Jedi Council Forums - Western Movies: Now Disc. "Dances With Wolves" (1990)

Jedi Council Forums » JC Community » The Amphitheatre »

Post Reply | Active Topic Notification | Previous Active Topic | Next Active Topic

« 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 - Previous | Next | Reload

Author	Topic: Western Movies: Now Disc. "Dances With Wolves" (1990)
Zaz Title: Manager: The Amphitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 1/15 7:19pm Subject: RE: Western Movies: Now Disc. "Butch Cassidy & and the Sundance Kid" (1969)
	An anachronistic, silly and lightweight semi-Western. Katherine Ross is a very, very, VERY bad actress; the men are better, but this vehicle isn't worthy of either of them. Never liked it.
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
RX_Sith Registered: Mar '06	Date Posted: 1/19 12:12pm Subject: RE: Western Movies: Now Disc. "Once Upon a Time in the West" (1969)
	Once Upon a Time in the West (1969). Once Upon a Time in the West (originally released in Italy in 1968 under the title C'era una volta il West) and released in the United States on May of 1969, is an epic spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone. Its critical acclaim was not immediately forthcoming, yet it has matured into an undeniable classic.[1][2] The film stars Henry Fonda unusually cast as the villain Frank, Charles Bronson as his nemesis "Harmonica", Jason Robards as the generally benign bandit Cheyenne and Claudia Cardinale as a newly-widowed homesteader with a past as a prostitute, Jill. It is the first part of a loose trilogy of epic, elegiac films that examine social and political issues from American history. It is followed by 1971's A Fistful of Dynamite (known alternatively as Once Upon a Time... The Revolution or Duck, You Sucker) and 1984's Once Upon a Time in America. Tagline: * There were three men in her life: one to take her, one to love her, and one to kill her. Plot The story opens as three men appear at an isolated train station in Arizona. A chalkboard shows that the train from Flagstone will be two hours late, plenty of time for the opening credits. Finally a train stops and leaves behind a man playing a harmonica (Charles Bronson). He asks for a notorious outlaw named Frank (Henry Fonda), whom he made an appointment to meet. Frank himself has not come, sending three of his men in his place to ambush the mysterious stranger. One of the men admits that it "looks like we're shy one horse," since there are only three horses for four men. Bronson replies, "You brought two too many." A showdown ensues. Bronson shoots his would-be killers but is wounded in the process. On the remote McBain ranch, "Sweetwater," Brett McBain (Frank Wolff) and his family are preparing a feast for the arrival of his new wife, Jill (Claudia Cardinale). But they are shot and killed by the evil Frank and his gang, who leave part of a leather duster like those worn by the gang of the generally benign bandit Cheyenne (Jason Robards) in order to pin the blame on him. A short time later, Jill arrives in Flagstone by train from New Orleans and takes a carriage to the McBain ranch. Along the way, the driver makes a stop at a roadside establishment, and Jill follows him inside. Cheyenne enters after a noisy shootout (heard but not seen) with his prison escort. The man with the harmonica is also there, and Cheyenne calls him simply "Harmonica." Cheyenne helps himself to Harmonica's gun to force another patron to shoot apart the chain between his shackled wrists. His men arrive late, and he tells them, "You're right on time ... to bury my escort." Taking note of the dusters Cheyenne's men are wearing, Harmonica tells of his own shootout earlier: "I saw three of these dusters a short time ago; they were waitin' for a train. Inside the dusters there were three men. ... Inside the men there were three bullets." Cheyenne says that's a crazy story, because no one but his own men would have the guts to wear such dusters around those parts, and his own men would not get killed. As Jill nears the McBain ranch, she sees a group of people standing outside. She is heartbroken to see her dead husband and his children. The crowd came expecting to be wedding guests, but Jill tells them she married McBain a month ago in New Orleans--it was to be a surprise. The funeral is just ending when the fake evidence Frank planted is found, and the men form a posse to hunt down Cheyenne. Jill stays at the ranch and searches the house for anything of value, as McBain told her he was rich. She finds only some miniature buildings, including a model train station. The next morning, Cheyenne and his gang arrive. The posse chased him all night until he eluded them in the middle of the desert. He has come to see the scene of his alleged crime. Jill serves coffee, and there grows a mutual respect between them before he leaves. Then Harmonica appears with what at first seem to be threatening gestures toward Jill, but he protects her from two of Frank's men who have been sent to kill her. He dispatches them with ease, and Cheyenne, observing from a distance, sees that Harmonica not only plays but is also an excellent shooter. Frank is taken to task by railroad tycoon Morton (Gabriele Ferzetti), for whom he works as a thug. Morton wanted Frank to scare the McBains, not kill them. Crippled and slowly dying of tuberculosis of the bones, Morton only rarely leaves his plush private rail car. Frank has been with him since he started building his railroad in sight of the Atlantic, and Morton hopes to reach the Pacific before he dies. Frank has ambitions to become a businessman himself--maybe even take control of Morton's empire--but Morton tells him, "You'll never succeed in being like me." Frank doesn't understand that money is the only weapon more powerful than a gun. Jill comes to town to speak to the laundry proprietor, Wobbles. She wants him to arrange a meeting with Frank. Harmonica follows Wobbles to Morton's train and sneaks aboard but is soon discovered. Frank demands to know who he is, but Harmonica gives only names of men Frank has murdered. Frank kills Wobbles and has his men tie up Harmonica. He leaves to capture Jill himself, while three of his men stay behind to guard Harmonica. Cheyenne has also sneaked aboard--he kills Frank's men but spares Morton. He and Harmonica team up to go rescue Jill. At the ranch, supplies sufficient to construct eight buildings have arrived. Harmonica tells Cheyenne that McBain knew the railroad would have to come past Sweetwater to access its remote source of water. McBain bought the materials needed to turn his ranch into a small town, and he procured the rights to operate the depot himself, fulfilling his dream. He paid for the supplies with cash, so they now belong to Jill. The contract (which Harmonica has seen) specifies the station must be built by the time the tracks get there, and Cheyenne puts his men to work building it. That night the sadistic Frank has his way with the captured Jill, while also insulting her over her past (she was a prostitute in New Orleans before marrying McBain). She gives herself to him to escape certain execution. Frank considers marrying her to get the land but knows he wouldn't be any good as a husband: "Too bad. We'll have to think of another solution--simpler, quicker." In the large saloon in Flagstone, Brett McBain's property is to be sold at auction. Jill is present, and the sheriff (Keenan Wynn) presides. Frank has a plan to buy the McBain ranch cheap: his men bid $500 and intimidate anyone else who tries to bid. But Harmonica and Cheyenne have a plan of their own. Harmonica bids $5,000 and "delivers" the wanted outlaw Cheyenne for a reward in