Paul Colt's Blog, page 15
November 6, 2022
The Ballad of Cable Hogue
Cable Hogue (Jason Robards) is a Nar-do-well prospector with two partners who take what little water they have and leave him for dead in the desert. Near death, Hogue comes upon a mud-hole. A little digging reveals a spring, the only water on a stage road between towns. Water he reasons is good as gold. In town he claims the land and treats himself to the charms of saloon prostitute Hildy (Stella Stevens).
Cable Springs fails as a business venture. Stages roll by without need of water. Hildy comes to the Springs to lament her lot. The town’s modernizing morality forces her to leave. She is bound for San Francisco, though she delays her departure for a three-week romantic interlude. As she departs, Hogue’s past partners arrive by stage. Cable lets them believe Cable Springs is a financial success, knowing they will attempt to rob him. When they attempt to steal his ‘stash’, the film’s only violence has Cable gun them down, as a motor car drives by the shootout scene, in no need of water.
Cable decides to catch the next stage west to look for Hildy. As he is preparing to depart, she arrives in a sleek new automobile. San Francisco has treated her handsomely. She is on her way to New Orleans and convinces Cable to join her. Loading his baggage in the car, he bumps the brake, releasing it and is runover. Hogue’s funeral marks the passing of the west.
The film is quite a departure from Peckinpah’s usual penchant for violence with its whimsical, romantic, humorous, and melancholy themes. The Ballad of Cable Hogue is a testimony to Peckinpah’s creative genius and tragic character. Peckinpah’s alcoholism raged during filming. When the weather was bad, director, cast, and crew, drank. The weather was bad a lot. Filming finished nineteen days late and $3 million over budget, $70 thousand of which was bar bill. It finished him with Warner Brothers.
Critic Roger Ebert singled it out as a new western. Gene Siskel lauded Robard’s performance. More recently the film has been ‘rediscovered’ with critical praise for Peckinpah’s “unconventional and original work”.
Next Week: River of No Return
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Ride easy,
Paul
Cable Springs fails as a business venture. Stages roll by without need of water. Hildy comes to the Springs to lament her lot. The town’s modernizing morality forces her to leave. She is bound for San Francisco, though she delays her departure for a three-week romantic interlude. As she departs, Hogue’s past partners arrive by stage. Cable lets them believe Cable Springs is a financial success, knowing they will attempt to rob him. When they attempt to steal his ‘stash’, the film’s only violence has Cable gun them down, as a motor car drives by the shootout scene, in no need of water.
Cable decides to catch the next stage west to look for Hildy. As he is preparing to depart, she arrives in a sleek new automobile. San Francisco has treated her handsomely. She is on her way to New Orleans and convinces Cable to join her. Loading his baggage in the car, he bumps the brake, releasing it and is runover. Hogue’s funeral marks the passing of the west.
The film is quite a departure from Peckinpah’s usual penchant for violence with its whimsical, romantic, humorous, and melancholy themes. The Ballad of Cable Hogue is a testimony to Peckinpah’s creative genius and tragic character. Peckinpah’s alcoholism raged during filming. When the weather was bad, director, cast, and crew, drank. The weather was bad a lot. Filming finished nineteen days late and $3 million over budget, $70 thousand of which was bar bill. It finished him with Warner Brothers.
Critic Roger Ebert singled it out as a new western. Gene Siskel lauded Robard’s performance. More recently the film has been ‘rediscovered’ with critical praise for Peckinpah’s “unconventional and original work”.
Next Week: River of No Return
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
October 29, 2022
Bite the Bullet
Roger Ebert called director Richard Brooks a “Master of the Western on a grand scale”, comparing Bite the Bullet to his earlier film The Professionals. All the critical acclaim for the film wasn’t as positive as Ebert. That said, Ebert had a point.
The film depicts a high stakes endurance horse race, seven-hundred miles cross-country set in the early 1900’s. The screen play was inspired by just such a race that occurred in 1908. The film puts up a two-thousand-dollar prize to the winner. A princely sum on the order of the actual event.
Now add a quirky collection of characters competing for the prize, played by an outstanding ensemble cast. Competitors include two ex-Rough Riders, Sam Clayton (Gene Hackman) and Luke Mathews (James Coburn). You got me already. Coburn is one of my all-time favorites and you never go wrong with Hackman. Add to that pair, loose lady Miss Jones (Candice Bergin), Jack Parker (Dabney Coleman), a ruthless guy with a thorough-bred horse and no intention of losing. Throw in streetwise kid Carbo (Jan-Michael Vincent), broken down cowboy Mister (Ben Johnson) and round out that crowd with English gentleman Sir Harry Norfolk in it for the “Sport of it”, and a Mexican with a toothache and you have the starting line for a wild ride.
