Before going into the furniture business full-time, actor
George Montgomery produced and directed a number of lively Philippine-based actioners. In Samar, Montgomery plays a mercenary who is shipped off to a 19th-century Spanish penal colony. The man in charge of Samar, played by
Gilbert Roland, is a kindly sort who operates his prison on democratic principles. Evil inspector
Nico Minardos disapproves of Roland's humanitarian treatment of his prisoners, and orders that Samar be closed. Roland responds by destroying the camp, freeing the prisoners, and taking Minardos hostage. With Montgomery's help, Roland escapes into the jungle, seeking out a new, more remote location for his idealized prison without walls. Samar is more laudable for its good intentions than its uneven execution. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide