FILM REVIEW OF ''THE RETURN OF JOSEY WALES" (1986)

The people who produced "The Return of Josey Wales" should have changed the hero's name. "Return" went straight to video in 1986 without significant theatrical release, while "The Outlaw Josey Wales" was released in 1976. Ten years is a long time to delay a sequel, though "Star Trek" fans weathered decades before their cult NBC-TV show finally reached the big-screen. Reportedly, Clint Eastwood had considered making Forrest Carter's second Josey Wales novel "The Vengeance Trail of Josey Wales" as a sequel. Nothing came of the project. Anyway, only the fictional characters from the original show up in "The Return of Josey Wales." None of the original cast members reprised their roles, and Clint Eastwood had nothing to do with the low-budget oater. Forrest Carter, author of both "Josey Wales" western novels received screen credit for both story and screenplay.  The producers changed the ending.  Several characters from the original novel reappeared in the second novel in an early chapter.  Nevertheless, “The Return of Josey Wales” is at best generic from fade-in to fade out compared not only with the previous movie as well as Carter’s novel. 

Producer/Second Unit Director R.O. Taylor received credit as "writer: special scenes."

"The Outlaw Josey Wales" qualified as an indisputable magnum opus. Meanwhile, "The Return of Josey Wales" (* OUT OF ****)npales by comparison, more of a drab, saddle-sore, horse opera with little to distinguish it. According to IMDb.COM, the produced lensed on location at the Alamo Village, in Brackettville, Texas, where John Wayne filmed his own magnum opus "The Alamo" in 1960. A large percentage of the cinematography is master shots. Master shots are typically long shots with actors shown from head to toe in their environment.  Star/director Michael Parks, who graces himself with an adequate number of close-ups, should have known he was setting himself up for a fiasco. The original "Josey Wales" overshadows this threadbare sagebrusher. Had the protagonist's name been altered, "The Return" wouldn't have found itself at such a tremendous disadvantage compared to its lofty predecessor. The Internet Movie Database lists no release date, but I remember a trailer at a drive-in movie theater advertising it. Like another reviewer, I bought a VHS copy through Amazon so I could say that I have seen it.  The picture quality is mediocre, and the film may have been cropped to accommodate the standard 1:33.1 screen ratio.

Despite the somewhat brutal events in the prologue, you're going to feel like you're watching a conventional television western. Tame, lame, with little of the same from the original, "The Return of Josey Wales" ranks as an uninspired sequel. Repeated viewings of the Eastwood original allow you to appreciate its perfection. Eastwood did a marvelous job when he condensed the entire Civil War in the prologue after Union sympathizers slaughtered Josey’s wife and son, and later he joined Bloody Bill Anderson. "Return" doesn't raise the stakes, boasts few surprises, breaks no new ground, and doesn't leave you wanting more. Character actor Michael Parks—an outstanding thespian in his own right—replaced Clint Eastwood. Indeed, some resemblance appears between the two, and Parks looks persuasively authentic in his black sombrero, white shirt, and dark britches. Aside from preserving Josey's tobacco spitting routine, Park's Josey Wales isn't as interesting as Eastwood's character. He has no love interest in this film, and he doesn’t have any memorable showdown scenes. Parks packs one revolver in a standard, low-slung, right-sided holster, like a prime-time, TV cowboy, and wields an occasional Winchester. Eastwood's Josey Wales armed himself to the teeth with as many as four revolvers. Eastwood knew how to make an entrance, whereas Parks ambles into and out of scenes as if by accident without a trace of charisma. He mumbles in his dialogue scenes like Marlon Brando. Occasionally, he says something insightful.

As director, Parks stages the western shenanigans without fanfare.  Watching it once is probably more than enough. I've seen it several times for this review. You'll have to wait patiently about 20 minutes for the first gunfight. The gunfight is minor like something out of a Randolph Scott western. Rafael Campos is the only other recognizable cast member.  Campos gives the best performance as a liquor-loving vaquero.  Everybody else, even in speaking parts, looks and sounds like amateurs. Some of the male extras wear atrocious hats that resemble party favors instead of Stetsons. Basically, like Clint Eastwood's "The Outlaw Josey Wales, "The Return of Josey Wales" has a savage prologue involving a heinous atrocity. The hero's extended family of friends suffers at the hands of the slimy villains. "The Return of Josey Wales" doesn't deliver an eye for an eye western with an icy-cool looking hero. Parks can be heroic.  Happily, he does handle himself acceptably in the first shoot-out both on foot as well as horseback. Appropriately enough, the villains—Mexican Rurales who scalp Indians for the bounty--are unrepentant devils.