Ride they do, but more than ride endurance encounters layered themes touching the characters, their relationships, lives, the times, and more. Clayton and Mathews are comrades in arms. They’ve been through a lot together. Can friendship stand in the way of winner-take-all? Miss Jones is trapped in an abusive relationship. Sir Harry is in it for the Sport of it. Parker is in it to win it no matter the sport of fair play. Old Mister sees the west all he’s ever known passing away before his very eyes with the ever-expanding railroad ‘fencing’ his range. The Mexican with the toothache? He’s there for the title. They empty a cartridge and fit the casing over his aching tooth. He literally bites the bullet.
The race takes its toll as endurance events will, one by one until it comes down to the Rough Riders and Parker. In a victory for sportsmanship and friendship Clayton and Mathews cross the finish line together, co-winners minutes before Parker and his monied mount.
Bite the Bullet was nominated for Academy Awards in Best Sound and Best Original Score
Next Week: The Ballad of Cable Hogue
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Ride easy,
Paul
The film depicts a high stakes endurance horse race, seven-hundred miles cross-country set in the early 1900’s. The screen play was inspired by just such a race that occurred in 1908. The film puts up a two-thousand-dollar prize to the winner. A princely sum on the order of the actual event.
Now add a quirky collection of characters competing for the prize, played by an outstanding ensemble cast. Competitors include two ex-Rough Riders, Sam Clayton (Gene Hackman) and Luke Mathews (James Coburn). You got me already. Coburn is one of my all-time favorites and you never go wrong with Hackman. Add to that pair, loose lady Miss Jones (Candice Bergin), Jack Parker (Dabney Coleman), a ruthless guy with a thorough-bred horse and no intention of losing. Throw in streetwise kid Carbo (Jan-Michael Vincent), broken down cowboy Mister (Ben Johnson) and round out that crowd with English gentleman Sir Harry Norfolk in it for the “Sport of it”, and a Mexican with a toothache and you have the starting line for a wild ride.
Ride they do, but more than ride endurance encounters layered themes touching the characters, their relationships, lives, the times, and more. Clayton and Mathews are comrades in arms. They’ve been through a lot together. Can friendship stand in the way of winner-take-all? Miss Jones is trapped in an abusive relationship. Sir Harry is in it for the Sport of it. Parker is in it to win it no matter the sport of fair play. Old Mister sees the west all he’s ever known passing away before his very eyes with the ever-expanding railroad ‘fencing’ his range. The Mexican with the toothache? He’s there for the title. They empty a cartridge and fit the casing over his aching tooth. He literally bites the bullet.
The race takes its toll as endurance events will, one by one until it comes down to the Rough Riders and Parker. In a victory for sportsmanship and friendship Clayton and Mathews cross the finish line together, co-winners minutes before Parker and his monied mount.
Bite the Bullet was nominated for Academy Awards in Best Sound and Best Original Score
Next Week: The Ballad of Cable Hogue
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Ride easy,
Paul
October 23, 2022
High Plains Drifter
Clint Eastwood directed High Plains Drifter, once again starring as a man with no name, something that could also be said for the rest of the cast. Never heard of any of them. Eastwood’s directorial debut opened to critical acclaim.
A drifter rides into the small mining town of Lago. He is accosted by three toughs he kills one by one. By way of a welcome to town, he rapes townswoman Callie in the livery stable. Town’s people take note of the drifter’s prowess with a gun. The town is terrorized by outlaw Stacy Bridges and the Carlin brothers. Falsely accused of stealing gold from the mine, the town folk watched as they whipped Marshal Jim Duncan to death. About to be released from prison people are terrified the outlaws will return. They offer the drifter anything he wants if he will protect them. He accepts.
Anything he wants takes in a lot of territory. He appoints the butt of town abuse, dwarf Mordecai, Mayor and Sheriff. He takes over the hotel, orders the general store to supply poor Indians the proprietor refuses to serve, and proclaims drinks on the house in the local saloon. Callie and the city fathers decide enough is enough. They plan to kill him. Callie seduces the drifter, slipping out of the room while he is asleep. The would-be murders move in to beat a dummy in bed to death. The drifter greets them with a stick of dynamite, killing those the dynamite didn’t get.
The drifter orders the town painted red. The painted over Lago sign reads Hell. He rides out to intercept the outlaws, who he harasses with long range rifle fire and dynamite they will blame on the town folk. Returning to town the drifter finds the town’s people preparing to defend themselves. They are easily beaten by the outlaws, who the drifter calmly kills. The mine owner attempts to backshoot the drifter. He in turn is backshot by Mordecai. The drifter rides away.
The film was shot on location where an entire town was built in eighteen days. Buildings were constructed to allow indoor scenes to be shot on location. Filming finished two days better than schedule and under budget.
Next Week: Bite the Bullet
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Ride easy,
Paul
A drifter rides into the small mining town of Lago. He is accosted by three toughs he kills one by one. By way of a welcome to town, he rapes townswoman Callie in the livery stable. Town’s people take note of the drifter’s prowess with a gun. The town is terrorized by outlaw Stacy Bridges and the Carlin brothers. Falsely accused of stealing gold from the mine, the town folk watched as they whipped Marshal Jim Duncan to death. About to be released from prison people are terrified the outlaws will return. They offer the drifter anything he wants if he will protect them. He accepts.
