Duel at Diablo
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Movie Reviews of Duel at Diablo
Movie Review: Duel at Diablo
Summary: 5 Stars
Favorite of mine for a long time. James Gardner rescues a white woman from Apaches yet, she goes back for her child. He of course was fathered by an Indian and the town and her own husband are outraged. Thinking she should have killed herself when captured. Sidney Poitier is also good in this movie about the war in the west between the white man and indians.Movie Review: This one is a keeper.
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of my all time favorite westerns. Both James Garner and Sydney Portier look great in this film, Portier as the smooth well dressed gambler and Garner as the rugged scout. I saw this made for tv movie as a kid and remember it as being pretty intense with a great sound track, story and action! I also liked how it depicted the indians.Movie Review: duel at diablo
Summary: 5 Stars
one of the better westerns filmed during the 1960'sa violent storey, in the old west and a stirring
social commentary.
james garner, dennis weaver, bibi anderson., sidney potier stand out in this western and calvary action movie,the only thing missing was...maybe john wayne or burt lancaster coming to the rescue.
Movie Review: On the vengeance trail - a darker, meaner James Garner
Summary: 4 Stars
James Garner's easy-going charm made him a bankable star for most of his career. But, every so often, he didn't mind stepping out of his comfort zone to try different, more hard-bitten roles. Case in point: DUEL AT DIABLO, a near classic western drama which not only showcased a more intense James Garner but also the great Sidney Poitier. DUEL AT DIABLO was made in 1966 and it's not your typical western. This one eschews the black and white good guy/bad guy sensibilities often reflected in this film genre. Instead, DUEL AT DIABLO unfurls themes colored more in shades of grey and not so easily resolved. This is far removed from the lighthearted likes of Support Your Local Sheriff or MAVERICK.
Always gritty and, at times, bleak and brooding, DUEL AT DIABLO is peopled with complex, no-nonsense types. As the film rolls along, don't be too surprised if you find your opinions shifting with regards to these characters. Almost from the get-go it dawns on us that this picture doesn't intend to run by the numbers. The opening sequence tells of frontier scout Jess Remsberg (Garner) rescuing a white woman abducted by Apaches and returning her to her home, only to have the townspeople and the woman's husband treat her with indifference and scorn. So, right away, there's an undercurrent of unease felt on the screen.
Meanwhile, Remsberg learns of the brutal murder of his Comanche wife and means to find the killer and then not kill him easy. He agrees to scout for a cavalry troop heading thru perilous Apache country with a cache of ammo and bolstered in part by green recruits, as the troop's destination of a distant Army fort coincides with Remsberg's. Along for the ride and not ecstatic about it is a tough but well-dressed horse breaker and ex-soldier named Toller (Poitier). A civilian with his own shipment also manages to attach himself to the cavalry. The last member of this military jaunt happens to be the same woman Remsberg had rescued, as it turns out she has further personal business with the Apaches.
The action sequences are moderately intense. There are passages replete with rollicking fistfights, gunfights, ambushes, chases, and fleeting moments of torture (or, rather, the aftermath of torture). DUEL AT DIABLO addresses certain social issues (the American Indian's plight, the persona non grata status of Mrs. Grange, who involuntarily had spent time with the "savages"), yet the film is clever enough to cloak its messages under an action-packed plot. DUEL AT DIABLO doesn't champion the proud Apaches' cause as much as attempt to have a representation of their side of things. They do come off a bit sympathetic (it seems that the tribe treated Mrs. Grange better than the townspeople), but, well, naturally, I was rooting more for Garner and Poitier's posse to come out on top. The action culminates in a harrowing last stand at a place called Diablo Canyon. It's intense stuff as the cavalry unit has its members rapidly whittled down. And yet when the good guys do win out and the bad guys led away at gunpoint, it doesn't quite feel like your normal western flick ending. Not everything is tied up in a nice, neat bow. It's very much up in the air whether the hero gets the girl. Remsberg does get his revenge, but whether it's a satisfactory comeuppance, that's another thing. And the Apaches, proud and straight standing to the end, they get sent back to their reservation. Definitely not a happy ending for them...
