{"id":20099,"date":"2020-05-12T14:50:35","date_gmt":"2020-05-12T18:50:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=20099"},"modified":"2020-05-12T15:23:42","modified_gmt":"2020-05-12T19:23:42","slug":"br-100-rifles-1969","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=20099","title":{"rendered":"BR: 100 Rifles (1969)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Film<\/strong>: Very Good<\/p>\n

Transfer<\/strong>: Excellent<\/p>\n

Extras<\/strong>: Excellent<\/p>\n

Label:\u00a0<\/strong> KINO Lorber Studio Classics<\/a> \/ Unobstructed View<\/a><\/p>\n

Region:<\/strong>\u00a0A<\/p>\n

Released:<\/strong>\u00a0 November 22, 2016<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong>\u00a0 Western \/ Action<\/p>\n

Synopsis:<\/strong>\u00a0An American bounty hunter, a bank robber on the lam, and a rebel leader in turn-of-the-century Mexico go against a fascist general determined to exterminate the state’s Yaqui population and quash an independence movement.<\/p>\n

Special Features:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Audio Commentary with Cinema Retro’s Lee Pfeiffer, and film historians Eddy Friedfeld and Paul Scrabo \/ Theatrical Trailer.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Review:<\/strong><\/p>\n

This may not be the greatest western produced near the end of the decade, but it\u2019s an important marker of several transition points \u2013 of the western being re-embraced by studios after the success of Sergio Leone\u2019s Spaghetti westerns, the frankness in depicting violence and a high degree of cynicism, the shift from unwaveringly moral heroes to grey-tinted anti-heroes, and a trio of up-and-coming stars whose careers would redefine if not transcend the traditional star system, as fostered by the studios during the dying days of the iron-clad 7-year contract.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also another fine example of Tom Gries\u2019 work as director. Gries was a modest writer-producer-director who frequently drifted between TV and feature films, and earned deserved critical praise and Emmy wins (East Side, West Side<\/strong>, The Glass House<\/strong>) and Nominations Helter Skelter<\/a><\/strong>, QBVII<\/strong>). Gries made interesting dramas within traditional genres (his prior film, Will Penny <\/strong>is frequently cited as among his best, and reportedly features Charlton Heston\u2019s finest performance) but he also crafted taut little action films that delivered far more production value and excitement within their modest budgets, and often gave their iconic stars works to show-off a little range beyond their steely screen personas.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth noting the cast\u2019s billing order for 100 Rifles<\/strong>: Jim Brown, Raquel Welch, and then Burt Reynolds. The first is regarded as the first African-American action star; the second a studio contract player who controlled her image and later aspects of productions in spite of being built up as a sex goddess; and the third written off by critics as a Marlon Brando knock-off, stuck in TV and odd indie productions with B-grade classification. Perhaps that\u2019s why 100 Rifles <\/strong>surprised audiences, and endures as one of the most enjoyable westerns likely released by studio Fox as a decent but unmemorable B-movie, shot in many of the same Spanish environs as countless spaghetti westerns. (The Main Title sequence is very much inspired by Italian genre entries which used solarized and stenciled graphics in a loose animated style.)<\/p>\n

Based on a novel by Robert MacLeod and adapted by western scribe Clair Huffaker (Flaming Star<\/a><\/strong>, The Comancheros<\/strong>, Rio Conchos<\/strong>), director Gries rewrote the project\u00a0 to improve its structure and flow, and relied on John Wayne\u2019s former stunt double and a crack second unit team to choreograph unusually yet classically elaborate actions scenes, leading up to a spectacular battle in the Mexican border town of Sonora, where the film both begins and ends in a mix of victor and tragedy. (The only drawback are the extras whose \u2018death performances\u2019 are a little amateurish \u2013 they tend to move slowly and with slight puzzlement that detracts from otherwise fairly graphic violence.)<\/p>\n

Brown is Lyedecker, a U.S. Marshall determined to bring bank robbing Yaqui Joe (Reynolds) back to the States, but the pair become ensnared in the activities of ruthless, dictatorial leader Verdugo (an absolutely excellent Fernando Lamas), who rules the state with his own army, and is determined to wipe out the indigenous Yaqui blamed for challenging his authority, and sabotaging the vital rail link that ferries arms and troops between Sonora and Mexico City.<\/p>\n