The Rurales rape a defiant saloon girl, Rose (Suzie Humphreys of "Deep in the Heart") and beat a poor bartender to a pulp, while a one-armed Mexican peon, Pablo (Paco Vela of “The Job”), witnesses these horrific acts. Later, Paco relays his information to Josey Wales. Predictably, Wales saddles up and hits the trail, but with considerably less gusto compared to its predecessor. Furthermore, one of Josey's friends, a tin-horn gambler named Ten-Spot (Robert Magruder of “Five Days from Home”) has been taken. Mexican Rurales commander, Jesus Escabedo (Everett Sifuentes of "Selena"), plans to hang Ten-Spot, and Josey tracks them down with his Mexican vaquero, Chato (Rafael Campos of "The Appaloosa"), but Chato gets himself shot-up.  Sadly, Ten-Spot catches a bullet in the finale. Josey leaves Escabedo buried up to his neck in the ground as he rides off with his friends.  In Carter’s novel, Wales repeatedly shot and killed Escabedo during a face-to-face confrontation in a canyon.  Furthermore, in Carter’s novel, real-life Apache chieftain Geronimo played a peripheral role.

Josey Wales desired better than this grubby little western delivered.

FILM REVIEW OF ''TAILS, YOU LOSE" (1969-Italian)

“Zorro the Rebel” director Piero Pierotti’s “Tails, You Lose” qualifies as a sophisticated but bizarre Spaghetti western.  Pierotti combines social commentary with a murder mystery and does a splendid job with both themes.  Top-notch production values, exterior & interior sets, Carlo Savina’s superb orchestra score, strong performances, and Pierotti’s complex screenplay distinguish this out of the ordinary Italian oater.  Although it isn’t strictly a savage shoot’em up over real estate or livestock, this sun-baked sagebrusher features several interesting characters, and Pierotti’s dialogue is occasionally catchy.  The local undertaker observes after the hero is gunned down: “They all look the same when they’re dead, these no-good, two-bit, double-dealing cowards.”  Essentially, the hero conforms to the anti-heroic tradition of the Clint Eastwood bounty hunter, except that he is an outlaw.  Hollywood actor John Ericson establishes his felonious credentials during the pre-credit sequence.  He vanishes for almost a half-an-hour after sticking up the stagecoach. Alluring actress Spela Rozin gets to wear a variety of costumes beginning with the regalia of a dance hall girl to a babe in buckskins.  She undergoes a transformation.  The roles for women here are traditional in one respect.  Like the good ladies in John Ford’s “Stagecoach,” the good ladies in “Tails, You Lose” send the harlots packing, but they are a great deal more brutal than the “Stagecoach” ladies.

Not only does wanted desperado William Huston, alias the Black Talisman, (John Ericson of “Bad Day at Black Rock”) rob a stagecoach in Texas in 1892, but he also hijacks a sack of money and shoots the shotgun rider.  Lenser Fausto Zuccoli zooms out to reveal our hard-riding highwayman galloping away; the awesome backdrop of a prodigious mountain dwarfs him and looks spectacular.  The trouble erupts in the Arizona town of Plata in the 1890s when two gunslingers shoot each other over the affections of a dance hall warbler.  One guy seized her umbrella and another knocked him down.  They were prepared to shoot it out in the saloon but the town sheriff intervened and ordered them to take it to the streets.  Imaginatively, Pierotti confines Fausto Zuccoli’s cameras to the saloon interior while the sounds of the gunshots occur off screen.  Comparatively, he doesn't show the heroine as she is raped.  One of the duelers enters the saloon as if in triumph until we get a glimpse of his perspective and the point of view shot quivers.  The man, who we may have mistaken labeled the survivor, drops dead.  