Anything he wants takes in a lot of territory. He appoints the butt of town abuse, dwarf Mordecai, Mayor and Sheriff. He takes over the hotel, orders the general store to supply poor Indians the proprietor refuses to serve, and proclaims drinks on the house in the local saloon. Callie and the city fathers decide enough is enough. They plan to kill him. Callie seduces the drifter, slipping out of the room while he is asleep. The would-be murders move in to beat a dummy in bed to death. The drifter greets them with a stick of dynamite, killing those the dynamite didn’t get.
The drifter orders the town painted red. The painted over Lago sign reads Hell. He rides out to intercept the outlaws, who he harasses with long range rifle fire and dynamite they will blame on the town folk. Returning to town the drifter finds the town’s people preparing to defend themselves. They are easily beaten by the outlaws, who the drifter calmly kills. The mine owner attempts to backshoot the drifter. He in turn is backshot by Mordecai. The drifter rides away.
The film was shot on location where an entire town was built in eighteen days. Buildings were constructed to allow indoor scenes to be shot on location. Filming finished two days better than schedule and under budget.
Next Week: Bite the Bullet
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
October 15, 2022
Magnificent Seven Ride
By the time you get to the third sequel to the original the broth gets thin. This time the role of Chris Adams goes to Lee Van Cleef, who is a better choice than George Kennedy; Yule Brenner still owns the Adams Character. The rest of the cast are unrecognizable names with the exception of Mariette Hartly as Ariella, Adams’ wife and Stefanie Powers as Laurie Gunn, one of the mission women in need of rescue. Who wouldn’t want to rescue Stefanie Powers?
Turns out gunfighter now marshal Chris Adams wanted no part of any Mexican rescue heroics. When asked to help a band of farmers defend themselves against the Mexican bandit De Toro he turns his friend, former bounty hunter Jim Mackay down flat. Chris has a load of prisoners bound for the penitentiary. His new wife Ariella pleads with him to release young robbery convict Shelly Donavan. Chris agrees against his better judgment. Donavan celebrates his release by robbing a bank with his pals the Allen brothers. Donavan abducts Ariella.
Chris goes after Donavan accompanied by newspaper man Noah Forbes who wants to do a story on the legendary lawman. They find Ariella dead on the trail. They manage to catch the Allen brothers. Chris demands to know where Donavan is. When the first brother refuses to talk, Chris calmly shoots him. Brother number two reconsiders and talks. Chris shoots him for his trouble. Crossing the Mexican border in pursuit of Donavan, Chris encounters Mackay and his farmers waiting for De Toro. Chris tells Mackay he and his farmers are outgunned and in for a slaughter. Donavan’s trail circles back toward Mackay and his men, where Chris and Noah find the massacre Chris predicted.
Donavan’s trail leads to the mission in Magdalena Mackay hoped to defend. There he finds the farmers defenseless women. Laurie Gunn pleads with Chris to protect them against De Toro’s return. With few options, Chris convinces the prison warden to release the five prisoners recently delivered to his custody to join the De Toro fight. Five plus Chris and Noah makes seven.
On the way to Magdalena the seven raid De Toro’s hacienda, capturing De Toro’s woman. Chris plans a defense of Magdalena comprised of bobby traps and dynamite. In the skirmish De Toro accidently kills his woman. Chis kills De Toro, and the bandits are beaten back. The seven are mostly killed. Chris and Noah survive, deciding to make new lives in Magdalena.
Next Week: High Plains Drifter
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Ride easy,
Paul
Turns out gunfighter now marshal Chris Adams wanted no part of any Mexican rescue heroics. When asked to help a band of farmers defend themselves against the Mexican bandit De Toro he turns his friend, former bounty hunter Jim Mackay down flat. Chris has a load of prisoners bound for the penitentiary. His new wife Ariella pleads with him to release young robbery convict Shelly Donavan. Chris agrees against his better judgment. Donavan celebrates his release by robbing a bank with his pals the Allen brothers. Donavan abducts Ariella.
Chris goes after Donavan accompanied by newspaper man Noah Forbes who wants to do a story on the legendary lawman. They find Ariella dead on the trail. They manage to catch the Allen brothers. Chris demands to know where Donavan is. When the first brother refuses to talk, Chris calmly shoots him. Brother number two reconsiders and talks. Chris shoots him for his trouble. Crossing the Mexican border in pursuit of Donavan, Chris encounters Mackay and his farmers waiting for De Toro. Chris tells Mackay he and his farmers are outgunned and in for a slaughter. Donavan’s trail circles back toward Mackay and his men, where Chris and Noah find the massacre Chris predicted.
Donavan’s trail leads to the mission in Magdalena Mackay hoped to defend. There he finds the farmers defenseless women. Laurie Gunn pleads with Chris to protect them against De Toro’s return. With few options, Chris convinces the prison warden to release the five prisoners recently delivered to his custody to join the De Toro fight. Five plus Chris and Noah makes seven.