that amount to win the auction. The sheriff puts Cheyenne on the train to the prison at Yuma, but two of Cheyenne's men also board. Back in the saloon, Jill congratulates Harmonica on getting a good deal, but he says he doesn't invest in land. Frank arrives and Jill goes upstairs to take a bath. Frank asks again who Harmonica is, but Harmonica gives only more names of Frank's victims. Frank claims the land belongs to him (he had the auction rigged, after all). He puts down $5,001 and tells Harmonica: "You got yourself in somethin's bigger'n you are. You got a chance to get out easy, you better take it." Harmonica declines; the ranch is Jill's. Morton has had it with Frank's butcher tactics. Away from town on his train, he asks to join a poker game with four of Frank's men, who are now guarding him. Instead of cards he deals large sums of money to buy their loyalty. One rides into town to inform the others, and they lie in wait for Frank when he exits the saloon. Mysteriously, Harmonica keeps the gunmen from killing Frank and lets him get away. This angers Jill, who wishes Frank dead, but Harmonica explains that not letting them kill him isn't the same thing as saving him. Frank arrives at Morton's train to find a scene of carnage from a big shootout between his and Cheyenne's gangs. Morton is wounded and dying. Frank is about to finish him off but changes his mind, and Morton dies trying to crawl to a mud puddle. The track-laying crews have arrived at Sweetwater, and workers are completing the station and building the town. Harmonica waits for Frank at the gate to Jill's house, but Cheyenne arrives first and goes inside to have more coffee with her. He washes up and shaves a bit, and he advises Jill to take water to the workers and let them enjoy the sight of a beautiful woman. He tells her that men like him and Harmonica are not right for her. Men like that have something inside, he says, "something to do with death." Frank finally arrives at the gate and says, "I know that now you'll tell me what you're after." Harmonica's motive for revenge is revealed in a flashback. Long ago, Frank hanged Harmonica's older brother. Harmonica, then a boy, was forced to stand and support his brother, who stood on the boy's shoulders with his neck in a noose. Both had their hands bound behind their backs. His brother would hang when the boy collapsed. Frank told him to "keep your lovin' brother happy" and put a harmonica in his mouth. His brother died, and it left him scarred and thirsty for vengeance. Now he faces Frank in their final showdown. Harmonica makes his move; the men draw and fire. Frank loses. As he's dying Frank asks again, "Who are you?" In answer, Harmonica pulls the old, battered harmonica from the lanyard around his neck and puts it into Frank's mouth. It brings back Frank's memory of the hanging, and he nods weakly in recognition before dying. Harmonica comes into the house to get his gear. Jill asks if he will return to Sweetwater someday, and he responds with a doubtful "Someday", as Cheyenne leaves too. As the two men ride off, Cheyenne stops, gets off his horse and drops to the ground. Harmonica goes back to him and learns he was shot in the gut by Morton himself, "Mr. Choo-Choo." He asks Harmonica not to look at him while he's dying, and Harmonica looks away until he hears Cheyenne fall over dead. Harmonica takes the body away, draped over Cheyenne's horse. The work train arrives on the newly laid tracks, and Jill takes jugs of water out to the workers. Cast Actor Role Henry Fonda Frank Claudia Cardinale Jill McBain Jason Robards Cheyenne Charles Bronson Harmonica Gabriele Ferzetti Morton Paolo Stoppa Sam Woody Strode Stony Jack Elam Snaky Keenan Wynn Sheriff Frank Wolff Brett McBain Lionel Stander Barman Henry Fonda did not accept Leone's first offer to play Frank, so Leone flew to New York to convince him, telling him: "Picture this: the camera shows a gunman from the waist down pulling his gun and shooting a running child. The camera pans up to the gunman's face and...it's Henry Fonda." After meeting with Leone, Fonda called his friend Eli Wallach, who advised him to do the film, as "You will have the time of your life." Sergio Leone originally offered the role of Harmonica to Clint Eastwood--when he turned it down, Charles Bronson was hired. James Coburn was also approached for Harmonica but demanded too much money. Actor Al Mulock (featured in the opening train sequence as well as in Leone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly) committed suicide during shooting of the film by leaping from his hotel room in full costume. Frank Wolff, the actor who plays McBain, also committed suicide in a Rome hotel in 1971. Production Origin of the film After making his stunning American civil war epic The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Leone had intended to retire from making Westerns, believing he had said all he wanted to say. He had come across the novel The Hoods by "Harry Grey" (a pseudonym), an autobiographical book based on the author's own experiences as a Jewish hood during Prohibition, and planned to adapt it into a film (this would eventually, seventeen years later, become his final film, Once Upon A Time In America). However, Leone was offered only Westerns by the Hollywood studios. United Artists (who had produced the Dollars Trilogy) offered him the opportunity to make a film starring Charlton Heston, Kirk Douglas and Rock Hudson, but Leone refused. However, when Paramount offered Leone a generous budget along with access to Henry Fonda, his favorite actor whom he had wanted to work with for virtually all of his career, Leone accepted this offer. Leone commissioned then-film critics (and future directors) Bernardo Bertolucci and Dario Argento to help him develop the film in late 1966. The men spent much of the following year watching and discussing numerous classic Westerns such as High Noon, The Iron Horse and The Searchers at Leone's house, and constructed a story made up almost entirely of "references" to American Westerns (see below). (see Frayling) Ever since The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which originally ran for three hours, Leone's films were usually cut (often quite dramatically) for box office release. Leone was very conscious of the length of Once Upon a Time in the West during filming and later commissioned Sergio Donati, who had worked on several of Leone's other films, to help him refine the screenplay, largely to curb the length of the film towards the end of production. Many of the film's most memorable lines of dialogue came from Donati, or from the film's English dialogue director, expatriate American actor Mickey Knox. Style With Once Upon a Time in the West, Leone chose a different path to styling the film, and this can be distinguished from his earlier westerns. Whereas the "Dollars" films were quirky and up-tempo, a celebratory yet tongue-in-cheek parody of the icons of the wild west, Once upon a Time in the West is much slower in pace and sombre in theme. Leone's distinctive style, which is very different from, but very much influenced by, Akira Kurosawa's Sanshiro Sugata, is still present but has been modified for the beginning of Leone's second, the so-called "Once Upon a Time", trilogy. The characters in this film are also beginning to change markedly over their predecessors in the "Dollars" westerns. They are not quite as defined and, unusually for Leone characters up to this point, they begin to change (or at least attempt to) over the course of the story. This signals the start of the second phase of Leone's style, which would be further developed in A Fistful of Dynamite and Once Upon a Time in