Later, the sister of a local pastor, Miss Phillips, advocates the exile of all the saloon harpies.  “My brother—the minister--shall thunder from the pulpit: do we want Plata City to become another Sodom and Gomorrah?”  Later, this grim dame in gray and black proclaims ominously, “We cannot allow that witch from the saloon and her tarts to continue”  She pauses for dramatic emphasis, “To take our sons from us, our brothers, our husbands.”  The Christian ladies invite the sheriff to their meeting to discuss their grievances or as he says “put him on trial.”  “You know those ladies,” the lawman emphasizes, “they don’t spare you nothing.”  Burton the banker warns Shanda about the wrath of the women.  “They’re envious and they’re bored,” he explains.  “They have turned to religion for excitement.  Ever since you arrived with your girls, they say that they are losing the fervor of their husbands, and the number one bigot among those shrews is the pastor’s sister.”  The severe-looking, tight-lipped Miss Phillips leads a crowd of women to the saloon, and they trash the premises.  The saloon girls try to escape without luck.  The sadomasochistic wife of a philandering banker derives sexual gratification from watching a bare-backed prostitute, a Mexican girl (Edwige Fenech), whipped by another woman in brown.    Some of these girls are whipped, while others are tarred and feathered.  The banker’s wife, who turns out to be a sexual deviant, kills her husband and then frames the saloon girl Shanda (Spela Rozin) for his demise.  The sheriff spares Shanda and sends two of his deputies to escort her to Phoenix.  Along the way, another man of questionable character joins the two deputies. The three rape her.   

Although he held up the stage like a villain, Huston shows up and discovers Shanda after she has left for dead in the desert.  Spela Rozin presents a delectable looking specimen of feminity sprawled nearly nude except for a blanket.  Initially, Shanda mistakes Huston of one of the men.  Eventually, they grow to trust each other.  Huston makes an interesting comment about Shanda: “You know, if you’ve been wronged, you’ve got what it takes for revenge.  You’re quite a wild cat.”  The curious Huston launches his own investigation.  “Tails, You Lose” amounts to a different kind of Spaghetti western.  The lean, good-looking Ericson cuts a distinctive figure in his green denims. 

FILM REVIEW OF ''GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL" (1957)

Before director John Sturges made "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral," he'd only made a few westerns, "The Walking Hills" with Randolph Scott, "Bad Day at Black Rock," with Spencer Tracy, and "Backlash" with Richard Widmark.  I'd say that "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" was the first of his big-budgeted westerns at Paramount Pictures with Hal Wallis producing this polished looking oater. Things are pretty straightforward with Burt Lancaster cast as a stern but charismatic Wyatt Earp sans a mustache, while Kirk Douglas looks a mite too robust as the consumptive Doc Holiday. This was the second time that Lancaster and Earp co-starred in a movie, but it was certainly the first of their best.  One of the best known western villains from the era clashed with the heroes; Lyle Bettger played Ike Clanton.  The music and the ballad of the O.K. Corral are not only atmospheric but accentuate the action.  Sturges stages a much bigger and more ambitious finale at the O.K. Corral with the Clantons shooting it out with Earp and company. This is a first-class horse opera that should be not be missed. If you're a western fan, you must see this movie. 

“Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” opens to “Duel in the Sun” composer Dimitri Tiomkin’s stirring music and Frankie Lane’s heroic lyrics.  Those lyrics punctuate the action and serve as the equivalent of a Greek chorus.  The first scene details a showdown between Kirk Douglas and character actor Lee Van Cleef in a saloon.  Wyatt Earp (Burt Lancaster) is riding through town when Holiday sets foot in a saloon to challenge Ed Baily (Lee Van Cleef) for shooting his brother.  The catch is the neither man is allowed to carry firearms in the saloon.  Doc conceals a switchblade in his cuff, while Baily keeps a derringer in his boot.  No sooner has Doc thrown a knife into Ed Baily’s chest than Sheriff Cotton Ryan (Frank Faylen) arrests him and sticks him in jail.  Later, as a lynch mob assembles, a desperate Kate Fisher (Jo Van Fleet) entreats Wyatt to help Doc escape the lynch mob.  Wyatt helps Doc get out of town.  Afterward, Wyatt runs into Doc when he enters Dodge City.  Dead broke, Doc plans to gamble up some money and he gets Wyatt to loan him money.  

The ‘square deal’ friendship between Wyatt and Doc gets off to a start after they gun down Richie Bell and his bank robbing buddies who try to sneak into their camp and dry gulch them.  Meanwhile, Wyatt takes up with a headstrong lady gambler Laura Denbow (Rhonda Fleming of “Pony Express”) who gives him a hard time when he arrests her.  The romance between Wyatt and Laura is short-lived because she refuses to follow him when he rides to Tombstone to support brother Morgan and Virgil Earp.  About an hour into the action, gunslinger Johnny Ringo (John Ireland of “Red River”) shows up to steal Kate from Doc.  They develop an intense rivalry and Doc wings him during a saloon shoot-out.  Doc and Wyatt solidify their relationship when they have a showdown with Shanghai Pierce (Ted De Corsia of “Vengeance Valley”) in Dodge City.

