brothers... and, well, some more stuff which doesn't add up to quite enough in the end. Whether due to the accents and/or the sound recording, I found a significant amount of the dialogue simply hard to understand, and the story difficult to follow. But it also felt more than a little unfocused and rather dramatically inert, so that I found myself bored, which is one of the worst things I might say about a movie. Overall, maybe still worth a look for fans of classic Westerns, but mostly as a curiosity--an ambitious, if not exactly interesting, failure. (The Movie Czar 8/19/19)

I love watching Robert Mitchum films....the guy, despite his protests to the contrary, was a genius at making acting look so simple. Because of this, I always try to watch his movies....including "The Wonderful Country". Sadly, however, this isn't a particular noteworthy....not a bad film but certainly among Mitchum's lesser roles.

The story is mildly interesting...but there is A LOT of plot...probably too much for one film. Mitchum plays a man who's lived in Mexico a long time and works with one of the 'generals' who fought over Mexican territory in the late 19th century. He's sent on a mission to retrieve guns for the general...but ends up breaking his leg in the States. It's a compound fracture and his mission is a loss. Then, while in the States you learn his backstory--most importantly why he ran off to Mexico in the first place. Now there IS a lot more plot...including an unlikely and poorly fleshed out romance, an angry Mexican general, a plot to kill Mitchum's character, marauding Apache Indians in Mexico and more. None of it seemed especially compelling.

Overall, a mildly interesting tale...at best. Not bad but the writing sure could have been better.

By the way, watch carefully if you watch it. Late in the film, one of the greatest pitchers in history is in a small role. Larry 'Satchel' Paige plays a Cavalry sergeant...and it's nice that the film acknowledges the contribution of black soldiers/cavalry....as in real life, about a third of them were black Americans...though you rarely see them represented in films.

The Wonderful Country finds Robert Mitchum as a gunslinger, a pistolero working for the local Mexican governor Pedro Armendariz. He had to flee Texas years ago after a shooting and Armendariz gave him shelter and work.

Despite that Mitchum is sent across the border on a gun buying trip. Unfortunately he takes a bad fall from a horse and winds up with a broken leg. While on the mend in that bordertown and after, Mitchum finds himself in a series of situations that call him to question what he's been doing and just where he can call home.

One of those situations is Julie London, wife of army major Gary Merrill who's got a bit of a past herself. She throws quite a few complications in Mitchum's past.

The Wonderful Country is a nicely put together western shot on location in Durango. It was one of the first westerns to use that town in Mexico, a whole lot more in the sixties would follow.

Besides those already mentioned the performances to watch for in this film are those of Charles McGraw as the frontier doctor and that of Satchel Paige as the cavalry sergeant. A year later John Ford would come out with Sergeant Rutledge about a black cavalry sergeant and the men around him, but I do believe that baseball immortal Satchel Paige was the first in Hollywood to portray a black cavalry man in a major motion picture.

McGraw is something else. He's the doctor who tends to Mitchum's broken leg and befriends him, but then gets one big pang of jealousy about Julie London that leads to tragedy. In real life McGraw was as much the hellraiser as he is in the film.

The Wonderful Country had the good fortune to be partially scripted by Tom Lea so his vision of the characters in his own novel remained pretty much intact. This was the only one of two novels by that writer/artist to be filmed.

That's as good a reason as any to see a very fine western.

This offbeat 1959 western stars the laconic Robert Mitchum as gunslinger Martin Brady, a Texas outlaw and outcast who fled to his adopted country Mexico as a youth. He works for the corrupt Castro brothers of whom he finds out much too late that he's just a pawn they move about their chessboard (Northern Mexico) as they please.

The film's major flaw is the narrative...it's a bit jumpy in spots but may have fallen victim studio intervention. Some characters seem to enter briefly, to be seen no more or are underdeveloped. Julie London's Helen Colton seems to fall victim to that. She's an ex dance hall girl (I believe), now a 'respected' wife of Major Colton (Gary Merrill) who engages in an affair with Brady out of pure lust.

But Brady...who's growing older and wearier it seems before our eyes, sees her as his redemption. His guns have cost him heavily, he has no family or lover or even respect. All he has is Mexico and that has betrayed him too. If you're expecting an action packed, shoot them up...this is not for you.

There are elements here we see in later films...we get a taste of Mexican culture, which Brady identifies more with than America, that we see in The Magnificent Seven and The Wild Bunch. And Paul Newman's John Russell in Hombre, mirrors Brady here. All are men without countries, men who cling to a culture or code American society shuns.

The locations, photography and music (Alex North) all help create an atmosphere of majestic isolation. And the inclusion of black Buffalo soldiers is all too rare in westerns, even today.

As one reviewer stated earlier, it could have been more. But there's still a lot here.

