Customer Reviews

Bullwhip [VHS]

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The picture on the box, with a beautiful woman sprawled in the dust as a man with a bullwhip towers over her, makes this look like a sex 'n' sadism flick. Nothing could be further from the truth. This reissue of a 1956 Allied Artists movie is almost a comedy. Rhonda Fleming (in the movie, she's the one who wields the whip) needs a temporary husband for legal reasons, and gets jailbird Guy Madison (TV's "Wild Bill Hickok"), who is scheduled to hang, to marry her. But Madison has been framed, breaks jail to clear himself, and ends up reunited with his new wife, much to her distress -- for a while, that is. This picture is no world-beater but it's kind of fun. Gaunt deep-voiced James Griffith also scores as an enigmatic gunman hired to get Madison until he, too, changes sides.

This is very loosely adapted from The Taming Of The Screw, but only the characters and a two line plot summary survive. Apart from that, it's quite an original piece of writing from Adele Huffington (surely a pseudoym!), Flaming Readhead Rhonda Fleming looks great in Cine Color, and makes us laugh too. A good-looking guy in a white(ish) hat, former Wild Bill Hickock star Guy Madison slips easily into the role of wrongly accused, wrongly condemned, and fraudulently married man. His casual smile brings a confidence to the role that reminds us this is foremost a comedy and that we ought not to be too worried that our hero will end up hanged. But the villains are not so clear cut. fur trader Parnell is just an unscrupulous businessman and never tried to get anyone killed. The hired gun is neither good nor bad, more amoral, but this presents an interesting potential for him to either help or hinder the hero at the end of the movie. There's western clichés all through the film, the camp fire harmonica, the Indians smoking um pipe of peace. There are also a few bits of carelessness. The wagon train keeps stopping so they can film the stopped scenes in a park, and how does Cheyenne fit her bed, a desk, and all her fabulous dresses into that tiny wagon? But it's not fair to judge it by today's expectations. This is a simple comedy western, and on that basis, it is a lot of fun.

I was looking forward to viewing this movie, a favorite from long ago. However, the old pan and scan method
appears to have been done by an amature. Meaningless scenes, as people talking are thrown out of the picture
and a table and two pairs of hands are in the scene (an example). Also, the sound was muffled. I realize this
is one of the older movies, not made yesterday. But many movies much older than Bullwhip, do not have the
muffled and distorted sound as this version of Bullwhip.
Althought I enjoyed the story line, and the beautiful Ms. Fleming's acting, the obvious defects took away
from the total enjoyment I might otherwise have discovered while viewing this film.

According to her father's will, a fiercely independent young woman (Rhonda Fleming) must marry immediately in order to retain control of her father's estate and business. To this end, with the aid of a corrupt judge, she marries a man (Guy Madison) about to be hanged to fulfill her father's last wishes. But when he escapes from jail, he follows her and demands his place as her husband. Directed by Harmon Jones, this would ordinarily be a nondescript routine "pass the time" western. What makes it so disturbing, even repugnant, is the systematic humiliation and domineering of the woman by the cocky and arrogant man in an attempt to break her independent spirit and take control. It's the most sexist western I've ever seen in that respect. Madison is adequate and Fleming looks breathtaking in color and CinemaScope but the unsavory aspects of the story dampen whatever enjoyment one might ordinarily have. The title song, with whip cracks and all, is by Frankie Laine, who else? I wonder if Mel Brooks saw BULLWHIP as the title song from BLAZING SADDLES, also sung by Laine sounds quite similar.

The Suevia DVD from Spain is in its original CinemaScope (2.35) ratio in an anamorphic transfer. The picture is fine but the sound has a slightly hollow tone to it. Although from Spain, my copy had the credits in German! The Spanish subtitles are easily disabled.