Suez

The story of the building of the Suez canal, this highlights both Dwan's virtues and his flaws. The action/catastrophe sequences are marvellously assured without ever going over the top, as is the handling of the human drama. However, in contrast to directors like Walsh, Vidor and Anthony Mann, who use dramatic action to exteriorise the inner tensions of their characters, Dwan - who is concerned with the modest virtues of honesty and fairness - is unable, indeed unwilling, to so combine both strands of his story. Accordingly, Suez is a series of incidents unconnected by dramatic urgency; Dwan, quite simply, is unconcerned with the building of the canal.