When Wyatt’s three brothers summon him to Tombstone, he finds Doc Holiday riding along to join him.  Laura refuses to accompany Wyatt so he leaves her.  Initially, Morgan and Virgil hate the idea of Doc hanging around with Wyatt.  No sooner has Doc arrived in Tombstone than his old nemesis Ringo and Kate blow into town.  Doc and Ringo clash but Morgan convinces Doc not to kill him.  Ike Clanton (Lyle Bettger of “The Lone Ranger”) rustles Mexican cattle and tries to ship it through Tombstone, but Wyatt and his brothers refuse to let him do it.  Eventually, Ike and his brothers have it out at the O.K. Corral in a beautifully staged shoot-out with the Earps.  In an evocative scene, Wyatt, his brothers and Doc assemble for the big finale.

John Sturges has “The Lives of a Bengal Lancer” lenser Charles Lang shoot set-ups from low angles to make everything look larger than life.  Terrific stuff! Sturges would stick to the facts more closely with his unofficial sequel "Hour of the Gun" with James Garner cast as Wyatt Earp.

FILM REVIEW OF "BRAND OF THE DEVIL" (1944)

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“Brand of the Devil” qualifies as a second-rate horse opera about three heroic Texas Rangers working undercover. They are trying to flush a gang of rustlers out that have been preying on a defenseless female rancher.  “Randy Rides Alone” director Harry L. Fraser helmed this thoroughly ordinary nag from a screenplay by Elmer Clifton. If you’re counting, “Brand of the Devil” is the fourteenth entry in the long-running PRC Texas Rangers franchise.  PRC produced 22 of these epics.  Incidentally, not only was "Brand of the Devil" (** out of ****) the last Texas Rangers movie starring Jim Newill but also it was his final film.  This saddle-sore sagebrusher unfolds with this noble foreword: "Dedicated to the law officers of the Old West, who led the fight for law and order in the pioneer days of the country in 1880."  Actually, our heroes have a rather easy time turning the tables on these owlhoots. Essentially, the good guys know their quarry because they have been investigating him. Nevertheless, the chief adversary is wily enough to last 57 minutes.  Texas Rangers Jim Steele, Tex Wyatt, and Panhandle Perkins appear separately in the town of Willow Springs so they don't look like friends.  Fraser establishes the identity of the villain early on while our heroes align themselves with the rustlers-plagued, damsel-in-distress.   Nothing spectacular occurs in “Brand of the Devil.” The most unusual thing occurs when the villains frame the frontier gal for rustling. One of her own treacherous ranch hands dresses up in drag like Molly. The owner of the cattle being rustled spots him and jumps to a hasty conclusion.  Earlier, Tex and Jim encountered him, and he asked them to serve as witnesses that Molly was rustling.

“Brand of the Devil” opens as one of our heroes, Jim Steele (Jim Newill of “Spook Town”), attempts to infiltrate the gang of rustlers. The tight-lipped  chieftain, duded-up Jack Varno (I. Stanford Jolley of "Backlash"), refuses to hire him, even after Jim triumphed over an opponent in a bar room brawl.  Meanwhile, Panhandle Perkins (Guy Wilkerson of “To Kill a Mockingbird”) masquerades as "Branding Iron" McGee.  He claims he can forge branding irons that no rustlers can duplicate. Later, angry rancher Molly Dawson (Ellen Hall of "Voodoo Man") storms into the Gold Ace Saloon in Willow Springs.  She claims Duke Cutter (Reed Howes of "The Walking Hills") has purloined her white stallion. Molly starts throwing liquor bottles at the bar. Varno urges his henchmen to restrain Molly before she destroys his entire stock. Our gallant protagonists, Tex Wyatt (Dave O'Brien of “Reefer Madness”) and Steele, intervene for Molly.  Varno's gunmen tangle with Tex and Jim.  Adroitly, Jim blows the gun out of Panhandle's fist and then blasts out the saloon lights out. Jim is incredibly adept with his revolver. Molly, Tex, and Jim skedaddle into the night.  After Molly, Jim, and Tex have cleared out, Varno discovers a card with the mark of the devil's brand on it. Varno supervises a band of gunmen rustling beef in the territory.  The sight of the card unnerves Varno since the devil's brand serves as the emblem of his gang.  Moreover, only Varno and his three partners know about the symbol. The actual symbol is a white devil’s pitchfork against a black background. Mind you, the Texas Rangers aren’t advertising their official presence until they feel that it is necessary. Eventually, the villains to learn about their true identity, but not before Panhandle manages to infiltrate their ranks.  

