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Untamed (1955) -- Among those leaving Ireland during the potato famine are Katie O'Neill and her husband, who decide that the promised land is South Africa. Once there, they discover the hardships that are the reality of the homesteader experience.

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Overview

User Rating:
6.3/10   168 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?

Down 37% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Director:

Henry King

Writers:

William A. Bacher (writer)
Michael Blankfort (writer)
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Contact:

View company contact information for Untamed on IMDbPro.

Release Date:

1 March 1955 (USA) more

Genre:

Adventure more

Tagline:

It's AFRICOLOSSAL! in CINEMASCOPE (original print ad - mostly caps) more

Plot:

When the great potato famine hits Ireland, the diaspora begins as thousands emigrate. Among those leaving... more | add synopsis

User Comments:

Taming the Veldt more (11 total)


Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Tyrone Power ... Paul Van Riebeck

Susan Hayward ... Katie O'Neill(Kildare)(Van Riebeck)
Richard Egan ... Kurt Hout
John Justin ... Shawn Kildare

Agnes Moorehead ... Aggie (Kildare's governess)

Rita Moreno ... Julia
Hope Emerson ... Maria DeGroot
Brad Dexter ... Lt. Christian
Henry O'Neill ... Squire O'Neill
Paul Thompson ... Tschaka
Alexander D. Havemann ... Jan
Louis Mercier ... Joubert
Emmett Smith ... Jantsie
Jack Macy ... Simon Hout, Trek Leader
Trude Wyler ... Madame Joubert
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Additional Details

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1 more

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Western Electric Recording) (magnetic prints) | Mono (Western Electric Recording) (optical prints)

Filming Locations:

South Africa


Fun Stuff

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Fiercest Heart (1961) more


FAQ

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7 out of 9 people found the following comment useful.
Taming the Veldt, 23 December 2005
6/10
Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

With the end of the South African apartheid government and the events leading to that end of the past 50 years or so, Untamed was consigned to the 20th Century Fox vaults and has rarely been seen for a generation. Not that it was anything all that great to begin with.

Taken on its own terms and divorced from racial politics, Untamed is a sprawling Edna Ferber like saga of the founding of the Orange Free State and the journey of that group of Dutch settlers called Voortrekkers that made it happen. Tyrone Power is the leader of this group who has dreams of an empire. Dreams so big that Susan Hayward and their romance come in a definite second.

Power meets Hayward in Ireland where he's come to buy horses and the sparks fly at first sight. But he returns to South Africa and Susan marries good old reliable John Justin.

Later after the potato famine hits Ireland, the great Irish diaspora occurs and the Irish scatter throughout the globe. John and Susan go to South Africa and Sue not only meets Power again, but she also comes under the lustful eye of Richard Egan. Justin is killed, Sue wants Ty, Richard wants Sue, but Sue can't see him for beans.

I get the impression that there is a lot more to the original novel than what is shown here, but the story is poorly adapted. Using the comparison to Ferber, Richard Egan plays the Jett Rink part here. It's as though Jett Rink was crushing out on Scarlett O'Hara. Maybe they should have gotten Edna Ferber herself to adapt this work by another author, Helga Moray.

The action sequences are done well however. The Zulu attack on the laager is as well staged as in any John Ford western and the final battle between Power's commandos and Egan's outlaws is also exciting.

By the way the word laager is the South African term they gave for the circle of wagons that the voortrekkers made when camping for the night. We've seen many a western where they circled the wagons, but in South Africa they had a name for it. Voortrekker is the name of the Dutch pioneers who made the journey.

If you are a fan of the two leads as I am, make every effort to catch Untamed in the infrequent times it is shown.

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