| Shout at the Devil | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Peter R. Hunt |
| Produced by | Michael Klinger |
| Screenplay by | Stanley Price Alastair Reid |
| Story by | Wilbur Smith |
| Starring | Lee Marvin Roger Moore |
| Music by | Maurice Jarre |
| Cinematography | Michael Reed |
| Editing by | Michael J. Duthie |
| Distributed by | American International Pictures Hemdale Film Distributors Ltd. |
| Release date(s) | May 20, 1976 (Netherlands) November 20, 1976 (USA) |
| Running time | 147 minutes (UK) 128 minutes (US) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $7,000,000 |
Shout at the Devil (1976) is a British film directed by Peter R. Hunt[1] and starring Lee Marvin and Roger Moore.
The picture is a comedic adventure story set in Zanzibar and German East Africa in 1913-1915 based on a novel written by Wilbur Smith and is very loosely inspired by real events.[2]
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It tells the story of Colonel Flynn O'Flynn (Lee Marvin) a hard drinking American, his daughter Rosa (Barbara Parkins), and an outcast English aristocrat Sebastian (Roger Moore) who falls in love with her. They are married and have a daughter together.
The two men set out to get rich in German-controlled pre-World War I Tanganyika (German East Africa). Herman Fleischer, German Commander of Southern Province, relentlessly hunts O'Flynn. Fleischer has a warship ram and sink O'Flynn's African Dolm (ship) containing poached ivory. Later whilst attacking O'Flynn's home, the soldiers under Fleischer's command take the life of Sebastian's daughter Maria.
During their hunt to kill Fleischer, for the death of the daughter, it's discovered that England is at war with Germany. Allied operatives convince O'Flynn to locate and destroy the German warship awaiting repair. O'Flynn, Sebastian, and Rosa pursue Fleischer, who happens to be on the warship.
O'Flynn is a master manipulator and con man pursuing financial gain. He gets everyone, except Rosa, to follow his lead throughout the movie; his one weakness is gin. The film is filled with fist fights, shooting, and assorted violence. There are a few tender moments during Sebastian and Rosa's romance.
The film was shot in Malta and, very controversially, in South Africa during apartheid.
In the film the warship portrayed is SMS Blücher which did not serve in Africa. The story is loosely based on events involving the light cruiser SMS Königsberg which was sunk after taking refuge in Rufigi delta in 1915, although none of the characters are based on any of the people involved in the sinking.[2]
Critic Richard Eder did not like the film much. He wrote, "The movie has too much plot. All that action, conducted by characters without character—except for Fleischer, whose childlike joy in hurting people is almost appealing — produces lethargy...the movie is a passable midget in absurdly long pants."[3]
Roger Ebert thought that "Shout at the Devil is a big, dumb, silly movie that's impossible to dislike. It's so cheerfully corny, so willing to involve its heroes in every possible predicament, that after a while we relax: This is the kind of movie they used to make, back when audiences were supposed to have the mentality of a 12-year-old. It's great to be 12 again."[4]
The film implies that Portugal became a co-belligerent with Britain against Germany when the First World War broke-out in August 1914. In fact, Portugal remained neutral until 1916 (see Portugal in World War I). Portugal's status as an ally seems to be confirmed in the film when the Portuguese supply O'Flynn and Oldsmith with a marked Portuguese plane with a Portuguese pilot in order to conduct surveillance in German territory (an open act of war). In reality, the Portuguese would not have allowed this as it would have violated their neutrality. (At best, the plane would have had no markings). They would also have been motivated to clamp down on O'Flynn and Oldsmith's guerrilla activity, and perhaps would have interned Oldsmith, to preserve their neutrality.
The film also overlooks the fact that Fleisher's incursion onto Portuguese territory and destruction of the home of a Portuguese national (Rosa) would have created a diplomatic incident, one which would have made Fleisher unpopular with his own government—the Germans not wanting to draw neutral Portugal into the War in 1914.
Although the motives for killing Fleischer are personal, Sebastian Oldsmith is in fact the only one of the major characters among the protagonists who is a citizen of a nation actually at war with Germany.
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