Lieutenant Rakoczy (1954) User Reviews

Wonderfully predictable, a patriot's opportunity to cheer.

[mmarotta1 · 10/10 · 23 November 2006]

Lush, 1950s color, stock characters, hometown heroes and foreign bad-guys. Set in 1703 with plenty of swords, a few pistols, and cannons for effect. Comes with English subtitles, but the formulaic dialog is universal. The spoiler is that the hero's pal gets killed in the last battle scene (of course) which inspires the young drummer (brother of the hero's girlfriend) to take up his fallen comrade's sword and promise to heaven to smite the enemy -- even sadder than when James Brown died in The Dirty Dozen. Produced as nationalist propaganda by the communists, one of the minor baddies is a greedy nobleman -- as opposed to the good noblemen -- who "sells his wine for silver and pays his troops in copper." The crescendo is a cavalry charge with the opposing armies thundering at each other. "Why do you want this mission?" the captain asks. "For duty!" says one... "For country!" says the other. "My betrothed is captive in the village," says our hero.