Reformed sinner Matt Fletcher (Marlon Brando) plans on building a ranch with his adopted family only to have villainous Chuy Medina (John Saxon) steal the titular stud-stallion on which his plans rely. The film is languidly paced and the climatic showdown a bit predictable (and implausible) but there are some good moments (such as the revered/reviled arm-wrestling scene), and the cinematography is generally impressive. Brando's low-key near minimalist performance is OK and a contrast to the more melodramatic (or flamboyant) heroes that were showing up in the evolving genre. John Saxon is almost a stereotype of Mexican stereotypes (a big hatted bandito whose verbose faux-courteous dialogue is delivered with the teeepical accent when he's not laughing). His 'brown-face' character will likely offend some contemporary viewers but he is given some lines that defend his/his people's criminal behaviour towards 'greeengos'. All in all, not particularly good nor bad but also not particularly interesting.
Review of The Appaloosa