I give this movie an E for effort - Mitchum plays an American who had escaped to Mexico in his youth after a violent episode and has grown up working for the local bandits controlling that part of the country. When sent to a US border town to negotiate a weapons deal, he breaks his leg and spends enough time in he US to realize he could make a life for himself with a brighter future - of course things go wrong. Based on a novel by Tom Lea, a forgotten writer of westerns, and staring along with Robert Mitchum in the romantic triangle is Gary Merrill as the local cavalry boss and Julie London as his unhappy wife. What makes it all interesting is the fact that the movie never quite "jells"- Mitchum tries his best against a cast of grade B actors and his performance mostly works. The worst performance is from Julie London who not only is dressed incongruously but looks and acts like a robot. The scenery is spectacular and is the winner in this movie. Add the use of over the top music, and this movie presages the Spaghetti Western.

Mitchum is an assassin in the employ of Mexican mafia/government, and London is the wife of an American major. He becomes involved in Mexican civil disputes and decides to extricate himself too late.

The script brings the characters to life and reveals themes of self-loathing battling the ego in an extraordinary but low-key manner. The character performances are all convincing with the exception of a slight case of oversincerity on London's part. Gorgeous location filming in the deserts and in a Mexican town shot from a hilltop. The action scenes are pretty routine, but they and pretty much everything else is handled in a fairly realistic style, which adds greatly to the film's appeal.

A competent and fairly entertaining western.Non of the characters were either interesting or compelling.All the actors seemed to be just going through the motions.The story line has been done hundreds of times before with no surprises and all unfolding to it's predictable end.

I admit to a bias here as the great Robert Mitchum was and is my idol,but this film is another illustration of how a great actor can not only ennoble a role,but single-handed can lift a good-average story into a very credit worthy film. The plot is a good one and the other actors played their part well. This is one of my favourite movies of Mitchum and ofcourse the Mex-american accent was no problem for him. I can quote several lines of dialogue verbatim and not only have the video but the excellent film music score as well. I hope this film will rise in the estimation of Bob Mitchum fans,also film buffs who admire a great actor at his craft (Supreme in an understated way)

just caught this thoughtful film on TV again.

not a particular Mitchum fan, but here he is gives a wonderful world weary performance as the "outside man" gradually learning kindness and companionship and friendship against the odds of his upbringing and circumstances and the hand that fate has dealt him.

Not a particular shoot em up type western but a film about belonging and extricating yourself from a bad lot when down a blind alley. Just watch as he reacts to the little kindnesses as he recovers from his injury or the final scene with his beloved horse, lovely low key acting.

Beautiful photography too. Passes a lazy afternoon very nicely.

Mitchum reprises his Mexican gun-running, wife-stealing role from 'Bandido' (filmed just 3 years earlier) but this time as a pseudo-American-Mexican instead of just a mercenary American. The plot differs from Bandido in many ways, but the basic storyline is gun-running and wife-stealing, something at which Bob Mitchum apparently excels.

Mitchum himself plays his usual rugged, sleep-eyed self who seems able to casually sweep women into his laconic vortex. However, Julie London is miscast as the leading lady. Her angular features, while similar to those of Ursula Theiss (Mitchum's leading lady in Bandido), are never attractively portrayed on the big screen, ad the sparks just don't fly between her and Mitchum. She does have a screen presence, but it was better suited for the small screen dramas.

All in all, it's a decent movie I can recommend, maybe slightly better than Bandido. It deserves at least one viewing.

The film centers on a mercenary Yankee , Martin Brady , well played by Robert Mitchum crossing Rio Grande - a recurring image- and he painfully rediscovers the burdens and blessings of home and belonging as well as pursuit , treason and love . Brady was as proud as the mighty black stallion- called Tears- he rode...the man who hungered for the softness of a woman and the clean skies of "The Wonderful Country"! This one deals with a stateless person at a mighty adventure . A yankee soldier of fortune , Robert Mitchum , playing both sides in a blazing gunrunning , as he does a spot of weapon smuggling in Mexico . As the Gringo mercenary crossing the river , as he runs into problem with Apaches and Mexican people , at the same time being relentlessly chased by the Castro Brothers : Cipriano Castro (Pedro Armendariz) and Gen. Marcos Castro (Víctor Manuel Mendoza) . Corruption , violence and continuous treason reflect different aspects of his situation, though he attempts to take a honest way . Then , Mitchum falls for the commandant's unhappy wife (Julie London) ; crossing swords with her husband , an Army commander (Gary Merrill) . The cry that rooked the world'd hottest strip the hell ¡ .Sun-Burned and Gun-Burned...Like the Violent Land He Rode! .They all came to this violent land on the edge of a continent!