America. Themes and motifs A major motif of the film is the railroad; its advent heralds the arrival of civilization and culture, marking the death of the mythic Old West. This captures in miniature the dying-off of the old cultural heroes in the wake of the modern world, where it is the ordinary man who is important. The West was seen by Leone as the last environment of the old-style hero, and the film is a nostalgic look back. Running parallel to this is Leone's sadness at the demise of the mythical Wild West as told by cinema, and the film is his way of laying to rest the old Hollywood-style western heroes and legends, as the film's title suggests. The climactic duel between Harmonica (Bronson) and Frank (Fonda) brings these messages into focus. Harmonica often acts as the thematic voice of the film and has been waiting for Frank (who has been trying to become a businessman throughout the story) to show his irrepressible true colors as a figure of the "ancient race" and engage him in a fated gun duel. Another major theme is water. The transformation of the central character Jill (Cardinale) all takes place due to the water on her land, and there are several scenes involving water being drunk or served. A well and its water have a central role in the plot as the fuel that nourishes the New West, and the Pacific Ocean plays prominently in Morton's motivational dream to build a trans-American railroad. Pacing The film features long, slow scenes in which there is very little dialogue and little happens, broken by brief and sudden violence. Leone was far more interested in the rituals preceding violence than in the violence itself. The tone of the film is consistent with the arid semi-desert in which the story unfolds, and imbues it with a feeling of realism that contrasts with the elaborately choreographed gunplay. Music Main article: Once Upon A Time In The West (Soundtrack) The music was written by composer Ennio Morricone, Leone's regular collaborator, who wrote the score under Leone's direction before filming began. As in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, the stirring music contributes to the film's mythic or operatic grandeur and, like the music for The Good the Bad and the Ugly, is considered one of Morricone's greatest compositions. The film features leitmotifs that relate to each of the main characters (each with their own unique theme music) as well as to the spirit of the American West. It was Leone's desire to have the music available and played during filming. Movie references Leone's intent was to take the stock conventions of the American Westerns of John Ford, Howard Hawks and others, and rework them in an ironic fashion, essentially reversing their intended meaning in their original sources to create a darker connotation. The most obvious example of this is the casting of veteran movie good guy Henry Fonda as the villainous Frank, but there are also many other, more subtle reversals throughout the film. According to film critic and historian Christopher Frayling, the film quotes from as many as 30 classic American Westerns. (See this discussion, which lists many references confirmed by Frayling, Leone and others, as well as speculative ones.) Some of the major films used as references for the movie include: * High Noon. The opening sequence is similar to the opening High Noon, in which three bad guys (Lee Van Cleef, Sheb Wooley and Robert J. Wilke) wait at a station for the arrival of their gang leader (also named Frank, played by Ian MacDonald) on the noon train. In the opening of Once Upon a Time in the West, three bad guys (Jack Elam, who appeared in a small part in High Noon, Woody Strode, and Al Mulock) wait at a station. However, the period of waiting is depicted in a lengthy eight-minute sequence, the train arrives several hours after noon, and its passenger is the film's hero (Charles Bronson) rather than its villain. The scene is famous for its use of natural sounds: a squeaky windmill, knuckles cracking, and Jack Elam's character trying to shoo off a fly. According to rumor, Leone offered the parts of the three bad guys to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly stars Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach. * 3:10 to Yuma. This cult Western by Delmer Daves may have had considerable influence on the film. The most obvious reference is a brief exchange between Keenan Wynn's Sheriff and Cheyenne, in which they discuss sending the latter to Yuma prison. In addition, as in West the main villain is played by an actor (Glenn Ford) who normally played good guys. The film also features diegetic music (Ford at one point whistles the film's theme song just as Harmonica provides music in West). And the scene in which Van Heflin's character escorts Ford to the railroad station while avoiding an ambush by his gang may have inspired the ambush of Frank by his own men in Leone's film. * Johnny Guitar. The character of Jill McBain is supposedly based on Joan Crawford's character Vienna, and Harmonica may be influenced by Sterling Hayden's title character. Some of the basic plot (settlers vs. the railroad) may be recycled from this film. (Frayling) * The Iron Horse. West may contain several subtle references to this film, including a low angle shot of a shrieking train rushing towards the screen in the opening scene, and the shot of the train pulling into the Sweetwater station at the end of the film. (Frayling) * Shane. The massacre scene in West features young Timmy McBain hunting with his father, just as Joey hunts with his father in Shane. The funeral of the McBains is borrowed almost shot-for-shot from Shane. (Frayling) * The Searchers. Leone admitted that during the massacre of the McBain family, the rustling bushes, the stopping of the cicada chirps, and the fluttering pheasants to suggest a menace approaching the farmhouse, were all taken from The Searchers. (Frayling) * Warlock. At the end of this film, Henry Fonda's character wears clothing very similar to his costume throughout West. In addition, Warlock features a discussion about mothers between Fonda and Dorothy Malone that is similar to those between Cheyenne and Jill in West. Finally, Warlock contains a sequence in which Fonda's character kicks a crippled man off his crutches, as he does to Mr. Morton in West. * The Magnificent Seven. In this film, Charles Bronson's character whittles a piece of wood. In West, he does the same, although in a different context. * Winchester '73. It has been claimed that the scenes in West at the trading post are based on those in Winchester '73, but the resemblance is slight. (Frayling) * The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. The dusters (long coats) worn by Frank and his men in the opening massacre resemble those worn by Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin) and his henchmen when they are introduced in this film. In addition, the auction scene in West was intended to recall the election scene in Liberty Valance (Frayling). * The Last Sunset. The final duel between Frank and Harmonica is shot almost identically to the duel between Kirk Douglas and Rock Hudson in this film. (Frayling) * Duel in the Sun. The character of Morton, the crippled railroad baron in West, was based on the character played by Lionel Barrymore in this film. (Frayling) * Sergeant Rutledge (with Woody Strode as the title character). In this John Ford Western, there is a scene in which Constance Towers' character falls asleep in a chair with a rifle in her lap, looking out for hostile Apache, just as Jill McBain does in Leone's film. * My Darling Clementine. A deleted scene in West featured Frank getting a shave with perfume in a barber's