O' Toole all at Sea

Lord Jim (1965)

Lord Jim desperately wants to be Laurence of Arabia. Indeed, it could be subtitled ‘Laurence 2: In the Navy,’ so slavish is its devotion to aping that classic epic. Peter O’Toole too, runs through the gamut of emotions as another sensitive, tortured Englishman who is far more under threat from his own doubts than any outside influences. As you’d expect, the cinematography is stunning, the performances good, although Jack Hawkins seems drafted in simply to remind us of Laurence again, while Eli Wallach looking like Ming the Merciless’s thuggish younger brother, and Curd Jurgens doing his best Peter Lorre, keep things chugging along in an action packed but still stodgy middle section. After this the story seems over, but of course a 60s epic with O’Toole can’t have a happy ending so there is an almost tagged on 30 minutes where James Mason unrecognizable under a bowler and beard (until he opens his mouth), turns up for a juicy character part and no other real reason than to creatively force Jim’s assisted suicide, even though this again makes little sense. So, I’m glad I saw it on the big screen in its 70mm splendor, but unlike Laurence this isn’t an epic to repeat. 6/10