A preposterous plot but authentic sets and costumes, and fine outdoor cinematography; some absurd overacting but a musical theme that is remembered forty years on; these are the attributes we have come to associate with the Italian Western. All are present here.
This was one of composer Jerry Goldsmith's first movie scores, so I have read here, and if that's so he set a high standard for himself: an affecting, bittersweet melody in a leisurely tempo that evokes a horse's walking pace and the bleak beauty of eastern Utah. That's appropriate since the characters spend a lot time in the saddle. The director was smart to bring the musical theme in just seconds after the picture starts.
Tony Franciosa's Mexican outlaw slips frequently into parody, but he is an artist with a knife. New Yorker Edmond O'Brien is hardly believable as an unreconstructed Southern aristocrat. Jim Brown does well enough with limited dialog or character development, but his presence requires a suspension of disbelief. Not that there weren't a lot of African-American soldiers in the US Army in the West after the Civil War, but they were in their own regiments. The Army was strictly segregated, and would remain so for eighty years to come.
Richard Boone, an actor with a natural style if ever there was one, shines best here. Boone never looked young even when he was. The mileage on his face perfectly fits his character of a man who has known war and personal tragedy, and seeks solace in hate and the bottle.
This was one of composer Jerry Goldsmith's first movie scores, so I have read here, and if that's so he set a high standard for himself: an affecting, bittersweet melody in a leisurely tempo that evokes a horse's walking pace and the bleak beauty of eastern Utah. That's appropriate since the characters spend a lot time in the saddle. The director was smart to bring the musical theme in just seconds after the picture starts.
Tony Franciosa's Mexican outlaw slips frequently into parody, but he is an artist with a knife. New Yorker Edmond O'Brien is hardly believable as an unreconstructed Southern aristocrat. Jim Brown does well enough with limited dialog or character development, but his presence requires a suspension of disbelief. Not that there weren't a lot of African-American soldiers in the US Army in the West after the Civil War, but they were in their own regiments. The Army was strictly segregated, and would remain so for eighty years to come.
Richard Boone, an actor with a natural style if ever there was one, shines best here. Boone never looked young even when he was. The mileage on his face perfectly fits his character of a man who has known war and personal tragedy, and seeks solace in hate and the bottle.