Lord Jim

_**Lawrence of the Jungle**_ In the late 1800s, a gallant officer in the English merchant service (Peter O'Toole) falls prey to cowardice in a weak moment and is ousted to drift from job to job until he is inspired to help a Southeast Asian village purge a cruel general (Eli Wallach), hoping for redemption. The peripheral cast includes Paul Lukas, Jack Hawkins, Curd Jürgens, Daliah Lavi and James Mason. Richard Brooks’ “Lord Jim” (1965) is heavily boiled-down from the superfluous prose of Joseph Conrad's 1900 novel and comes across as overly sentimental and melodramatic. The fictitious…

There is much of his TE Lawrence performance in Peter O'Toole's eponymous characterisation of William Conrad's 19th Century sailor. He is cashiered out of the service on grounds of cowardice after being forced to abandon some Muslim pilgrims amidst a storm at sea. Many years on, when he manages to thwart some would-be maritime saboteurs, he allies with trader "Stein" (Paul Lukas) and sets off up river to help some locals who are being enslaved by the "General" (Eli Wallach) and his drunken, cowardly pal "Cornelius" (Curd Jürgens). Battles ensue before "Jim" finds himself further embroiled in…