The next morning our heroine rides back into Willow Springs. She locates her stolen white stallion along with its saddle in the stable where Duke had stashed him the night before for Varno to inspect. Panhandle watches with concern as Molly saddles her horse.  He suggests she contact the authorities.  "A lot of good the law does," Molly retorts defiantly, "Why in two months rustlers have taken most of my cattle.  I've complained and even written to the Rangers asking for help, and do they show up, they do not. From now on I'm taking the law into my own hands," Molly informs Panhandle as she appropriates her stolen horse.  "And if they want to stop me, just let them try."  No sooner has Molly ridden off on her horse than Varno and his henchmen pursue her.  Tex and Jim gallop up just as Varno and company have halted Molly.  "You two seem mighty interested in other people's business," Varno observes.  Varno's men invite Tex to look at the brand on the stallion. Tex admits the animal could belong to anybody because it has two brands. Molly pleads with our heroes. "There's not much anybody can do unless you can prove he is yours," Jim concedes.   "I'd like to give you two a friendly tip," Varno warns them.  "Keep out of my business, and you'll live longer." At this point, Tex and Jim have become Varno's mortal enemies. "You know," Tex states, "I didn't like you when I first saw you and right now I like you less because I think that horse belongs to Miss Dawson." Tex knocks Varno to the ground with a single blow when he tries to draw on him. Varno is pretty fed up with our heroes now and threatens them. "After that warning, we'll be sure to keep our backs away from you." Reluctantly, Tex allows Varno to ride away on Molly's steed.  Of course, Molly isn't happy with the outcome.  "You'll get your horse back," Jim assures her.  "You bet I will," she  vows,"but after what's just happened, I can see it won't be through you two."

 After our heroes have a rendezvous with Panhandle, they ride up onto a valley where they meet another fellow, Jeff Palin, who explains that his cattle are being rustled.  He gives Tex a set of field glasses to view the rustling.  From a distance, it appears that a woman is supervising the rustling when in fact it is Molly's ranch hand Henry Wilburn (Budd Buster) doing it.  Our heroes run down Wilburn and they give him to Panhandle. Meanwhile, the sheriff arrests Molly and puts her in jail.  Varno has a conference with his cronies and they pick cards to see who will "silence" Molly.  Bucko gets the task but cannot do it so Varno takes it.  Later that evening, Varno shoots into the jail cell that Molly occupies.  Afterward, Varno learns from the sheriff that Tex and Jim are Texas Rangers and they have taken Molly into custody.  Varno decides to set a trap for the Rangers and uses Panhandle to set it.  When our heroes show up at a cabin in the old cottonwoods, Bucko is waiting for them.  Tex and Jim go after the cattle while Panhandle rides off to protect Molly.  Bucko catches our heroes at the cabin while Varno and his henchmen chase Panhandle after he exits Molly's ranch. Varno leaves the chore of disposing of the Rangers to Bucko.  Up till now Bucko has been portrayed as a straightforward villain but he reveals his buffoonish nature when he is left alone with the Rangers to kill them. 

 Ostensibly, this low-budget, lightweight western is about defending the weak from the wolves.  Just as the heroes have standards, so do the villains.  When Varno asks his hired gunman Bucko Lynn (perennial western heavy Charles King) to "silence" Molly, Bucko balks.  He has no qualms about killing guys, but he draws the line at the opposite sex. Elmer Clifton's screenplay is satisfactory up until Bucko is left with Tex, Jim, and Panhandle tied up and ready to die.  The cretinous Bucko decides to strum a guitar while Jim warbles a lackluster version of "Old Paint."  So engrosses is Bucko in the melody that he keeps his eyes shut while Panhandle and Tex work their way out of their bonds and jump him.  Sadly, "Brand of the Devil" is available only as a scratchy public domain print.  This lame sagebrusher is strictly a potboiler, though Wilkerson is pretty funny.