On the way to Magdalena the seven raid De Toro’s hacienda, capturing De Toro’s woman. Chris plans a defense of Magdalena comprised of bobby traps and dynamite. In the skirmish De Toro accidently kills his woman. Chis kills De Toro, and the bandits are beaten back. The seven are mostly killed. Chris and Noah survive, deciding to make new lives in Magdalena.
Next Week: High Plains Drifter
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Ride easy,
Paul
October 8, 2022
Guns of the Magnificent Seven
Seven Samurai once more into the breach. This time the breach is set against the backdrop of the late 19th century Mexican Revolution. Federales capture revolutionary Quintero. In desperation, he gives his aid Max O’Leary six hundred dollars to finance his liberation. Revolutionary leaders want to spend the money on guns and ammunition. Max heads for the U.S. border where he hopes to find notorious gunfighter Chris Adams (George Kennedy).
This is where ‘not exactly’ makes its entrance. George Kennedy is a fine actor. Yule Brenner owns Chris Adams. I digress. Max finds Chris saving a man from an unjust hanging. Had to save him. They didn’t have a hearse on the set. I digress again. Chris agrees to help Max. He recruits near hanging victim Keno (Monte Markham) who does his best not exactly ‘Steve McQueen’ down to the wardrobe. They go on to gather Levi Morgan (James Whitmore), an old guy good with a knife. Not exactly James Coburn but close. You get the picture. To this they add unknown actors for Slater, a one-armed shootist, tubercular drifter P.J. and, Cassie, ex-slave handy with dynamite. They ride off to Mexico to that magnificent iconic soundtrack.
They discover the Federales are really bad guys who abuse the peasants including the young son of a revolutionary whose father is in prison and a pretty peasant girl (imagine that) who falls in love with P.J. They reach the prison where Quintero is being held and realize they need reinforcements. The revolutionaries are mad Max spent the money on the seven and won’t help, so Chris liberates a chain-gang and teaches them how to fight. Novel concept that.
The assault on the prison to free Quintero looks doomed until fifty revolutionaries with a patriotic change of heart ride to the rescue. Quintero is freed. Only Chris, Max, Levi of the seven survive. Seven stuff is hazardous business. Chris and Max return the six-hundred-dollars to the peasants and ride for home to that magnificent iconic score.
The film box office did OK in Europe. Critics at home weren’t so kind using terms like “rehash”, “derivative”, and the more colorful, “all the magnificence of a dead burro.” Ouch.
Next Week: Magnificent Seven Ride
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Ride easy,
Paul
This is where ‘not exactly’ makes its entrance. George Kennedy is a fine actor. Yule Brenner owns Chris Adams. I digress. Max finds Chris saving a man from an unjust hanging. Had to save him. They didn’t have a hearse on the set. I digress again. Chris agrees to help Max. He recruits near hanging victim Keno (Monte Markham) who does his best not exactly ‘Steve McQueen’ down to the wardrobe. They go on to gather Levi Morgan (James Whitmore), an old guy good with a knife. Not exactly James Coburn but close. You get the picture. To this they add unknown actors for Slater, a one-armed shootist, tubercular drifter P.J. and, Cassie, ex-slave handy with dynamite. They ride off to Mexico to that magnificent iconic soundtrack.
They discover the Federales are really bad guys who abuse the peasants including the young son of a revolutionary whose father is in prison and a pretty peasant girl (imagine that) who falls in love with P.J. They reach the prison where Quintero is being held and realize they need reinforcements. The revolutionaries are mad Max spent the money on the seven and won’t help, so Chris liberates a chain-gang and teaches them how to fight. Novel concept that.
The assault on the prison to free Quintero looks doomed until fifty revolutionaries with a patriotic change of heart ride to the rescue. Quintero is freed. Only Chris, Max, Levi of the seven survive. Seven stuff is hazardous business. Chris and Max return the six-hundred-dollars to the peasants and ride for home to that magnificent iconic score.
The film box office did OK in Europe. Critics at home weren’t so kind using terms like “rehash”, “derivative”, and the more colorful, “all the magnificence of a dead burro.” Ouch.
Next Week: Magnificent Seven Ride
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
October 1, 2022
The Naked Spur
The Naked Spur screen play is reminiscent of Glen Ford’s manipulative Ben Wade in 3:10 to Yuma. Bounty Hunter Howard Kemp (Jimmy Stewart) recruits prospector Jesse Tate and army veteran Roy Anderson with a less than honorable discharge to track down Ben Vandergroat (Robert Ryan) who is wanted for the murder of a sheriff in Abilene Kansas. Tate and Anderson assume Kemp is a lawman. The trio catch-up with Vandergroat who is traveling with Lina Patch (Janet Leigh), daughter of Vandergroat accomplice killed robbing a bank. When captured, Vandergroat tells Tate and Anderson Kemp is a bounty hunter taking him in to collect a $5,000 reward. Tate and Anderson want shares.
