PRINCE OF FOXES (1949)

A period adventure piece with a split personality: half glossy action fluff and half art movie. In the 1500's, Tyrone Power (always good for some glossy action) is a peasant posing as a royal loner, in the employ of Cesare Borgia (Orson Welles), an Italian politician turned warlord bent on conquering much of Italy. Power, as a diplomat whose main skill is seducing women, helps Borgia with his land-grabbing aims until he loses his heart to Wanda Hendrix, whose elderly husband (Felix Aylmer) is head of a community that Welles is after. Power winds up on the side of Hendrix, helps to fight off Welles's army, is captured and tortured, escapes, and ultimately wins out over his former employer. Welles is excellent and seems to be playing in a whole different movie from the rest of the cast (except for Everett Sloane, who is quite good as a toady who may or may not be faithful to Power). Katrina Paxinou has a small role as Power's mother. The movie is in occasionally muddy black and white which is sometimes artily effective in conveying a mood, but with the period sets and exterior shots, I think the film would have been more interesting in color. The scene where Sloane appears to be gouging out Power's eyes is memorable. The movie is worth seeing, but viewers expecting a rousing swashbuckler treat like Power's earlier MARK OF ZORRO or SON OF FURY should beware. [FMC]