The Comancheros

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Michael Curtiz's The Comancheros was a deceptively complex movie -- so enjoyable, that it masked some of the best character development seen in a John Wayne vehicle that was not directed by John Ford or Howard Hawks, and so well made that it got by with some of the most violent action seen in a major studio release of the era. It also bridged the gap between Ford's The Searchers and the upbeat buddy movies of the late '60s and '70s (The Sting, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, etc.). It's 1843 in the Republic of Texas, and Jake Cutter (John Wayne) is a two-fisted Texas Ranger who runs across a gang of white renegades, called the Comancheros, who are trading guns and other contraband with marauding Comanches from a secret hideout in Mexico. Substituting for a repentant gun-runner, he goes undercover as a partner with Crow (Lee Marvin), a vicious half-breed who is a contact man with the Comancheros and knows the whereabouts of their hideout in Mexico. But Crow manages to get himself killed, and Cutter is forced to throw in with Paul Regret (Stuart Whitman), a bystander who also happens to be an itinerant gambler wanted for killing a man in a duel in New Orleans, to complete his mission. It turns out that Regret is a more decent man than most, and he and Cutter, despite some different outlooks on right and wrong, take a liking to each other. Their quest eventually takes them south of the border, where they find the Comancheros and their leader, Graile (Nehemiah Persoff), a bitter, brilliant cripple -- think of The Sea Wolf's Wolf Larsen in a wheelchair -- who has established a landlocked pirate society, and his daughter Pilar (Ina Balin). The only thing that keeps Cutter and Regret alive when they enter the camp is that Pilar and Regret have a history, and she still has feelings for him, enough so that she won't tell what she knows about Cutter and who he is. The two men must play on Graile's greed and Pilar's love in the explosive surroundings of the Comancheros' camp, while figuring out a way to stay alive long enough to get word to the rangers about where they are -- and to survive the attack that must inevitably follow.

Director Michael Curtiz was ill for part of the shoot, and Wayne took up the slack, but The Comancheros displays some of the same freewheeling charm and deep passions that informed classic films of his such as Captain Blood, The Adventures of Robin Hood, and The Sea Hawk. Wayne and Whitman between them manage to evoke some of the rambunctiousness of Errol Flynn, and when Balin (one of the sexiest leading ladies ever to grace a John Wayne movie) arrives onscreen, the testosterone level shoots up even higher and the sexual sparks fly. The film's 105 minutes go by very fast, and this is a movie whose ending comes almost too soon. Curtiz's final film is one that leaves audiences with a smile, but also wanting more, which was a pretty good way to go out. John Wayne's daughter, Aissa Wayne (who subsequently went into a law career) appears in a small role. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 (Cinemascope)
• Audio: Dolby Digital 4.0
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Features:
  • cc
  • Movietone News: Claude King and Tillman Franks receive award for "The Comancheros"
  • Theatrical trailer
  • Spanish trailer

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       John Wayne - Capt. Jake Cutter
       Stuart Whitman - Paul Regret
       Ina Balin - Pilar Graile
       Nehemiah Persoff - Graile
       Lee Marvin - Tully Crow
       Michael Ansara - Amelung
       Bruce Cabot - Maj. Henry
       Joan O'Brien - Melinda Marshall
       Jack Elam - Horseface
       Edgar Buchanan - Judge Thaddeus Jackson Breen
       Henry Daniell - Gireaux
       Richard Devon - Estevan
       Steve Baylor - Comanchero
       John Dierkes - Bill
       Roger Mobley - Bub Schofield
       Bob Steele - Pa Schofield
       Luisa Triana - Spanish Dancer
       Iphigenie Castiglioni - Josefina
       Aissa Wayne - Bessie Marshall
       Alan Carney - Bartender
       Phil Arnold - Nervous man
       Don Brodie - Card dealer
       Ralph Volkie - Riverboat steward
       Harry Carey, Jr.
       Guinn "Big Boy" Williams - Ed McBain
       Dennis Cole
       Gregg Palmer - Duel opponent
       Jon Lormer - Elderly man on riverboat
       Tom Hennessy - Graile's Bodyguard
       Leigh Snowden - Hotel Girl
       George Lewis - Iron Shirt
       Patrick Wayne - Tobe

• Director:

  Michael Curtiz

• Producer:

  George Sherman

• Screenwriter:

  James Edward Grant, Clair Huffaker

• Book Author:

  Paul I. Wellman

• Cinematographer:

  William H. Clothier

• Composer (Music Score):

  Elmer Bernstein

• Editor:

  Louis Loeffler

• Art Director:

  Jack Martin Smith, Alfred Ybarra

• Set Designer:

  Robert Priestley, Walter Scott

• Costume Designer:

  Marjorie Best

• Choreography:

  Harold Belfer

REVIEW:

• The Comancheros is Michael Curtiz's last film as a director; from all accounts, he was weak and ill during the filming, although one would never know it from the finished product, which is skillfully directed and bears the unmistakable stamp of Curtiz's professionalism. John Wayne stepped in to direct some scenes when Curtiz faltered, and Cliff Lyons, an excellent stuntman whose career traced back to the silent era, directed the second-unit action sequences, and certainly these contributions added considerably to the film's final cut. The film boasts a particularly interesting cast; aside from Wayne, stars Stuart Whitman and Lee Marvin, as well as veteran character actors Jack Elam, Henry Daniell, and Richard Devon are on hand to liven up the proceedings. The plot is simplicity itself; Wayne plays Texas Ranger Jake Cutter, a role he could stroll through without breaking a sweat, who arrests itinerant gambler Paul Regret (Whitman) as another routine assignment. But Whitman and Wayne soon find they must pool their resources to defeat a band of renegade arms dealers known as the Comancheros, led by Jack Elam at his slimiest. The Comancheros is a deeply formulaic film, designed to keep Wayne in the public eye and his loyal audience members satisfied. None of it makes much sense, but Curtiz directs in his usual hectic style, so that the incidents pile up so quickly that one soon forgets the absurdity of the film's premise. Interestingly, veteran Western director Budd Boetticher was originally slated to direct this film during a particularly down period in the director's life when he was in jail in Mexico during the production of his film Arruza (which was eventually completed after much hardship in 1972). Astoundingly, Boetticher turned the offer down, preferring to remain in jail rather than tackle what he saw as a mediocre project. Michael Curtiz died shortly after production of the film was completed. ~ Wheeler Winston Dixon, Rovi