They start down the trail to Abilene. Vandergroat begins to work on his captors trying to convince Tate and Anderson the reward splits better tow-ways than three. They spot a band of Indians following them. Anderson admits they are after him for raping the chief’s daughter. Kemp tells Anderson to make a run for it so the rest will be safe. The Indians catch up. Anderson shoots the chief from ambush. Kemp is wounded in the battle. Lina pulls him to cover. In his fever Kemp mistakes Lina for his estranged fiancée Mary. Vandergroat tell Tate and Anderson Mary sold Kemp’s ranch. He plans to buy it back with the reward, a third won’t cover it.
A storm blows up forcing them to take shelter in a cave. Vandergroat asks Lina to distract Kemp so he can escape. She tells Kemp she is not romantically involved with Vandergroat, he only promised to take her to California. Kemp talks about his ranch. The romantic tension growing between Lina and Kemp comes to a kiss. Vandergroat makes his move to escape only to be dragged back by Kemp. Anderson wants to kill Vandergroat. The reward is dead or alive. Kemp won’t murder him in cold blood. He offers Vandergroat a gun, but Vandergroat won’t face him.
Vandergroat convinces Tate he can lead him to a gold mine. Vandergroat, Lina and Tate steal away. Kemp and Anderson catch them. Vandergroat is killed in a gunfight, his body falling into a raging river where it snags in a fallen tree. Anderson attempts to retrieve the body but is swept away. Kemp and Lina face the future, take the body back or go to California together. They go.
The film released to critical acclaim and box office success grossing nearly $4 million. The screen play earned an Oscar nomination. Rare territory for a western.
Next Week: Guns of the Magnificent Seven
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Ride easy,
Paul
They start down the trail to Abilene. Vandergroat begins to work on his captors trying to convince Tate and Anderson the reward splits better tow-ways than three. They spot a band of Indians following them. Anderson admits they are after him for raping the chief’s daughter. Kemp tells Anderson to make a run for it so the rest will be safe. The Indians catch up. Anderson shoots the chief from ambush. Kemp is wounded in the battle. Lina pulls him to cover. In his fever Kemp mistakes Lina for his estranged fiancée Mary. Vandergroat tell Tate and Anderson Mary sold Kemp’s ranch. He plans to buy it back with the reward, a third won’t cover it.
A storm blows up forcing them to take shelter in a cave. Vandergroat asks Lina to distract Kemp so he can escape. She tells Kemp she is not romantically involved with Vandergroat, he only promised to take her to California. Kemp talks about his ranch. The romantic tension growing between Lina and Kemp comes to a kiss. Vandergroat makes his move to escape only to be dragged back by Kemp. Anderson wants to kill Vandergroat. The reward is dead or alive. Kemp won’t murder him in cold blood. He offers Vandergroat a gun, but Vandergroat won’t face him.
Vandergroat convinces Tate he can lead him to a gold mine. Vandergroat, Lina and Tate steal away. Kemp and Anderson catch them. Vandergroat is killed in a gunfight, his body falling into a raging river where it snags in a fallen tree. Anderson attempts to retrieve the body but is swept away. Kemp and Lina face the future, take the body back or go to California together. They go.
The film released to critical acclaim and box office success grossing nearly $4 million. The screen play earned an Oscar nomination. Rare territory for a western.
Next Week: Guns of the Magnificent Seven
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Ride easy,
Paul
September 24, 2022
Lawman
A revisionist western is what you get when a screen writer with a justice agenda starts with sentiments expressed by a dubious character the likes of Charlie Siringo who is said to have observed, “The only hired killers in the old west were the lawmen, . . . who caused most of the violence.” There you have the premise for Lawman.
Six drunken cowboys from the Bronson ranch near the neighboring town of Sabbath shoot up the streets of Bannock, accidentally killing a bystander. Bannock town marshal Jared Maddox (Burt Lancaster) kills one. He rides into Sabbath delivering the body to Sabbath sheriff, Cotton Ryan (Robert Ryan) along with his demand for the arrest of the other five. The sheriff advises Maddox not to stir-up trouble with wealthy rancher Vincent Branson (Lee J. Cobb). Maddox is resolute. Ryan delivers Maddox’s demand to Bronson.
Bronson’s men refuse to surrender. The rancher offers compensation for the victim. Maddox will have nothing other than unconditional surrender. Bronson’s men plot against him. Two of them show up in Bannock to call out the marshal. Maddox kills one in a face down. Maddox reports the incident to sheriff Ryan. They foil an ambush attempt to kill Maddox by another Branson cowboy. Back in Bannock the city fathers are concerned Maddox’s strident brand of law enforcement is doing the town harm. Confronted by the reality of his work, Maddox realizes he is little more than a professional killer.
