Review of Robinson Crusoe

Exiled from his Spanish homeland, director Luis Bunuel set up shop in Mexico. Here he made his only American-financed film, The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. This is a reasonably reliable version of the Daniel Defoe's novel about a 17th century shipwreck victim (Dan O'Herlihy) and his "Man Friday" (James Fernandez). Bunuel cannot resist tossing in his occasional barbs against the smugness of Society--though not so many as to scare away customers. The director's long-standing distaste with the church is discreetly manifested in a few brief scenes wherein Crusoe's faith in God wavers. Magnificently photographed in Pathecolor, Adventures of Robinson Crusoe was released in Mexico two years before its American distribution.