"Our Man Flint" director Daniel Mann's western "The Revengers" resembles Henry King's horse opera "The Bravados" (1958) about a vengeful rancher who tracks down the evil gunmen who murdered his wife and then gradually becomes as callous as the men that he killed. In "The Revengers," a peaceful rancher rides off, leaving his family behind briefly, to track down a wounded mountain lion that his son had shot earlier. Our hero found the mountain lion dead. During his absence, however, a gang of barbaric Comancheros attack his house, massacre his entire family. One of his long-time ranch hands dies, too. The protagonist of this adventurous western, John Benedict (William Holden), heads down to Mexico, assembles a half-dozen dastards that he bails from a dirty Hispanic prison a la "Dirty Dozen," and sets out after the white man with different colored eyes who wiped out his wife, two daughters, and oldest son bound to attend the West Point Military Academy. The better-than-average cast includes Ernest Borgnine as scene-stealing scumbag named Mr. Hoop and Woody Strode as a cantankerous ex-slave who takes his own sweet time making up his mind about his decisions. Benedict and his gunmen search Mexico for years until our protagonist becomes so callous that one of his old friends not only doesn't recognize him but also shuns him for what he has become. "The Revengers" evokes memories of "The Wild Bunch," and some of its scenes are played out in "Wild Bunch" locations. "Death Wish" scenarist Wendell Mayes wrote the screenplay based on Steven W. Carabatsos' story. Carabatsos is best known for the Lee Van Cleef & Jim Brown western "El Condor." Susan Hayward shows up about three-quarters of the way through as a nurse who takes care of Benedict after he is shot and left for dead in a cantina by one of his own men. This film marked Hayward's last big screen role. The chief with "The Revengers" is the slipshod ending. You expect that the reformed Benedict plans to pick up her, but all we see at fade-out is a long shot of his sprawling ranch as he drives horses to it. The Pino Calvi orchestral score is excellent. Essentially, "The Revengers" has a Spaghetti western sensibility to it and Calvi's score alludes to throughout its 148 minutes. Producer Martin Rackin has done an excellent job making this western look prestigious. Prior to making "The Revengers," Holden played a wanderlust cowpoke in Blake Edwards "The Wild Rovers" with Ryan O'Neal. "The Revengers" marked Holden's last appearance in a horse opera.
Review of The Revengers