The cast is uniformly very good, with several actors playing against type (notably, Dennis Weaver, in a hiss-worthy role). I'm even fond of that poor Lieutenant with the Irish accent who kept accumulating wounds (poor fella). Sidney Poitier brings his vaunted presence and is cool, commanding and even dapper. It's always a bit of a twist seeing the affable James Garner switch up and play a role this dark and driven. The only other similarly grim western which comes to mind is A Man Called Sledge, and that one's not as good as DUEL AT DIABLO. And Luther Sledge isn't as likable as Jess Remsberg. Garner also imbues Remsberg with this engaging quality of weary savviness. And, as always, Garner is so natural on screen and keeps it so low key that he comes off as wholly believable, making Remsberg's moments of quiet despair and bursts of violence even more palpable things.
DUEL AT DIABLO gives you pause, gives you a glimpse of how brutal and unforgiving the American frontier really was. This is a movie in which James Garner doesn't charm or trick the bad guys into submission. Rather, he intimidates and beats the living bejeesus out of them. Garner isn't flashy and mannered in his acting; in fact, you never see him acting, and this is what makes him so good. And, word to the wise, Garner stalking the vengeance trail is something to see.
Movie Review: ATYPICAL WESTERN IS ONE OF THE BEST EVER !!
Summary: 4 Stars
The 1960's featured some of most underappreciated, un-talked-about, forgotten, yet, finest Westerns ever. These include HOMBRE [1967], THE APPALOOSA [1966], NEVADA SMITH [1966] and this film. With the box-office flop of THE ALAMO [1960] it appeared fans were growing weary of the Western genre until they began riding the crest of the "Spaghetti Western" craze heralded by FISTFUL OF DOLLARS [1964] and culminating in the classic THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY [1966]. However lost in this transition were these four excellent films. DUEL AT DIABLO's biggest handicap was its title which evoked thoughts of a rough-and-tumble, violent, bloody TOMBSTONE [1993] or WILD BUNCH [1969]-type story. Sure, it had a little of these aspects BUT it was more a provocative film dealing with social egoism, social tolerance, courage and survival. It's powerful assests are its storyline [American prejudgement and mistreatment of Native Americans], it's variegated group of actors, all giving fine performances and possibly the most evocative, if not the greatest, music score of any Western ever [ok, ok, THE ALAMO's "Green Leaves of Summer" is right there!]. Here, we have James Garner seeking vengence for the murder of his Indian wife by a white man, and Dennis Weaver embarrassed and distancing himself from his rescued white spouse---the latter having been kidnapped by the Indians and conceiving a child by one of them. In the middle of this mess, the US army is trying to do the right thing---protect American lives. Garner, surly, vulnerable but determined, underplays his role well and is his usual excellent self. Weaver, always one of our most underappreciated actors, is marvelous as the bigoted then ambivalent husband of 'white sqaw' Bibi Anderson. Sidney Poitier portrays a rare figure for those days, a Black man in a white mans business---breaking and selling horses---and doing it with confidence, effrontery and cojones. Bill Travers is the leutenant who has to lead this motley group from one Fort to another through Indian territory---a stereotypic Western sojourn made interesting by the small size of the group and their conflicting self-interests. Travers is a complex characterization as he is self-serving yet often sympathetic but always dutiful to his Country and the Army in the usual automaton fashion. The score is awesome evoking a sense of both duty and destiny from our heroes as they arrive hobbled and fragmented for 'the last stand' at the boxed-in Diablo Canyon. How this score is not on any of the numerous Western CD compilations out on the market is incomprehensible to me and just confirms how these record companies just don't know what they are doing. Director Ralph Nelson went on to present the theme of US injustice against the Indians in a less subtle fashion in SOLDIER BLUE [1970]---a similarly offbeat yet more violent Western. Although HOMBRE was probably the best Western tackling this theme, Duel at Diablo had more drama, more action, was more fun and had the great soundtrack. I had the rare pleasure of seeing this film in a theater when it was first released in 1966 and it had an even greater dramatic impact on the big screen including the opening & closing knife-cutting-an-"X" on the screen image. Duel at Diablo: thanks Ralph Nelson for a different Western, a message Western, one of the best of the genre AND thanks Neal Hefti for a magnificent, moving score.