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
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
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