Shalako
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DVD Cover Information Actor: Brigitte Bardot, Jack Hawkins, Peter van Eyck, Sean Connery, Stephen Boyd Brand: CONNERY,SEAN DVD: Region Code 1 Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, Letterboxed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen Picture Format: 2.35:1 Running Time: 113 minutes DVD Release Date: 2004-05-25 Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) Studio: MGM (Video & DVD) |
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Movie Reviews of Shalako
Movie Review: Go Shalako Go!
Summary: 2 Stars
I'm not sure the exact moment "Shalako" became a comedy, but by film's end, I was laughing out loud. I'm usually lenient with older films, and this 1968 western most certainly falls into that category. Based on Louis L'Amour's novel "Shalako" and directed by dependable veteran Edward Dmytryk (who gave us the great unheralded western "Warlock"), "Shalako" should have been one of those interesting finds one discovers when wading through anti-hero westerns of the era.
Fresh from his turn as James Bond in "You Only Live Twice," Sean Connery plays the title character, a cynical, buckskin-clad tracker who has little use for civilization. Well, society arrives in the form of an arrogant clique of British aristocracy traveling across the wilds on a hunting trip. They stop their wagons to sit at dinner tables adorned with candelabras while sipping champagne and dining with the shiniest of cutlery. Unbeknownst to them, they've crossed into Apache territory. Shalako rides up all dusty and essentially says (add Scottish accent), "You're going to get keeled."
The English troupe is a hip, colorful lot, including the likes of Brigitte Bardot, Jack Hawkins, Peter Van Eyck, Honor Blackman and even a smirking Stephen Boyd as a corrupt tracker. They all have stories, endless stories, in this overly-plotted film. Bardot, a sexy dame no doubt, prances around with go-go hair and goth eye shadow perfectly applied throughout the duration of the movie. She's surrounded by some Injuns whom Shalako reluctantly kills. Shalako has a pow-wow with the Apache leader, played by the great Woody Strode ("Goal Dust: The Warm and Candid Memoirs of a Pioneer Black Athlete and Actor"), who delivers a line straight from the Jay Silverheels' era, "Shalako good. Leave by sun-up or we kill white man." Yes, even in 1968 black actors were still playing Native Americans.
If the Brits were to leave, there would be no film. So they stay, believing superior intellect and well-oiled hunting rifles should more-than-suffice against the untamed savage. They hole up in an old fort and after the deaths of many men, realize the error of their ways. In an exhausting roundabout way, the aristocracy find themselves on foot in the desert, with Shalako leading them to hills and water. Filmed on the plains of Spain, we have yet another European western possessing awkward topography, dubbed supporting casts and Caucasian men in wigs trying to appear Native American (I know, Sergio Leone got away with this).
Anyway, while our desperate crew hikes across the sunny slopes of endless sand, they appear to be hot, but clothes remain unruffled and there's not a drop of sweat to be found. Connery and Bardot find time to make googly eyes, consummating their attraction next to a waterhole with the threat torturous death hanging over them. Go Shalako Go! Death eventually arrives, but the Indians have the good sense to charge one at a time, making for easy target practice. I will give "Shalako" credit for one scene, surprisingly brutal, when Indians surround a female captive and tear her clothes away, forcing her to swallow her own diamond necklace. The scene, usually edited for family TV, is included on the DVD.
Things come to a fatigued head when Sean and Woody meet face-to-face and decide to duel to the death...with spears! I realized we had entered Mel Brooks territory, and the laughs began. The film's peculiar final shot, almost purposefully flat, appears to show Bardot leaving her troupe and joining Sean. I suppose she had a mighty good time next to that waterhole. They could live next to it, dining nightly on prickly pear, but where is she going to buy mascara?!
To see this film done right, check out "The Law and Jake Wade" or "Hombre" instead.