JohnHowardReid Review of Stromboli

Stromboli (1950)

Time has stripped this movie of much of its original appeal

[7/10 · 14 May 2013]

I gave this one a hats-off review on its first release, but I am not so fond of it now that I have Connoisseur's DVD. A slow-moving and obvious plot unwinds to an abrupt conclusion. Little attempt is made to interest us in any of the characters except our heroine. The men are boring boors who go through their motions like trained fleas and speak in platitudes. We certainly don't blame our heroine for wanting to escape from Stromboli. We're with her all the way! The men are a cruel, ignorant, self-indulgent lot who seem to relish the hardships they impose on both their fellow-islanders and themselves. The women simply put up and shut up. No doubt people did live this way on Stromboli in 1949. Maybe they still do. But 107 minutes is far too long to spend in their company.