Maddox rides into yet another ambush involving Vernon Adams (Robert Duval) one of the five. Adams is wounded while the other shooter escapes. Maddox takes Adams to his home where Adams common law wife Laura is a long ago love interest of Maddox. Old sparks ignite. Maddox asks Laura to come away with him. She agrees, but only if he gives up life as a lawman.
This sets the stage for a violent show down. Bronson and his men come to Bannock looking for Maddox. They are joined by Bannock’s own citizens. In the shootout that follows Maddox kills Bronson’s men including Bronson’s son. In grief, Bronson kills himself. When Adams runs away, Maddox shoots him in the back. Alone and a killer he rides away.
The film was directed by Brit Michael Winner who bemoaned conditions filming in the west. You must bring everything, even your own toilet. Everything stops when a horse uses theirs.
Next Week: The Naked Spur
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Ride easy,
Paul
Six drunken cowboys from the Bronson ranch near the neighboring town of Sabbath shoot up the streets of Bannock, accidentally killing a bystander. Bannock town marshal Jared Maddox (Burt Lancaster) kills one. He rides into Sabbath delivering the body to Sabbath sheriff, Cotton Ryan (Robert Ryan) along with his demand for the arrest of the other five. The sheriff advises Maddox not to stir-up trouble with wealthy rancher Vincent Branson (Lee J. Cobb). Maddox is resolute. Ryan delivers Maddox’s demand to Bronson.
Bronson’s men refuse to surrender. The rancher offers compensation for the victim. Maddox will have nothing other than unconditional surrender. Bronson’s men plot against him. Two of them show up in Bannock to call out the marshal. Maddox kills one in a face down. Maddox reports the incident to sheriff Ryan. They foil an ambush attempt to kill Maddox by another Branson cowboy. Back in Bannock the city fathers are concerned Maddox’s strident brand of law enforcement is doing the town harm. Confronted by the reality of his work, Maddox realizes he is little more than a professional killer.
Maddox rides into yet another ambush involving Vernon Adams (Robert Duval) one of the five. Adams is wounded while the other shooter escapes. Maddox takes Adams to his home where Adams common law wife Laura is a long ago love interest of Maddox. Old sparks ignite. Maddox asks Laura to come away with him. She agrees, but only if he gives up life as a lawman.
This sets the stage for a violent show down. Bronson and his men come to Bannock looking for Maddox. They are joined by Bannock’s own citizens. In the shootout that follows Maddox kills Bronson’s men including Bronson’s son. In grief, Bronson kills himself. When Adams runs away, Maddox shoots him in the back. Alone and a killer he rides away.
The film was directed by Brit Michael Winner who bemoaned conditions filming in the west. You must bring everything, even your own toilet. Everything stops when a horse uses theirs.
Next Week: The Naked Spur
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Ride easy,
Paul
September 17, 2022
The Hour of the Gun
When the critics pan your film because the script is too constrained by history, you might think you were over the target. You might think that, but then the critics are critiquing Hollywood. True enough director John Sturges wanted his second swing at the famous gunfight to be more historically correct than his earlier treatment of last week’s Gunfight at the OK Corral. This film opens with the gunfight itself and follows it up with events of the vendetta ride. The further you get away from the corral, the fuzzier the history becomes.
The gunfight has all the players in their proper historical order, role, and outcome. Virgil Earp (Frank Converse) is City Marshal in Tombstone, assisted by brother Wyatt (James Garner) deputy marshal, brother Morgan (Sam Melville), and deputized gambler Doc Holliday (Jason Robards). They face off against Ike Clanton (Robert Ryan) and his band of unnamed outlaw rustler cutthroats, presumably including the McLaury brothers thrown in with the Clantons. Notably Ike Clanton survives this one as he did the real McCoy.
In the aftermath the Earp brothers are charged with murder, tried, and acquitted. Virgil is wounded in an ambush while making his evening rounds. Morgan is assassinated in a billiard parlor, leading Wyatt and a posse including younger brother James, Texas Jack Vermillion, Turkey Creek Johnson, and Doc Holiday on the script version of the vendetta ride. This is where things begin to blur into Hollywood fantasy land. In the film, Doc assumes something of a leadership role over the posse. When Wyatt prefers killing the men they pursue, rather than arrest them, Doc calls him out for his tactics. Not sure where that bit of moral rectitude came from, let alone how it escaped the historical record. Oh, well. Meanwhile Ike Clanton escapes to Mexico.
With most of the shooting over, Doc’s tuberculosis forces him to seek treatment at a sanitorium in Colorado where he and Wyatt sentimentally part ways. Tombstone city fathers attempt to talk Wyatt into ending the bloodshed with the promise of a high-profile job in territorial law enforcement. Wyatt turns them down in favor of pursuing Ike in Mexico where he puts an end to ‘Old man Clanton’ in a go for your gun shoot out. Somehow the historical record missed all of this last.