shop, much like Fonda's Wyatt Earp in this film. There are other, smaller references, to various non-Westerns, most notably Luchino Visconti's The Leopard. Contrary to popular belief, the name of the town "Sweetwater" was not taken from The Wind, Victor Sjöström's silent epic. Bernardo Bertolucci has stated that he looked at a map of the southwestern United States, found the name of the town in Arizona, and decided to incorporate it into the film. However, a "Sweetwater" -- along with a character named McBain -- also appeared in a John Wayne Western, The Comancheros, which Leone admired. (Frayling) DVD release After years of public requests, Paramount Pictures released a 2-Disc "Special Collector's Edition" of Once Upon a Time in the West on November 18, 2003. With a running time of 165-minutes, this edition is the color 2.35:1 aspect ratio version in anamorphic wide-screen, closed captioned and Dolby. The commentary includes commentary from film experts and historians such as John Carpenter, John Milius, Alex Cox, film historian and Leone biographer Sir Christopher Frayling, Dr. Sheldon Hall, as well as actors Claudia Cardinale and Gabriele Ferzetti, and director Bernardo Bertolucci, a co-writer of the film. The second disc has special features, including three recent documentaries on several aspects of the film: An Opera Of Violence The Wages Of Sin Something To Do With Death There is a Railroads: Revolutionizing the West featurette, location and production galleries, cast profiles, as well as the original trailer. Acclaim Though not as popular as the "Dollars trilogy" which preceded it, Once Upon A Time in the West is still a very highly acclaimed film and together with The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Once Upon A Time In America. West has also gained an ardent cult following around the world, particularly among cineastes and film makers. Christopher Frayling's books, Spaghetti Westerns (1984) lists box-office grosses, and Sergio Leone: Something To Do With Death (2000) has an evaluation of the film's critical / popular reception and legacy. Deleted scenes and alternate versions The American release The film was a huge hit in Europe and quickly developed a cult following. In the US, however, it had a rather poor opening reception, gaining largely negative or indifferent reviews in its complete form (165 minutes). Paramount edited the film to about 145 minutes for the wide release, but the film tanked at the box office. The following scenes were cut for the American release: * The entire scene at Lionel Stander's trading post. Cheyenne (Robards) was not introduced in the American release until his arrival at the McBain ranch later in the film. (Interestingly, Stander remained in the credits, even though he did not appear in this version at all). * The scene in which Morton and Frank discuss what to do with Jill at the Navajo Cliffs. This scene was important because it established the growing rift between Morton and Frank -- a key reason why Morton decides later on in the film to have Frank killed. * Morton's death scene was edited considerably. * Cheyenne's death scene was completely excised. 1984 re-release The English language version was restored to approximately 165 minutes for a re-release in 1984, and for its video release the following year. This version has gained a large cult following in America. Extended versions A slightly longer, 168 minute version exists in Italy which features several scenes augmented with additional material, though no complete scenes are present that are missing. The longest known cut is 171 minutes long. German language release The German-language release has been titled Spiel mir das Lied vom Tod (play me the song of death). The line "Keep your lovin' brother happy" during the lynch scene is overdubbed with the title line. This stresses Harmonica's story and his reason for revenge. Since the original line is the only hint on Harmonica's brother, many German viewers of the movie believe that the lynched man is Harmonica's father. There are some other additions to the original text as well, most notably a line Frank says to Morton--"Pacific Ocean, hm?"--as Morton is dying in a mud puddle. Deleted scenes Several scenes, only some of which were filmed, appear in the original screenplay; had they been included, they would have made the movie around three and a half hours long. They include: * A scene after the opening shootout, in which Harmonica is recovering from his wounds in a hotel in Flagstone, and is beaten by three Sheriff's deputies. It is established during this scene that the Sheriff of Flagstone (Keenan Wynn) is apparently being paid off by Frank or Morton -- a point that does not appear in the final version. (Harmonica carries several scars on his face from this scene throughout the rest of the film.) * A scene in which Jill first meets Sam the coach driver (Paolo Stoppa) was cut, and a lot of the dialogue was reworked into the scenes in which Sam drives Jill first to the bar, and then to the McBain ranch. * Jill goes into town to see a Mr. O'Leary about the deed to the Sweetwater ranch. Dialogue from this scene was later reworked into the scene where Harmonica and Cheyenne begin constructing the railroad station. * Just before the first meeting of Harmonica and Frank on Morton's train, Harmonica tracks Wobbles (Marco Zuanelli), one of Frank's henchmen, through a crowded passenger train, before reaching Morton's train. * A brief scene after Frank and his gang depart from Morton's train, leaving Harmonica tied up with Morton and several of his henchmen. In this scene, Harmonica challenges Morton's assertion that he really is Frank's boss - which precipitates the beginning rift between Frank and his boss. * A scene where Frank goes into Flagstone just before the auction to get a shave. During this scene, the barber says of Harmonica "He's whittling on a piece of wood, and I have a feeling that when he gets through whittling, something's going to happen" is spoken by the barber; in the final cut, this line is given to Cheyenne just before the final duel. * A short sequence in which Harmonica pulls a gun on Cheyenne before turning him in to the Sheriff at the auction was cut. This scene was replaced by Harmonica and Cheyenne exchanging glances on the hotel stairwell. Consistency errors * Brett's daughter sings a couple of lines of Danny Boy while waiting for Jill McBain to arrive. The lyrics for this song were not written until 1910. Quotes Frank: "How can you trust a man who wears both a belt and suspenders? The man can't even trust his own pants." Cheyenne: "Go on, play your Harmonica! Play so you can't bullshit." Morton: "As long as you use your head, you never lose." Cheyenne: "Do you know anything about a man going around playing the harmonica? He's someone you'd remember. Instead of talking, he plays. And when he better play, he talks." Cheyenne: "You know, Jill, you remind me of my mother. She was the biggest whore in Alameda and the finest woman that ever lived. Whoever my father was, for an hour or for a month -- he must have been a happy man." Morton: "Not Bad. Congratulations. Tell me, was it necessary that you kill all of them? I only told you to scare them." Frank: "People scare better when they're dying." Cheyenne: "You don't understand, Jill. People like that have something inside... something to do with death." Discuss. -----signature----- Chief of Staff - The SWC Rebel Scum
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Zaz Title: Manager: The Amphitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 1/19 6:20pm Subject: RE: Western Movies: Now Disc. "Once Upon a Time in the West" (1969)
	Great cast. Great movie.