A Western drama with noisy action , shootouts , thrills , crossfire , crosses , and doublé crosses . Bursting with attractive characters, thought-provoking themes , sub-plots , symbols , and with very decent filmmaking and interpretation . Along the way Michum/Brady becomes involved with interesting roles , such as a German immigrant , an unhappy spouse , a wounded officer and a troop of black cavalry . Photographically with portentous images and musically , it's a continuous treat , being based on the homonymous novel by Tom Lea . The picture centers on Mitchum , a gringo mercenary operating South of Border in a gun-running mission , as he finds out the blessings and the distresses of the Mexican territory . This flick bears a certain resemblance to ¨Bandido¨1956 by Richard Fleischer with Robert Mitchum , Ursula Thies , Gilbert Roland ,Zachary Scott , Douglas Fowley , and Henry Brandon . Here Robert Mitchum grapples rather unsteadly with his role as a gunrrunner who ends with his heart in the right place . Robert gives a lively as well as easy acting as an extremely ambitious dealer to get his objectives . The gorgeous eye-candy Julie London is pretty good as the unlucky wife with a thunderous life . His husband is finely performed by Gary Merrill who takes advantage from a good character . Satisfying support cast plenty of prestigious secondaries such as : Albert Dekker, Charles McGraw , Pedro Armendariz , Jack Oakie , Anthony Caruso ,Mike Kellin ,Jay Novello , John Banner , Chuck Robertson , including a lot of Mexican extras . Interesting and well structured screenplay by Robert Ardrey , based on a successful story from a novel by the artist Tom Lea , who has a cameo as a barber . It contains a colorful cinematography in Cinemascope , Color De Luxe by cameraman Floyd Crosby , Roger Corman's ordinary , and the Mexican Alex Phillips . Portentous outdoors filmed in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico , Barranca del Cobre, Chihuahua, Mexico La Punta, Durango, Bavispe River, Sonora , Mexico . And a sensitive and rousing musical score by the classy composer Alex North, adding marvelous Mexican sounds and songs .

Produced by DRM Production , Robert Mitchum ownership , along with Chester Erskine . This modest drama/action/Western picture was professionally and firmly directed by Robert Parrish , though it has some flaws and gaps .It premiered on October 8 ,1959 and exhibited by United Artists . Parrish initiated the movie by buying the novel copyright and he hired the notorious screenwriter Robert Ardrey and subsequently Robert Mitchum and Chester Erskine were interested in it . Robert Parrish was an Academy Award-winning film editor who also realized and acted in movies . As an editor he won an Academy Award for Body and soul (1947), the 1947 Robert Rossen film that starred John Garfield as a money-grubbing, two-timing boxer on the make. Parrish also worked on All the King's Men (1949), an account of the rise and fall of a Louisiana politician that won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Parrish then moved on to direct films during the 1950s and 1960s . Among his best received works was the brooding western ¨Saddle the Wind¨ (1958) , a Noir film titled ¨Cry danger¨, a Sci-Fi picture titled ¨Journey to the far side of the sun¨, the wartime movie ¨Purple plain¨ that resulted to be one of the best films and other strange Western called ¨A town called Bastard¨ . And his final film was the exciting thriller titled ¨The Marseille Contract¨ .

The story is clever, the production value is all there, and the acting talent is present... but this film is poorly directed with a distracting and overblown music score. There are clear merits to this film and Mitchum gives his all to make his character solid ... but because of the weak direction, his Mexican accent is almost flawless in some scenes, but nonexistent in others. This goes back and forth for the duration of the film. Some of the Mexcian accents spoken by some actors are not only poorly executed, with dialogue that is stereotypical, as well. This distracts greatly from the story and production values here.

The overblown soundtrack is about as bad as it gets. It makes me think Alex North was dying for attention and wanted his music to be heard over the action. The music has little to do with the mood of what is happening on screen. Music should enhance the drama... here the music fights for attention. Some of the worst arrangements I've heard. At times the music sounds festive and celebratory in scenes which are supposed to be ominous and frightening. Quite odd and a bit irritating. A remake should be considered because the story is worth telling.... but not this way.

I didn't understand this movie, and I actually considered turning it off. If you know me, it takes a lot to make me turn off a movie with one of my celebrity boyfriends in it. I only stuck it out because Robert Mitchum produced the film himself, so I figured it would have some redeeming quality. If any of you know what it is, let me know.

Robert Mitchum stars as an American ex-patriate in Mexico, and for absolutely no reason, he spends the entire movie talking in a Mexican accent. Does anyone know why he did that? He stops off in a small town and breaks his leg, then has to stick around while it heals. Just because one of his legs is out of commission doesn't mean he can't stir up a romance or two. Then, Gary Merrill enters the story and tries to enlist Bob into helping out with some local struggle with outlaws and rangers and other confusing fights. I didn't really follow what happened in the story because it was incredibly boring and slow. Trust me when I say you can skip this one and try any other movie.

