Rio Conchos (1964)

Sorry, this movie sucks

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Blistering performances.

Richard Boone was always more effective, in my opinion, when he played his part with an edge as he does in "Rio Conchos". The opening scene set two years after the Civil War, has James Lassiter (Boone) slaughtering an Apache burial party. It seems that Lassiter's family had been murdered by the Apache Bloodshirt (Rodolfo Acosta) and he has taken it upon himself to "even the score".Lassiter is arrested in the burned out shell of his home by Union Captain Haver (Stuart Whitman) and his Sergeant Ben Franklin (Jim Brown in his first film) and taken to their headquarters. Col. Wagner (Warner Anderson) jails Lassiter when he refuses to tell where he obtained his new repeating rifle. Lassiter lands in jail with convicted murderer Rodriguez (Tony Franciosa).Lassiter relents and identifies Rebel Southern Colonel Pardee (Edmond O'Brien) who is holed up in Mexico, as the source of his rifle. A shipment of the new repeating rifles had been stolen by Pardee's men earlier. Pardee plans to arm the Apache with the guns to attack the soldiers.Lassiter negotiates the release of the snake in the grass Rodriguez who along with Cpt. Haven and Sgt. Franklin set out with a load of gunpowder to lure Pardee out of hiding. On the trail the group is attacked by Mexican bandits led by an unrecognizable Vito Scotti as their leader. After disposing of the bandits they capture a young Apache girl (Wende Wagner) who is forced to accompany them.By staging a gunfight in a saloon, the wagon carrying the gun powder sneaks across the Rio Conchos on a ferry. Following Rodriguez' defection, the group is contacted by Pardee's men. They go to Pardee's camp and find him in the middle of a half built house with a small army of southerners and Apaches. When Bloodshirt comes to buy the rifles, Lassiter loses it and attacks him. Pardee allows Bloodshirt to have Lassiter, Haven and Franklin dragged by horses and left tied to the horses in a corral. But help comes from an unexpected source, the men are released. The scenario at Pardee's camp is similar to one in the 1961 John Wayne film "The Comancheros" which also featured Whitman. For ex-footballer Brown, this was the first of many action films in which he starred. As pointed out earlier, Boone steals the picture with his gruff hate filled performance. It was one of the few times that he got to play the lead.

A Big Production Design Highlights this Mid-Sixties Western. The Cinematography, Score, and overall Look of the Movie is Stunning when Viewed Today in HD. The Colors Vibrate, the Landscape is Picture Post Card Beautiful, and the Sets in the Third-Act conclusion are nothing less than Surreal.The Cast, is Headlined by a Grizzly, Disheveled, Drunk, and Angry Richard Boone, straight from his Popular and long running "Have Gun, Will Travel" TV Show, with support from Tony Franciosa, Stuart Whitman, and Debuting Football Star Jim Brown.All do Adequate Work with Boone Chewing the Scenery often as He Overshadows Everyone. That is until the Climax when He Spars with Edmond O'Brien for Over Acting Honors. It is that aforementioned Third Act that is the Film's Highlight and is worth the price of admission.Although there are a few Action Scenes that lead up to the Violent and Explosive Conclusion that keep things Humming. It has its share of leftover Hollywood Stereotypes, but also shows Signs of the Transitional Western with some Brutality and a Touch of Sensitivity.Overall, it is riding the Gap between the Old and the New western (post Boetticher/Mann and pre Leone/Peckinpah) and is helped by the Stalwart Professionalism.