Dan O\u2019Herlihy is oily Grimes, the spineless, exploitive U.S. rail executive solely concerned with profit, and Hans Gudegast \/ aka Eric Braeden is Von Klemme, a patient but perpetually irked German \u201cadvisor\u201d whose observations and suggestions are repeatedly rejected by emotionally-charged Verdugo. The consequences for ignoring fairly sage advice ultimately lead to Verdugo\u2019s destruction, but it\u2019s gradual, and the increasingly serious losses are deserved for the viciousness in which he slaughters and sacrifices human lives.<\/p>\n

Kino Lorber\u2019s badly needed Blu-ray sports a very lively and enjoyable commentary by Cinema Retro<\/a>\u2019s Lee Pfeiffer and film historians Eddy Friedfeld and Paul Scrabo, who pack a mass of production and career facts into their ongoing discussion, further elevating the status of this modest film in already giddy fans. It\u2019s a movie some of the historians caught during its theatrical run, and many fans (like myself) caught on TV, being delighted by its firm position in what the trio brand the Americans in Mexico sub-genre, where gringos white and black meddle in local affairs, engage in near-death adventures, maintain unlikely alliances, and trade piercing barbs, often as the other suffers an especially embarrassing circumstance.<\/p>\n

Joe and Lyedecker are arrested, escape, are re-arrested and slated for execution, escape, and ultimately aide the indigenous rebels in defeating a provincial despot. Reynolds plays Joe as a wise-cracking, agile but not too bright stud, while Brown\u2019s Lyedecker aides Joe throughout the film but makes it clear at precise junctures \u2018When it\u2019s all over, I\u2019m taking you back to jail.\u2019 Whereas Reynolds and Brown are the film\u2019s buddy-action heroes, Welch plays love interest Sarita, a full Jaqui whose father was string up by Verdugo\u2019s goons, and who\u2019s not-so-secretly allied with Joe in delivering rifles to the rebels \u2013 rifles funded by Joe\u2019s bank job.<\/p>\n

In 1969, Welch\u2019s acting chops weren\u2019t especially strong, and her Spanish accent is very \u2018loose;\u2019 it\u2019s not exactly caricature, but not imbued with needed gravitas. The downside is her performance is initially the weakest, but as the story progresses, water tower-wet shirt sequence excepted, Sarita has more to do than be gorgeous \u2013 she is the de facto lieutenant of the rebels, and it\u2019s believable she\u2019d find Lyedecker\u2019s ambiguous persona more intriguing than Joe, who\u2019s pretty sharply defined as a goofball with an otherwise decent moral centre.<\/p>\n

The poster campaign played up the hot attraction between Lyedecker and Sarita, showing the actors lacking major clothing, and there are a trio of risqu\u00e9 scenes which are fun, but Welch stays true to the character\u2019s unwavering fighter, making the finale especially poignant.<\/p>\n

Although sort of set during the 1800s, amid period details and great sets the stars\u2019 hairstyles are firmly 1969, as are Welch\u2019s costumes which overwhelmingly flatter her iron midriff \u2013 even epics like Doctor Zhivago<\/a><\/strong> (1965) dolled their cast in fashionable contemporary hairstles and makeup \u2013 but as the commentators point out, the cruelty of the era in which brutality was frequent is apparently quite true.<\/p>\n

Verdugo is a despot who applies efficient and barbaric practices to ensure his wealth, stature, and power remain firmly rooted, but he\u2019s not always tolerant of his German advisor, who seems increasingly bored with wasted efforts to offer constructive suggestions. The ongoing tension between Verdugo and Klemme is reflective of the active friction among all characters, and the finale is very satisfying, including an unexpected twist and heavy dollop of cynicism.<\/p>\n

Slightly hidden within the film is Michael Forest (Atlas<\/strong>, Star Trek: Who Mourns for Adonais? <\/strong>and appearances in myriad TV westerns) as Sarita\u2019s wordless right hand man Humana in Indian wig #14, and sexploitation cult actress Soledad Miranda has a small role as Yaqui Joe\u2019s overnight squeeze. Miranda would film a mass of films between 1969-1970, including Jess Franco\u2019s classic Vampyros Lesbos <\/strong>(1971) and She Killed in Ecstasy<\/strong> (1971), both released after her tragic death in 1970.<\/p>\n