Next Week: Lawman
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Ride easy,
Paul
The gunfight has all the players in their proper historical order, role, and outcome. Virgil Earp (Frank Converse) is City Marshal in Tombstone, assisted by brother Wyatt (James Garner) deputy marshal, brother Morgan (Sam Melville), and deputized gambler Doc Holliday (Jason Robards). They face off against Ike Clanton (Robert Ryan) and his band of unnamed outlaw rustler cutthroats, presumably including the McLaury brothers thrown in with the Clantons. Notably Ike Clanton survives this one as he did the real McCoy.
In the aftermath the Earp brothers are charged with murder, tried, and acquitted. Virgil is wounded in an ambush while making his evening rounds. Morgan is assassinated in a billiard parlor, leading Wyatt and a posse including younger brother James, Texas Jack Vermillion, Turkey Creek Johnson, and Doc Holiday on the script version of the vendetta ride. This is where things begin to blur into Hollywood fantasy land. In the film, Doc assumes something of a leadership role over the posse. When Wyatt prefers killing the men they pursue, rather than arrest them, Doc calls him out for his tactics. Not sure where that bit of moral rectitude came from, let alone how it escaped the historical record. Oh, well. Meanwhile Ike Clanton escapes to Mexico.
With most of the shooting over, Doc’s tuberculosis forces him to seek treatment at a sanitorium in Colorado where he and Wyatt sentimentally part ways. Tombstone city fathers attempt to talk Wyatt into ending the bloodshed with the promise of a high-profile job in territorial law enforcement. Wyatt turns them down in favor of pursuing Ike in Mexico where he puts an end to ‘Old man Clanton’ in a go for your gun shoot out. Somehow the historical record missed all of this last.
Next Week: Lawman
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Ride easy,
Paul
September 10, 2022
Gunfight at the OK Corral
The title for this film is guilty of false advertising. Yes, they had a gunfight. The sign at the corral said it was OK. Past the names of some characters that is as far as the truth went. This 1957 version of the famous gunfight starred Burt Lancaster as Wyatt Earp and Kirk Douglas as Doc Holliday. Both fine actors. Neither in the conversation for best Wyatt or best Doc. The film was directed by John Sturges, who has a following. The screen play was written by novelist Leon Uris, who should have taken the Exodus and run.
Let’s separate fact from Hollywood fiction. The Film opens in Fort Griffin Texas with Doc Holliday killing a man named Ed Bailey. Could have been an historically accurate start, but Hollywood would have none of that. In the film, Baily is in town looking for Doc to avenge Doc’s murder of his brother. In truth the pair got into a dispute over a card game, Bailey went for a gun and Doc stabbed him with a knife, he didn’t throw as the movie portrays. Doc is arrested for murder. Wyatt Earp is also in Griffin at the time. This is where the film alleges Wyatt and Doc first met over friendly card games. The film has Wyatt and Doc’s girlfriend Kate help him escape a lynch mob. Kate did. Wyatt didn’t.
Wyatt and Doc are next reunited when Doc and Kate arrive in Dodge City. The Dodge City script is unfettered by fact apart from the turbulent relationship between Doc and Kate the storyline for which gives history a passing nod. The Dodge sojourn ends when Wyatt receives a letter from brother Virgil asking him to help clean-up Tombstone. In truth the Earp’s, Wyatt, Morgan, James, and Virgil all went to Tombstone in hopes of cashing in on a rich silver strike.
Fast forward to Tombstone. Now the story line pits the Clanton cowboy rustlers against Earp law enforcement officers. At this point Hollywood shuffles the roles of the brothers like a deck of marked cards. Clanton and company plan to ambush Wyatt while making his rounds in town. Mistakenly they kill youngest brother James, leading to the gunfight. The ambush, targeting Virgil happened after the gunfight as did the assassination of Morgan Earp which gave rise to Wyatt’s famous vendetta ride. The gunfight in the film involves shooting and smoke. Facts depart there. All the Clanton’s are killed. Morgan and Virgil are wounded.
The film was critically well received, largely due to Lancaster and Douglas.
Next Week: The Hour of the Gun
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Ride easy,
Paul
Let’s separate fact from Hollywood fiction. The Film opens in Fort Griffin Texas with Doc Holliday killing a man named Ed Bailey. Could have been an historically accurate start, but Hollywood would have none of that. In the film, Baily is in town looking for Doc to avenge Doc’s murder of his brother. In truth the pair got into a dispute over a card game, Bailey went for a gun and Doc stabbed him with a knife, he didn’t throw as the movie portrays. Doc is arrested for murder. Wyatt Earp is also in Griffin at the time. This is where the film alleges Wyatt and Doc first met over friendly card games. The film has Wyatt and Doc’s girlfriend Kate help him escape a lynch mob. Kate did. Wyatt didn’t.
Wyatt and Doc are next reunited when Doc and Kate arrive in Dodge City. The Dodge City script is unfettered by fact apart from the turbulent relationship between Doc and Kate the storyline for which gives history a passing nod. The Dodge sojourn ends when Wyatt receives a letter from brother Virgil asking him to help clean-up Tombstone. In truth the Earp’s, Wyatt, Morgan, James, and Virgil all went to Tombstone in hopes of cashing in on a rich silver strike.