Was surprised to view this Robert Mitchum film where he stars as a Mexican who was raised in Mexico named Martin Brady. Martin meets up with Julie London, (Helen Colton) who is married to Gary Merrill,(Major Stark Colton) and has a hot affair with Helen. There is a murder and Martin Brady kills this man and has a bounty on his head for two-hundred dollars and runs back to Mexico to escape the law. Albert Dekker, (Texas Ranger Capt. Rucker) along with Jackie Oakie, (Travis Hyte) give an outstanding performance. There is a very romantic relationship between Martin Brady and Helen Colton and they both meet together when Helen Colton's husband, Major Stark Colton is wounded and Martin tries to bring him to safety. Excellent film from 1959, great photography and a great story. Gary Merrill was married to Betty Davis in the real world. Great film, Enjoy!

Yes, the scenery was terrific, the music good in parts, cinematography very well done but plot wise, an absolute failure.

After suffering a severely broken leg' Mitchum, so the doctor says, will take months to recover. Ten minutes into the film our hero is 'up and running'.

Julie London the love interest (not very photogenic at all with strangely huge eyes and a big head!) does little more than look at Mitchum twice and then, because she is married to the army commander, she feels the need to confess that the 'affair' cannot continue!!! What affair? Was the movie severely cut because I missed entirely any semblance of a love affair. This critical aspect of the movie was pathetically portrayed.

Expecting great tension between the Mexican governor and his brother, I was gobsmacked that the governor gets killed 'off-screen'; expecting similar tension with the probable Apache/Mexican/US forces in battle, once again a big disappointment because no confrontation took place.

The gaps and non-existent action in the story line puts this movie into the minus B bracket and no attractive scenery, music or cinematography can redeem it. Even if Mitchum remembered to keep up the Mexican accent throughout ALL of his scenes, this remains a very mediocre western.

So many times the title of the movie misleads the viewer. Not in this case. The title "Wonderful Country" perfectly describes this movie. The desert photography and imagery of frontier Texas and Old Mexico is almost overwhelming.

With a few exceptions, I have never been a Robert Mitchum fan, but this role brings out those qualities in him that have always attracted the fans. When commenting on his acting ability, he once said, "I only know two ways to act. With or without a horse." This is a great example of how to act with a horse. As a matter of fact, one of his co-stars in this movie IS his horse.

The story somewhat routine. Mitchum flees across the Rio Grande as a youngster after killing the man who killed his father. There he becomes a pistolero in the employ of a couple of corrupt brothers who control that part of Mexico. On a gun buying trip north across the border, he is thrown by his horse and is unable to return to Mexico. While in Texas he meets and falls for the wife of the military governor played by Julie London, in probably her only significant role. As he recovers, he is involved in another shooting and finally escapes back to Mexico, where he is falls out of favor with his patrons for losing the guns.

It isn't the story that makes this movie. It's the photography. It's the musical score and Mariachi orchestration. It's the touching performances of all the principal players. It is a BIG movie. The dusty majesty and corruption of Old Mexico along with the personal imagery of everyday life is riviting. In my opinion, this movie rates right up there with other Western giants like: Shane, The Searchers, Stagecoach, and a half dozen others. This is a movie that would be best seen on the big screen. Do it - if you ever get the chance.

Robert Mitchum is peculiarly cast as a mangy Mexican-American varmint (via Missouri!)--causing trouble in a tiny border town near Texas--who breaks his leg and is taken in by an American doctor; the Texas Army offers Mitchum a job, but a gunfight at a party causes Bob to take it on the lam. Static adaptation of the novel by cult western author Tom Lea has disappointing outdoor cinematography from the team of Floyd Crosby and Alex Phillips, also a half-realized illicit-romance subplot involving Julie London as an ex-shady lady (London has a pretty but placid face that doesn't take to the camera right away--and she's not directed nor photographed with much care). The Alex North score is overused, and there are endless clichéd shots of a lone horseback rider against the open sky. The climactic moments are strong, and Mitchum does get a handful of scenes where he's able to break out of the formula mold and do some genuine acting. ** from ****

We got a Western with Mitchum for starters. Then, add Indians, Calvary, love interest, gun play, Mexico, drinking, fighting, horses and some history and we got a decent movie on our hands. Mitch handles his accent rather well and the story is an interesting one. He is a gringo who had to live in Mexico but realizes that may change if he changes. Of course the love interest has something to do with that decision along with other circumstances. Good supporting cast here too. Good movie for eating a burrito or some tacos with a tasty drink or a nice cut of beef. Have some pan dulce (sweet bread) for dessert as there is all that in the movie and more. Even some beef jerky and pumpkin seeds will work for the full effect. Nice scenery and filmed on location i.e. Mexico. BTW...They are always having an over throw of power or position or some sort of revolution in that country because everyone is always jockeying for power and of course more money. It goes on to this day too. Enjoy amigos & pards