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
DAR Registered: Jul '04	Date Posted: 1/19 7:16pm Subject: RE: Western Movies: Now Disc. "Once Upon a Time in the West" (1969)
	I've only seen bits and pieces of this one, someday I'll have to watch the whole thing. But I did like what I saw. -----signature----- I don't know what to say.
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Zaz Title: Manager: The Amphitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 1/28 8:13am Subject: RE: Western Movies: Now Disc. "Once Upon a Time in the West" (1969)
	Try to get the complete version. (You'll know you have it if Jason Robards dies)
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
soitscometothis Registered: Jul '03	Date Posted: 1/28 10:55am Subject: RE: Western Movies: Now Disc. "Once Upon a Time in the West" (1969)
	Absolute classic. The score is outstanding, plus I even like the sound-effect they use for pistol-shot (different and distinctive from previous Leone westerns, I think). Be warned, it does take its time getting to where it is going; make sure you've been to the bathroom before starting, then settle in. -----signature----- I am not an eel popsicle. Art: http://boards.theforce.net/Fan_Art/b10020/17816752/?21
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Django211 Registered: Mar '99	Date Posted: 1/28 11:25am Subject: RE: Western Movies: Now Disc. "Once Upon a Time in the West" (1969)
	With the exception of the score, Leone's use of sound is something rarely talked about in his films. The opening is layered with different sounds and works like music, building upon each other until the actual confrontation. This film needs to be seen in a theatre to appreciate the full experience. Add to that the mix of Italian actors speaking in their native tongue with English coming out of their mouths while other characters are speaking English that don't always sync up to what they are saying, and there is a surreal feeling when watching a spaghetti western. This was the spaghetti western at its peak but it is an anomaly compared to the other films of its kind. After this Leone tried to say goodbye to the Western genre & begin work on his gangster epic. He even passed up "The Godfather" to make what would become "Once Upon a Time in America". Spaghetti westerns on the other hand would take a turn towards comedy before they ran out of steam.
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
soitscometothis Registered: Jul '03	Date Posted: 1/28 11:36am Subject: RE: Western Movies: Now Disc. "Once Upon a Time in the West" (1969)
	The way Leone builds up tension while the three gunmen kill time at the station while waiting for the train to arrive... how many of today's filmakers have the guts to do that? Three men, no dialogue, just waiting? I really don't think a major studio would let that happen. -----signature----- I am not an eel popsicle. Art: http://boards.theforce.net/Fan_Art/b10020/17816752/?21
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Zaz Title: Manager: The Amphitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 2/6 4:56pm Subject: RE: Western Movies: Now Disc. "Once Upon a Time in the West" (1969)
	They didn't with this film, either, alas...a lot of the versions are shorter.
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
RX_Sith Registered: Mar '06	Date Posted: 2/14 9:51am Subject: RE: Western Movies: Now Disc. "Support Your Local Sheriff" (1969)
	Support Your Local Sheriff (1969). (from wiki) Support Your Local Sheriff! is a 1969 comic western film which parodies the often-filmed scenerio of an iconoclastic new arrival who tames a lawless frontier town. Starring James Garner, Joan Hackett and Jack Elam, the film was directed by Burt Kennedy and written by William Bowers. Cast * James Garner - Jason McCullough * Joan Hackett - Prudy Perkins * Jack Elam - Jake * Harry Morgan - Olly Perkins * Bruce Dern - Joe Danby * Walter Brennan - Pa Danby * Gene Evans - Tom Danby * Dick Peabody - Luke Danby * Henry Jones - Henry Jackson * Willis Bouchey - Thomas Devery * Walter Burke - Fred Johnson Synopsis A frontier town in the Old West springs up almost literally overnight when the rather klutzy and hotheaded Prudy Perkins discovers gold in a grave during a funeral. Her father Olly becomes mayor of the new settlement. He and the other members of the town council bemoan the twin facts that the place has become a drunken round-the-clock free-for-all, and that in order to ship out all the gold they are mining, they must pay a hefty fee to the Danbys, a family of ranchers/bandits who control the only route out of town. Most people are too busy digging to take time out to be sheriff, and those who are willing to put down their shovel quickly die. This all changes with the arrival in town of Jason McCullough, a calm and hyper-competent man from "back East" who is passing through town "on his way to Australia." While in the town saloon, he sees young Joe Danby gun a man down, essentially for fun. Needing money after discovering the town's ruinious rate of inflation, McCullough demonstrates his uncanny firearms ability to the mayor and town council, and becomes the new sheriff. He breaks up a street brawl and while at the Perkins house meets Prudy under (for her) mortifyingly embarrassing circumstances. McCullough then arrests Joe and tosses him in the town jail, which has everything a sheriff needs - except iron bars for the cell doors and windows. McCullough keeps the none-too-bright Joe "imprisoned" through the use of a chalk line, some dribbles of red paint, and applied psychology. In the process of all this, McCullough acquires a semi-willing deputy in the form of the extremely scruffy Jake, who was previously nothing more than the "town character." The arrest ignites the wrath of the patriarch of the Danby family; while the rest of the town immediately quiets down under McCullough's reign, "Pa" mounts various efforts to get Joe out of jail. None of them work and he then brings in a string of hired guns, who are equally unsuccessful. Meanwhile, Prudy spars romantically with McCullough, McCullough and Jake go on an unsuccessful search for gold, and, much to Joe's relief, bars are finally installed in the jail. The climax of the film sees Pa Danby summoning scores of his relatives to launch an all-out assault. The sheriff's first impulse is to just leave town and resume his trip to Australia, but when Prudy expresses her sincere approval of this sensible idea, he announces that it sounds cowardly and decides to stay. The rest of the townfolk announce their disapproval of his new plan, and officially vote to not help in any way. Thus the Danby mob rides in faced only by McCullough, Jake and Prudy. After a lengthy gunfight, McCullough bluffs his way to victory using hostage Joe and the cannon mounted in the center of town. As the Danbys are all marched off to jail, the cannon fires, smashing the town brothel and scattering the resident prostitutes and visting civic leaders. McCullough makes his peace with the townfolk, he and Prudy get engaged, and he carries her home. In a closing monologue, Jake directly informs the audience that they get married and McCullough goes on to become governor of the state, while he, Jake, becomes sheriff and then "one of the most beloved characters in western folklore." Production The name of the town is Calendar, although this is only mentioned once briefly in the film itself. The state is Colorado, but this is only established in the film's trailer. Influences Walter Brennan's character in Sheriff is very similar to the one he played in the 1946 western My Darling Clementine, to the point it could be considered a self-parody. The town's brothel is called Madame Orr's House. Apart from the obvious pun on "whore", the name is also likely intended to be a disparaging reference to William T. Orr, an executive at Warner Bros. Television with whom James Garner had previously clashed while making the television series Maverick; Garner quit the series and successfully sued the studio to get out of his contract. Follow-up film Garner, Elam, Morgan and several others in the cast went on to make Support Your Local Gunfighter! in 1971. While not literally a sequel, the plot has many similarities (stranger Garner wanders into a lawless town, tames it by outsmarting the locals with the "help" of hapless sidekick Elam, and marries the feisty, rich daughter of Morgan). Discuss. -----signature----- Chief of Staff - The SWC Rebel Scum
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
THRAWNFAN Registered: Mar '07	Date Posted: 2/14 5:08pm Subject: RE: Western Movies: Now Disc. "Support Your Local Sherriff" (1969)
	I haven't seen too many Westerns except the big name ones, and I guess he Wild Bunch is my favorite. Could anyone reccomend some good, obscure westerns?
