zardoz-13 Review of You Can't Win 'Em All

You Can't Win 'Em All (1970)

Topnotch Action Epic with Bronson and Curtis

[10/10 · 16 October 2010]

Tony Curtis and Charles Bronson team up as mercenaries in director Peter Collinson's "You Can't Win'Em All," a larger-than-life action epic set in historic Turkey during the waning days of the Otterman Empire. This tongue-in-cheek actioneer benefits from a glossy budget and actual on-location lensing in Turkey. This is one of those old-fashioned shoot'em ups where everybody around the two leading men drop like flies whenever they ride into an ambush or get strafed by biplanes. Curtis and Bronson radiate charisma and chemistry. Neither completely trusts each other entirely, but they wind up as close-knit friends at fadeout. Collinson captures the beauty and majesty of Turkey, and "Virgin Soldiers" lenser Ken Higgins' widescreen cinematography is as scenic and sweeping as the action. Our heroes, former U.S. Army soldiers Adam Dyer (Tony Curtis of "The Vikings")and Josh Corey (Charles Bronson of "Vera Cruz"), provide an escort for what appears to be a mule train of gold but there are surprises in store for both of them as well as the audience. Collinson stages several eventful action scenes, not the least of which involve a couple of biplanes dropping bombs on an army in the field. Tough-guy character actor Leo V. Gordon, who penned the World War II thriller "Tobruk," wrote the screenplay, and he provides Curtis and Bronson with amusing dialogue that will remind you of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." The ending is a hoot!