An American journalist (Dale Robertson), traveling on the Intercontinental Express through the former Yugoslavia, meets a beautiful but enigmatic woman (Luciana Paluzzi) on board, and gets caught up in an adventure involving the search for some "one-eyed soldiers", who hold the key (literally) to a massive fortune. Of course, those two are not the only ones involved in this peculiar treasure hunt. An even bigger mystery than the one related to the title is how Luciana Paluzzi, who had shown the whole world that she combined top-class looks with a commanding screen presence with her role as the classic femme fatale Fiona Volpe in the James Bond film "Thunderball" in 1965, found herself in this obviously B-grade production just one year later. The story is murky and generally uninteresting until the last 10 minutes or so. Paluzzi herself begins as a more dynamic character than she ends up being. This film is only for her completists. (*1/2)
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gridoon202431 July 2008
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Leofwine_draca9 June 2022An interestingly unique attempt at the Eurospy genre, with our hero - former western star Dale Robertson - a reporter rather than a spy. It was made in Yugoslavia, with various figures competing in their hunt for hidden treasure and the meaning of the titular figures. Luciana Paluzzi is always a welcome presence and there's plenty of mild intrigue with characters like the "fat man" recurring. Not amazing, but not too bad either.
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If nothing else, The One-Eyed Soldiers, which featured plenty of mediocrity on all levels, was at least good for a few unintentional laughs. Yeah. Thank goodness for that.
The truth of the matter is, The One-Eyed Soldiers' story was so predictably stale that at times it bordered dangerously close to the very brink of downright boringness. It's true.
A lot of this film's problems lay in the pitiful performances given by its 2 starring leads, Dale Robertson (the now pudgy movie heart-throb of the 1950s) and Luciana Paluzzi (the marginally glamorous, but totally talentless Italian actress).
Robertson, who played the arrogant American news-reporter, Richard Owen, looked far too bloated and bored to be at all convincing in his role as a supposedly suave, globe-trotting journalist.
And, with that in mind, I honestly can't say that Paluzzi fared much better than Robertson did in her role as Gava Berens, daughter of the murdered UN Medical Relief Organizer, Dr. Charles Berens.
From my perspective, Paluzzi was, without question, one of the most preposterous femmes fatales to ever grace the silver screen. I mean, there she was one minute all big and brave, confidently brandishing a revolver and ordering people around like it was nobody's business, and then in the very next moment she was literally cowering away like a total wimp behind her big, brave protector, Owen. Sheesh! Like, give me a break, already!
Unfortunately, with these 2 B-Grade actors starring as the leads, that automatically designated them as the only option for on-screen lovers. And when that magic-moment finally arrived for their first big "movie-kiss", it was such a dreary event to behold that it all but destroyed what was left of this film's already flimsy chance at survival, big time. I mean, this less-than-magic-moment was about as thrilling to watch as viewing a pair of slimy slugs lazily going at it during mating season. Like, talk about "yuk" to the max.
Anyways - The One-Eyed Soldiers' story concerned the events the quickly followed after a dying man passes along a cryptic message about the whereabouts of an incredible hidden treasure, amounting to the fantastic sum of $15 million. -
classicsoncall11 September 2012With his dying words, "July the 18th, the One-Eyed Soldiers", the head of a United Nations Relief Organization sets off a flurry of activity to locate a missing treasure worth fifteen million dollars. This probably sounds like it would be pretty exciting stuff but it was no Tales of Wells Fargo. For the uninitiated, that was Dale Robertson's TV Western series back in the late Fifties/early Sixties. It looks like it didn't take that long for Robertson to pack on a few pounds for his star turn here, and would you get a load of that hair! He really didn't look like leading man material here opposite Lucianna Paluzzi, but then again, this was a quick one-eighty for her as well. Paluzzi hit the big screen as a James Bond femme-fatale the same year in the classic "Thunderball" opposite Sean Connery.
You know, I had a thought during that early scene when the midget gangster had some poor sap hung over the ocean. Since the doomed guy was going to die anyway, why not just reach out and grab the little bugger as the rope snapped. Wouldn't that have been something? It would have been at least as funny as the Ugly Lady/Fat Man case of mistaken identity.
Well I don't know that there's a lot to recommend here. Fans of either of the principals might want to catch it just to be able to say they did so. The question I'd have to pose to the folks at Mill Creek Entertainment is why they packaged this flick in with their set of two hundred fifty Western movies. Could it be the story was set in a mythical West European country? -
StrictlyConfidential25 January 2022"The One-Eyed Soldiers" was originally released back in 1966.
Anyway - As the story goes - A UN Medical Relief Organization chief doctor and also a former soldier dies while trying to elude some pursuers. With his last breath, he passes along a cryptic message about a hidden treasure of $15 million. Soon, the doctor's daughter, an innocent bystander, and a mysterious man are all on the trail of recovering the fortune.
Believe me, this one could've been a whole lot better than it was. -
Billsbarandgrill2 February 2018Being an undying (at least I hope so) fan of Dale Robertson's, who I think needed a jolt of his younger man's enthusiasm here, I bought an inexpensive version of this film in Spanish, of which I can parse out a few words here and there. I don't want to hear it in English. Dale, who I really like, was all too grim and stiff in this film to be likeable. I didn't get to hear his voice, as it was dubbed in Spanish, but that was all I feel I missed in my version. Luciana is a wimpy heroine, and I don't like female nudity, or whipping scenes. Stupid! On all levels, insulting to the intelligence of a two-year-old, The One-Eyed Soldiers lost whatever virtue it may have had from that scene on. Dale's own production company produced this movie, and I guess he thought he had to star in it. He was a better actor than this film, and a much better man! He should have held out for some decent, homey pictures, instead of this schlock stuff. It bothers me that he thought so little of himself that he didn't. I'm a huge Tales of Wells Fargo fan, and this film in comparison is a weak, dim bit of forgettable celluloid. I can't rank it above a two, and that only because some of the actions scenes are good and the locales are intriguing. A waste of Dale's potential. He never knew when he was short-changing his own talent. A shame a better agent than himself didn't intervene in his work at this time in his career. A better movie of this era is Blood on the Arrow. I recommend watching it instead.
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larryanderson28 March 2020Made in 1967 at the end or the Euro-Spy cycle this cleverly plotted movie isn't all that bad to watch from start to end. (all the other reviews seemed to hate it). Just try and figure out the complex ending. Watchable just for the FUN of it. If you enjoy the movies made during this era you will also enjoy this one.