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Zaz Title: Manager: The Amphitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 2/14 7:27pm Subject: RE: Western Movies: Now Disc. "Support Your Local Sherriff" (1969)
	The 50's Westerns directed by Bud Boetticher...Bud Boetticher
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
MasterEric Registered: Dec '07	Date Posted: 2/14 8:00pm Subject: RE: Western Movies: Now Disc. "Support Your Local Sherriff" (1969)
	Support Your Local Sherriff is great. Love Garner in it; some very humorous parts in it.
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Zaz Title: Manager: The Amphitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 2/14 9:02pm Subject: RE: Western Movies: Now Disc. "Support Your Local Sherriff" (1969)
	I like Garner, and the film isn't bad, just a little bland.
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
RX_Sith Registered: Mar '06	Date Posted: 2/20 9:31am Subject: RE: Western Movies: Now Disc. "The Wild Bunch" (1969)
	The Wild Bunch (1969). (from wiki) The Wild Bunch is a controversial 1969 Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien, Warren Oates, Jaime Sánchez, Ben Johnson, Strother Martin, L.Q. Jones, Bo Hopkins and Dub Taylor. The film details an aging gang of outlaws on the Texas/Mexico border in 1913 attempting to survive a rapidly approaching modern world. The film is notorious for its extreme violence during an opening bank robbery sequence and a concluding battle between the outlaws and the Mexican army. The screenplay, written by Walon Green, Roy N. Sickner and Sam Peckinpah, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, while the musical score by Jerry Fielding was nominated for Original Music Score. Peckinpah was nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement by the Directors Guild of America. Lucien Ballard won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography. The Wild Bunch is also noted for its intricately edited action sequences utilizing slow motion and normal motion shots from multiple camera angles, a revolutionary technique that would eventually become commonplace in motion pictures (and Peckinpah's future films). Similar work with slow motion had previously been utilized in Seven Samurai (1954), Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and in French New Wave films of the era, but the massive technical virtuosity of The Wild Bunch would inspire directors for years to come when depicting film action and violence. In 1999 the film was deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. The film would be ranked No. 80 on the American Film Institute's top 100 list of the greatest American films ever made and No. 69 as the most thrilling. Plot The film takes place on the Texas/Mexico border in 1913 during the height of the Mexican Revolution. A gang of veteran outlaws, known as the "Wild Bunch," rides into the fictional town of San Rafael, Texas. Disguised as American soldiers, they are led by Pike Bishop (William Holden), and include Dutch Engstrom (Ernest Borgnine), Lyle and Tector Gorch (Warren Oates and Ben Johnson), Angel (Jaime Sanchez) and Crazy Lee (Bo Hopkins), among others. They initially ride past a group of children torturing a pair of scorpions by putting them on a hill of red ants, a famously violent image symbolizing the film's theme and actions. The gang enters the railroad company office to begin its robbery. On the roof of a hotel across the street, a ragtag posse of bounty hunters led by Deke Thornton (Robert Ryan) is waiting in ambush. The posse is spotted by the gang, and they use an unexpected parade by the local temperance union to assist in their escape. A vicious gunfight breaks out, with members of the gang, the posse and the parade killed in the chaotic crossfire. Surviving gang members escape to a small neighboring village where another member, the elderly Freddie Sykes (Edmond O'Brien), is waiting with fresh horses. The ambush was organized by the railroad company, and the stolen money turns out to be nothing more than worthless bags of steel washers. It is discovered that Deke, a former member of the gang, has been released from prison in exchange for tracking down his old comrades. Pike and his weary men ride into Mexico to rest at Angel's native village. Pike learns from the town elder, Don Jose (Chano Urueta), that the village has been attacked by Mapache (Emilio Fernández), a corrupt Mexican general working for the government. The gang decides to ride to Mapache's headquarters to trade horses. As they visit the General, Angel sees his former girlfriend Teresa. It is obvious she has become Mapache's lover, and a furious Angel shoots and kills her. Pike defuses the situation by offering to work with Mapache and his German advisers. They decide to steal a U.S. gun shipment for the price of $10,000 in gold. Angel, frustrated with the agreement, insists in private that he be allowed to take one case of stolen rifles to his village for protection against Mapache. Pike and Dutch reluctantly agree. The Wild Bunch holds up the train carrying the gun shipment, but Deke and his posse are secretly on board. They frantically pursue the gang to a bridge crossing the Rio Grande. Deke and his men, on the verge of capturing the Bunch, are dumped into the river when dynamite wired to the bridge explodes. Residents of Angel's village later surround the Bunch and take the case of rifles promised to them. Pike devises a cautious plan to deliver the remaining rifles and machine gun to Mapache, with individual gang members dropping off cases at separate times. When Angel and Dutch arrive with the final shipment, Mapache has Angel arrested, having learned of the case of stolen rifles. Surrounded by Mapache's soldiers, Dutch rides off leaving Angel behind. The discouraged gang, disturbed by Angel's arrest, regroups at a canyon outside of town to await Sykes' return with their pack horses. From a distance, they see Deke and his men shoot Sykes, who retreats into the rocks of a nearby hill. Assuming Sykes to be dead, Pike and the three remaining gang members, Dutch, Lyle and Tector, decide to return to Mapache's compound to avoid Deke's posse. As they arrive, they see Angel being tortured by the soldiers, but do nothing to prevent this. After spending a night with prostitutes near Mapache's headquarters, Pike awakens and makes a fateful decision. Overcome with remorse about the fate of Angel, he says to Lyle and Tector, "Let's go." After a moment of silence, Lyle replies, "Why not." Dutch, sitting near the horses, smiles at Pike as he realizes they are going to retrieve Angel from Mapache. The four gang members load their shotguns and sidearms and in the famous "long walk," march through town in unison to Mapache's headquarters. They demand Angel's release. A drunken Mapache personally kills Angel before them. Pike and his men instantly shoot Mapache