RELEASED in 1958 and directed by Henry King, "The Bravados" stars Gregory Peck as Jim Douglas, a grim, laconic man chasing four outlaws who raped & murdered his wife and finds them in a Southwest jail slated to be hanged come morning, but they escape to Mexico as he leads a posse in pursuit. The thugs are played by Stephen Boyd, Lee Van Cleef, Henry Silva & Albert Salmi while Joan Collins and Kathleen Gallant are on hand in the feminine department.
Peck is effective as the one-note brooding protagonist. The score by Lionel Newman is surprisingly good for a 50's Western, a decade known for some hopelessly hokey Western credits' songs and scores. It's interesting seeing Joan when she was so young (24 during filming) and Gallant is winsomely ravishing (no wonder Boyd's wicked character was so enamored with her).
The film influenced other movies, like "Bandolero!" (1968), "Death Wish" (1974), and Sergio Leone's Eastwood trilogy (and Spaghetti Westerns in general), although Leone of course exchanged realistic characters for cartoony caricatures. The entire first act of "Bandolero!" was taken from this film, although it had an amusing edge while "The Bravados" is deadly serious from beginning to end, which is good (it IS very realistic); but this also makes it somewhat tedious and I can see why some people don't like it. While there's an enlightening twist at the end, "The Bravados" isn't up there with Peck's best Westerns, like "Duel in the Sun" (1946) and "The Big Country" (1958); and it's not as entertaining as "How the West was Won" (1962) or the comic booky "MacKenna's Gold" (1969), but it definitely superior to the somewhat tiresome "The Stalking Moon" (1968).
THE MOVIE RUNS 98 minutes and was shot entirely in Mexico. WRITERS: Philip Yordan (script) & Frank O'Rourke (novel). ADDITIONAL CAST: Herbert Rudley & Ken Scott play the Sheriff and Deputy while Andrew Duggan appears as the padre.
GRADE: B
ADDITIONAL COMMENTARY ***SPOILER ALERT*** (Don't read unless you've seen the film)
Douglas (Peck) did not mistakenly kill three honorable law-abiding citizens; after all, they were sentenced to execution for robbing a bank and murdering the teller. In fact, as a member of a lawfully organized posse he was legally authorized to slay them. The message is not that Douglas did the wrong thing, but rather that he did the right thing for the wrong reason based on naively trusting his neighbor's false information.
Peck is effective as the one-note brooding protagonist. The score by Lionel Newman is surprisingly good for a 50's Western, a decade known for some hopelessly hokey Western credits' songs and scores. It's interesting seeing Joan when she was so young (24 during filming) and Gallant is winsomely ravishing (no wonder Boyd's wicked character was so enamored with her).
The film influenced other movies, like "Bandolero!" (1968), "Death Wish" (1974), and Sergio Leone's Eastwood trilogy (and Spaghetti Westerns in general), although Leone of course exchanged realistic characters for cartoony caricatures. The entire first act of "Bandolero!" was taken from this film, although it had an amusing edge while "The Bravados" is deadly serious from beginning to end, which is good (it IS very realistic); but this also makes it somewhat tedious and I can see why some people don't like it. While there's an enlightening twist at the end, "The Bravados" isn't up there with Peck's best Westerns, like "Duel in the Sun" (1946) and "The Big Country" (1958); and it's not as entertaining as "How the West was Won" (1962) or the comic booky "MacKenna's Gold" (1969), but it definitely superior to the somewhat tiresome "The Stalking Moon" (1968).
THE MOVIE RUNS 98 minutes and was shot entirely in Mexico. WRITERS: Philip Yordan (script) & Frank O'Rourke (novel). ADDITIONAL CAST: Herbert Rudley & Ken Scott play the Sheriff and Deputy while Andrew Duggan appears as the padre.
GRADE: B
ADDITIONAL COMMENTARY ***SPOILER ALERT*** (Don't read unless you've seen the film)
Douglas (Peck) did not mistakenly kill three honorable law-abiding citizens; after all, they were sentenced to execution for robbing a bank and murdering the teller. In fact, as a member of a lawfully organized posse he was legally authorized to slay them. The message is not that Douglas did the wrong thing, but rather that he did the right thing for the wrong reason based on naively trusting his neighbor's false information.