If the cast, energetic scenes, deprecating sense of humour and fantastic locations are the obvious draw, the gritty cinematography by Cecilio Paniagua (Lisa and the Devil<\/strong>, The Hunting Party<\/strong>) exploits the bleak, sand-blown landscape, while veteran editor Robert L. Simpson (Miracle on 34th Street<\/strong>, Inferno<\/a><\/strong>, South Pacific<\/strong>, Cahill U.S. Marshal<\/strong>) creates magical sequences, of which Verdugo\u2019s horseback chase is a small masterpiece, moving from gliding camera to terrifying, steep moraines down which our heroes and their relentless pursuers trek.<\/p>\n

The glue that holds all of the film\u2019s elements together is Jerry Goldsmith\u2019s score, which is inarguably one of the best action-western scores ever written. Goldsmith draws from the Mexican locations, the film\u2019s visual palette, and the desperation of the characters to provide cohesion between the characters whose scenes and dialogue vary from deep introspection to loathing, lust, cruelty, and dry, mordant humour. The main theme goes through many guises, but it\u2019s the layers of rhythms which push the tension just a little farther during the action scenes which in terms of length, are outrageously epic.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s much back-and-forth as power and the upper hand glides and is wrenched from one group to another, and Verdugo\u2019s village massacre is one example where the heroes return, plot revenge, make their initial move on Verdugo\u2019s compound which gets trashed, and while Yaqui Joe gets pickled in wine, Sarita and Lyedecker pivot in classic cinema lunacy from attempted rape to proper seduction. The morning after mess is discovered by Verdugo who loses his base of operations, physical wealth, and the perks of being a powerful scumbag \u2013 a small entourage of women who giggle at the opportunity to sponge bath their wannabe king.<\/p>\n

The commentators make a very funny but spot-on observation: Verdugo has money, power, blind support from Mexico City, a savvy European advisor, and hot babes, yet he still wants more. Greed does lead to his downfall, but so does his stubbornness in outright rejecting Von Klemme\u2019s \u2018advice\u2019 on strategic responses to the rebels. \u2018This is my country,\u2019 he reiterates in differing degrees of ire and great umbrage, leading Von Klemme to do what he can, smirk in silence, and like a master strategist, exits the debacle, sensing at the end his own use and personal safety are becoming more limited.<\/p>\n

Whether the contrast lay in the original story or was brought out by the screenwriters and director, contrasting personalities and interests ensure whomever\u2019s onscreen is never boring, or is merely part of some padding \u2013 hence the angry energy Verdugo spouts when Von Klemme remains almost physically inert. Reynolds has some sharp, funny lines, while Lyedecker just wants to complete a task he holds onto almost to the end \u2013 bring Yaqui Joe back to the U.S. for bank robbery.<\/p>\n

100 Rifles<\/strong> is easy to dismiss as a B-grade western designed to fill screens during spring 1969, but it\u2019s too well-crafted to be slighted so quickly. Whereas former matinee idol Fernando Lamas quickly ventured into TV and made just one more film \u2013 The Cheap Detective<\/strong> (1978) \u2013 Reynolds\u2019 equity picked up after Deliverance<\/strong> (1972).<\/p>\n

Welch\u2019s next western, Bandolero!<\/strong><\/a> (1969) didn\u2019t offer a better part per se, but the film\u2019s tone and her character\u2019s low-key persona yielded a stronger performance; she\u2019s fun (and sometimes unintentionally funny) in 100 Rifles<\/strong>, but her acting is more assured in the former.<\/p>\n

Jim Brown\u2019s career in westerns continued to exploit his screen charisma and deft balance of action and bone-dry humour, especially in two more American in Mexico entries, John Guillermin\u2019s hunt for treasure drama with plenty\u00a0 of sadism and skullduggery, El Condor<\/a><\/strong> (1970), and Antonio Margheriti\u2019s Take a Hard Ride <\/strong>\u00a0(1975).<\/p>\n

Jerry Goldsmith also scored Tom Gries\u2019 QBVII <\/strong>(1974), Breakout<\/strong> (1975), and Breakheart<\/strong> Pass<\/strong> (1975), and after appearing in Tom Gries\u2019 series The Rat patrol<\/strong> (1966-1968) and 100 Rifles <\/strong>(1969), Eric Braeden would soon immortalize Victor Newman in the daytime soap The Young and the Restless<\/strong> in 1980.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2020 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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