dead. The stunned soldiers stand in uneasy silence and the Bunch realizes, to their amazement, they can walk away unharmed if they so choose. Instead, they instigate an epic gunfight with Mapache's men. During the battle, they take control of a machine gun, killing scores of soldiers. Lyle and Tector are eventually killed. Pike is finally gunned down by a Mexican boy who shoots him in the back and Dutch falls while rushing to his side. As the smoke from the battle clears, Deke arrives to find the bodies of his former comrades surrounded by many dead soldiers. Saddened by the death of his friends, he pulls Pike's gun from its holster and walks away. His posse takes the deceased members of the Bunch and leaves the village to collect the bounty. Deke remains, unsure of what to do. He hears gunshots in the distance. Moments later, a wounded Sykes and men from Angel's village ride up after having killed the posse members. He smiles at Deke and offers him a chance to participate in the revolution and stay in Mexico. Deke and Sykes begin laughing and ride away together. Casting Peckinpah considered many actors for the lead role of Pike Bishop. The part was originally written for Lee Marvin, but he declined because he thought it was too similar to his role in The Professionals (1966) and he was also offered a large sum to appear in Paint Your Wagon (1969). James Stewart, Gregory Peck and Charlton Heston (the lead in Peckinpah's Major Dundee) were considered before William Holden was cast. The part of Deke Thornton was originally offered to Brian Keith, who had worked with Peckinpah on The Westerner (1960) and The Deadly Companions (1961). Keith, committed to the popular TV series Family Affair, declined the role. Also considered were Richard Harris (another Major Dundee veteran), Arthur Kennedy, Henry Fonda, Ben Johnson (who was later cast as Tector Gorch) and Van Heflin. Robert Ryan would be cast based on his performance in The Dirty Dozen. Mario Adorf, who also appeared in Dundee, was considered for the part of Mapache, but the role ultimately went to Emilio Fernandez, the Mexican film director and actor who was a close friend of Peckinpah's. Among those considered to play Dutch Engstrom were Steve McQueen, George Peppard, Jim Brown, Alex Cord, Robert Culp, Sammy Davis, Jr., Charles Bronson and Richard Jaeckel. Ernest Borgnine was eventually cast in the role, also based on his performance in The Dirty Dozen. Robert Blake was the original choice to play Angel, but he demanded too much money following the success of In Cold Blood (1967). Peckinpah had seen Jaime Sanchez in the Broadway production of Sidney Lumet's The Pawnbroker and was so impressed that he demanded Sanchez be cast as Angel. Production In 1967, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts producers Kenneth Hyman and Phil Feldman were interested in having Sam Peckinpah rewrite and direct an adventure film called The Diamond Story. A professional outcast due to the production difficulties of his previous film Major Dundee (1965) and his firing from the set of The Cincinnati Kid (1965), Peckinpah's stock had improved following his critically acclaimed work on the television film Noon Wine (1966). An alternative screenplay available at the studio was The Wild Bunch, written by Roy Sickner and Walon Green. At the time, William Goldman's screenplay Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid had recently been purchased by 20th Century Fox. It was quickly decided that The Wild Bunch, which had several similarities to Goldman's work, would be produced in order to beat Butch Cassidy to the theaters. By the fall of 1967, Peckinpah was rewriting the screenplay and preparing for production. Filmed on location in Mexico, Peckinpah's epic work was inspired by his hunger to return to films, the violence seen in Arthur Penn's Bonnie and Clyde, America's growing frustration with the Vietnam War and what he perceived to be the utter lack of reality seen in Westerns up to that time. He set out to make a film which portrayed not only the vicious violence of the period, but the crude men attempting to survive the era. Multiple scenes attempted in Major Dundee, including slow motion action sequences (inspired by Akira Kurosawa's work in Seven Samurai), characters leaving a village as if in a funeral procession and the use of inexperienced locals as extras, would be perfected in The Wild Bunch. The film was shot in the anamorphic wide screen process. Peckinpah and his cinematographer, Lucien Ballard, also made use of a wide angle camera lens, one that allowed for objects and people in both the background and foreground to remain in sharp focus. The effect is best seen in the shots where the Bunch make their "long walk" to Mapache's headquarters to free Angel. As they walk forward, a constant flow of people pass between them and the camera, yet are as sharply focused as the Bunch. The editing of the film is notable in that shots from multiple angles would be spliced together in rapid succession, often at different speeds, placing greater emphasis on the chaotic nature of the action and the gunfights. Lou Lombardo, having previously worked with Peckinpah on Noon Wine, was personally hired by the director to edit The Wild Bunch. Peckinpah had wanted an editor who would be loyal to him. Lombardo's youth was also a plus, as he wanted an editor who wasn't bound by traditional conventions. One of Lombardo's first contributions was to show Peckinpah an episode of the TV series Felony Squad he edited in 1967. The episode, entitled "My Mommy Got Lost," included a slow motion sequence where Joe Don Baker is shot by the police. The scene mixed slow motion with normal speed. Peckinpah was reportedly thrilled and told Lombardo, "Let's try some of that when we get down to Mexico!" The director would film the major shootouts with six cameras, all operating a different film rates including 24 frames per second, 30 frames per second, 60 frames per second, 90 frames per second and 120 frames per second. When the scenes were eventually cut together, the action would shift from slow to fast to slower still, giving time an elastic quality never before seen in motion pictures up to that time. By the time filming wrapped, Peckinpah had shot 333,000 feet of film with 1,288 camera setups. Lombardo and Peckinpah remained in Mexico for six months editing the picture. After initial cuts, the opening gunfight sequence ran 21 minutes. Cutting frames from specific scenes and intercutting others, they were able to fine-cut the opening bank robbery down to five minutes. The creative montage became the model for the rest of the film and would forever change the way movies would be made. In 1993, Warner Brothers resubmitted the film to the MPAA ratings board prior to an expected rerelease. To the studio's surprise, the originally R-rated film was given an NC-17 rating, delaying the release until the