Even at the height of his stardom, Marlon Brando was prepared to take chances by accepting challenging roles.
Here, he plays Sir William Walker, a manipulative English secret agent and adventurer who is sent by his government to the Portuguese island of Quiemada in the Caribbean early in the 19th century.
His mission is to wreck the sugar trade monopoly, a duty that results in open warfare.
This attack on colonial manipulation is clumsily handled at times by Italian director Gillo Pontecorvo, who made the remarkable documentary-style epic The Battle of Algiers, but it still has scenes of enormous visual power, and Brando is magnificent.
Although set in the Caribbean, the film was actually made in Italy.
Sir William Walker
Marlon Brando
Jose Dolores
Evaristo Marquez
Teddy Sanchez
Renato Salvatori
Shelton
Norman Hill
General Prada
Tom Lyons
Guarina
Wanani
Juanito
Joseph Persuad
Henry
Giampiero Albertini
Director
Gillo Pontecorvo