Fast forward to Tombstone. Now the story line pits the Clanton cowboy rustlers against Earp law enforcement officers. At this point Hollywood shuffles the roles of the brothers like a deck of marked cards. Clanton and company plan to ambush Wyatt while making his rounds in town. Mistakenly they kill youngest brother James, leading to the gunfight. The ambush, targeting Virgil happened after the gunfight as did the assassination of Morgan Earp which gave rise to Wyatt’s famous vendetta ride. The gunfight in the film involves shooting and smoke. Facts depart there. All the Clanton’s are killed. Morgan and Virgil are wounded.
The film was critically well received, largely due to Lancaster and Douglas.
Next Week: The Hour of the Gun
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Ride easy,
Paul
September 3, 2022
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia is one of those Avant Garde films coming out ahead of its time. Sam Peckinpah wrote and directed this low budget contemporary western set in Mexico starring Warren Oates. We previously previewed it when we profiled Oates last year. This time we’ll focus on Peckinpah and the films reception. For those of you who may not have been along for the ride on Oates, we recap.
The teenage daughter of Mexican crime boss known as El Jeffe turns up pregnant. She identifies the father as El Jeffe under-boss Alfredo Garcia. El Jeffe offers a million-dollar bounty to anyone who brings him the head of Garcia. Two hit men take up the search. They visit a bar Garcia is known to frequent. Bennie (Oates), bar manager and down and out musician plays dumb at first. Bennie visits his girlfriend who knows Garcia. She tells him Garcia died in a car accident.
Bennie tells the hit men he’ll bring them Garcia’s head for ten-thousand dollars. Bennie and his girlfriend head for the grave. Along the way they are attacked by two bikers Bennie kills. Assaulted by grave robbers who kill Bennie’s girlfriend and take the head, leaving him for dead half buried in the grave. Bennie tracks down the grave robbers, killing them and recovering the head. He is next assaulted by members of Garcia’s family. His killing is interrupted when the hit men arrive. They machine gun the family though one of them is killed. The surviving hit man turns on Bennie. Bennie kills him. After that the film becomes violent. Bennie guns down El Jeffe’s crime syndicate, bodyguards and El Jeffe himself while developing a friendship of sorts with Garcia’s head.
Peckinpah shot the film in Mexico with particular attention to location and authenticity. The bar he chose for Bennie to work in, for example had more than a cinematic criminal vibe. The violence, grit, exaggerated pulp script was captured in zooms, camera angles, and slow motions shot with editing in mind. Peckinpah claimed the film was the only one of his films that ever came out as intended.
A box office bust and a critical catastrophe at the time of its release, the film is numbered among the fifty worst of all time. For all the bad reviews, Roger Ebert saw tragic character through all the blood and gore. Gene Siskel lauded Peckinpah’s portrayal of societies’ outcasts. Glimmers of acclaim likely account for the film gaining some following in recent years.
Next Week: Gunfight at the OK Corral
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Ride easy,
Paul
The teenage daughter of Mexican crime boss known as El Jeffe turns up pregnant. She identifies the father as El Jeffe under-boss Alfredo Garcia. El Jeffe offers a million-dollar bounty to anyone who brings him the head of Garcia. Two hit men take up the search. They visit a bar Garcia is known to frequent. Bennie (Oates), bar manager and down and out musician plays dumb at first. Bennie visits his girlfriend who knows Garcia. She tells him Garcia died in a car accident.
Bennie tells the hit men he’ll bring them Garcia’s head for ten-thousand dollars. Bennie and his girlfriend head for the grave. Along the way they are attacked by two bikers Bennie kills. Assaulted by grave robbers who kill Bennie’s girlfriend and take the head, leaving him for dead half buried in the grave. Bennie tracks down the grave robbers, killing them and recovering the head. He is next assaulted by members of Garcia’s family. His killing is interrupted when the hit men arrive. They machine gun the family though one of them is killed. The surviving hit man turns on Bennie. Bennie kills him. After that the film becomes violent. Bennie guns down El Jeffe’s crime syndicate, bodyguards and El Jeffe himself while developing a friendship of sorts with Garcia’s head.
Peckinpah shot the film in Mexico with particular attention to location and authenticity. The bar he chose for Bennie to work in, for example had more than a cinematic criminal vibe. The violence, grit, exaggerated pulp script was captured in zooms, camera angles, and slow motions shot with editing in mind. Peckinpah claimed the film was the only one of his films that ever came out as intended.
A box office bust and a critical catastrophe at the time of its release, the film is numbered among the fifty worst of all time. For all the bad reviews, Roger Ebert saw tragic character through all the blood and gore. Gene Siskel lauded Peckinpah’s portrayal of societies’ outcasts. Glimmers of acclaim likely account for the film gaining some following in recent years.
Next Week: Gunfight at the OK Corral
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Ride easy,
Paul