decision was appealed. The controversy was due to 10 extra minutes added to the film. Technically, these were not official additions in that these scenes (almost entirely nonviolent) were present when the movie was originally released. Warner Brothers had simply trimmed some footage to decrease the running time to ensure additional daily screenings. Today, almost all of the versions of The Wild Bunch include the missing scenes. Warner Brothers released a newly restored version of The Wild Bunch in a two-disc special edition on January 10, 2006. This edition includes an audio commentary by Peckinpah scholars, two documentaries concerning the making of the film and never-before-seen outtakes. Sam Peckinpah and the making of The Wild Bunch was the subject of the documentary The Wild Bunch: An Album in Montage (1996) directed by Paul Seydor. It was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Documentary Short Subject. Themes Critics of The Wild Bunch made note of the film's underlying theme that depicted the symbolic end of the era of the outlaw gunfighter. The character Pike Bishop says in the screenplay, "We've got to start thinking beyond our guns. Those days are closing fast." The Bunch lives by an anachronistic code that has no place in a rapidly approaching modern society. At one point, the gang inspects General Mapache's latest purchase, a new automobile, an invention that marked the beginning of the end of horse travel. This symbol, representing modern society, was also utilized in Peckinpah's films Ride the High Country (1962) and The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970). The film's on-screen violence was heavily criticized by reviewers of the time, and it continues to remain controversial to this day. Peckinpah noted that it was meant as an allegory for the violence of the Vietnam War, which had been broadcast nightly on television news programs. He was also attempting to show the type of violence commonplace during the historic western period, rebelling against television westerns and films from previous decades glamorizing gunfighting and murder. "The point of the film," he would later say, " is to take this facade of movie violence and open it up, get people involved in it so that they are starting to go in the Hollywood television predictable reaction syndrome, and then twist it so that it's not fun anymore, just a wave of sickness in the gut...It's ugly, brutalizing and bloody awful. It's not fun and games and cowboys and Indians. It's a terrible, ugly thing. And yet there's a certain response that you get from it, an excitement because we're all violent people." Peckinpah said he used violence as a means to achieve catharsis, believing his audience would be purged of violence by witnessing it explicitly on screen. He later admitted that this idea was mistaken, and that audiences had come to enjoy the violence in his films rather than be horrified by it, something that deeply troubled him later in his career. Another prevalent theme of the film is that of betrayal. Many of the characters suffer with the knowledge that at some point, they betrayed a friend and left them to their fate, thus violating their own code when it suits them. Such frustration leads to the film's violent conclusion as the remaining members of the gang find yet another violation, in this case the abandonment of Angel, intolerable. Pike Bishop remembers his violations several times during the film, most notably when he deserts Deke Thornton (in flashback) when the law catches up to them and when he deserts Crazy Lee following the opening bank robbery (who is left behind at the railroad office, ostensibly to guard the hostages). Variant versions The movie is called Pipe Dreams in some countries (particularly in the Middle East), causing confusion with the 1996 comedy film Down Periscope, which is also called Pipe Dreams. In addition, there have been several versions of The Wild Bunch released: * The original European release from 1969 is 145 minutes long. This version had an intermission at the request of the distributor, arriving immediately before the train robbery sequence. * The original American release from 1969 is 143 minutes long. * The second American release from 1969, edited to allow more show times, is 135 minutes long. * The 1995 re-release version is 145 minutes long. It is identical to the original European release minus the intermission, as the intermission was not intended to be part of the original film. This version is currently available on home video and is labeled "The Original Director's Cut" in most markets. Review Peckinpah has a rep and this is the film which provided most of it. I had the privilege of actually seeing this on the big screen once, in the late seventies. As the beginning credits end, Pike (Holden) tells his bunch "If they move, Kill 'em!" Then Peckinpah's credit appears. A woman seated behind me gasped, whispering "oh, no..." Oh, my. It sounded like the lady didn't know she'd wandered into a Peckinpah film and she knew what she was in for. When you enter Peckinpah-land, you need to be prepared. There are no punches pulled, no sidestepping the unpleasant aspects of life. Peckinpah's characters are tough men; I mean, really tough, not phony-Hollywood tough. In this case, they are coarsened by what seems to be years on the trail, blasted by the sun, snapped at by rattlesnakes, and harassed by bandits. And at this point, they've pretty much had it. Not that they're complaining, mind you. They've lived their lives how they saw fit, this bunch, and they make no apologies for any of it. I believe the actual year is around 1913, just before World War I begins. Most of the action takes place in Mexico, where the Bunch becomes involved with a local general (Fernandez) with the usual delusions of grandeur. If you go by the name of the character Angel, the general can be viewed as a version of the devil. That would make the Bunch avenging angels at the end. But heroes? No, not at all. They have their own code, they know instinctively they're stronger together than on each own, but they reason this concept out also - Peckinpah wants to make sure it's clear these are not unthinking savages. They're just men, who've reached a point in history where they must make a crucial turn. History, it seems, has no real use for them anymore. It's quite simple - they either fade slowly or go out quickly. In a film such as this, with its now insurmountable rep, you tend to wait for those big set pieces, especially the climactic battle. Wait for it, wait for it... here it is. Bam! - you're in Peckinpah territory. You're a part of history. Discuss. -----signature----- Chief of Staff - The SWC Rebel Scum
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History

« 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 - Previous | Next | Reload

Jedi Council Forums » JC Community » The Amphitheatre »