Twentieth Century Fox assembled an ideal cast, including Richard Boone, Stuart Whitman, Anthony Franciosa, Jim Brown, and Edmond O'Brien, for director Gordon Douglas' brawny, post-American Civil War epic "Rio Conchos." This is one of the best westerns that prolific director Gordon Douglas helmed during his 32 years behind the camera. The U.S. Cavalry are on the trail of Confederate renegade officer Colonel Theron 'Gray Fox' Pardee who has taken refuge in Mexico. A young cavalry officer (Stuart Whitman) takes former Major James 'Jim' Lassiter (Richard Boone) prisoner and the Army decides that he can lead them to Pardee with the help of a slimy Mexican cutthroat Juan Luis Rodriguez (Anthony Franciosa) who is just looking for an excuse to desert. "Rio Conchos" represented former Cleveland Brown's football star Jim Brown's motion picture debut. The action is rough, the characters are gruff, and there aren't any women to hold our heroes or villains back from the action. Basically, "Rio Conchos" is a variation on an earlier Clair Huffaker western "The Commancheros" that co-starred John Wayne with Stuart Whitman. Jerry Goldsmith provided the atmospheric orchestral score.

I have read some reviews of "Rio Conchos", and some people think it is a remake of "The Comancheros", and trust me it is not. Do they have some things in common? Yes they do. 1: They were both done by 20th Century Fox. 2: They both had Stuart Whitman (Although Paul Regret in "The Commancheros" is a very different character than Capt. Haven here). 3: Both involved gun running to the Indians. 4: The girl rescues the main characters. There it was Pilar Graile (Ina Balin), here it is the Sally Apache Girl (Wende Wagner). That is where it ends. First off it is an inferior film. "The Commancheros" is a Western Classic with much better and likable characters such as Capt. Jake Cutter (John Wayne), "Crow" (Lee Marvin), Regret, Pilar, and her father the bad guy played by Nehemiah Persoff. The characters here are simply unlikable (Except perhaps Haven and Sally at the end of the film). The worst of all was Col. Theron 'Gray Fox' Pardee (The former Confederate Commander of Major Jim Lassiter (Richard Boone)). His goal was to use the Indians as an Army against the American People. As he stated" The reason the South lost was its misguided sense of honor." (By comparison Regret has a lot of honor (You first meet him, when he participates in a duel, and kills the other person when he moves). This is also very different than Graile who wanted "A Community of Thieves" (His words), which is certainly not to send Indians on a rampage to kill without mercy. Lassiter is not very likable either: He was angry and embittered over the loss to the North, and having his family killed by the Indians. He is almost like a rabid dog, just wanting to kill before he gets killed. He even tried to kill Sally until Haven stopped him. Two others along for the ride are Sgt. Franklyn (Jim Brown), who rarely speaks, but is almost as ruthless as Lassiter at killing Indians, and Juan Luis Rodriguez (Tony Franciosa), who is a real vile character who reminds me of AJ Maggott (Telly Savalas) from "The Dirty Dozen" an absolute psychopath who pretends to be charming, but is worse than a rattlesnake. Basically, there is not a likable character in the bunch OBrien (who I generally like) stands out as nothing more than a psychotic with visions of grandeur which again is different than Graile or Jeff Chandler's Luke Darcy from "The Jayhawkers! (Another film I reviewed). Next, it is fair to say this is not exactly a comedy which to a large extent "The Commancheros" is (Particularly the scenes involving "Crow"), and thus a lot of fun. Is this a bad film? No it is not, particularly the ending (Spoliers), where Lassiter and Franklyn take on the Indians and Pardee's men (Rodriguez is killed earlier by Lassiter, and Haven is wounded in the ankle by a spear so he cannot do much except free the others (After Sally frees him)). Its ending is extremely ambiguous where Pardee survives (But goes totally mad), and Haven and Sally get away. The question is will Haven make General (Lassiter said "You may make General yet."), or will he end up with Sally (Back then, having an Indian woman (or wife), around you will not exactly help you with that). Since she essentially chose him over her people (Probably because he saved her life), and since he is bringing her back with him (Instead of leaving her with her people (Who were unaware of what Sally did (helping Haven, Franklyn and Lassiter escape ( although only Haven of the three survive))), not to mention the look on his face towards her), you strongly suspect that he is choosing Sally over the military. 7/10 Stars.