Valdez is Coming
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Movie Reviews of Valdez is Coming
Movie Review: Very pleased
Summary: 5 Stars
I was very much amazed how diferrent the film was transferred to DVD! Great film. Also, incredibly fast service.Movie Review: Valdez is comming
Summary: 5 Stars
This has to be one of the top 10 best moives we have seen ! What a plot too . Thanks for asking about it .Movie Review: Not Lancaster's best!
Summary: 5 Stars
Really enjoy the old flicks - but this was not Lancaster's best - he shines brightly in many other films.Movie Review: davidj
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this DVD because I believe it is one of Burt Lancaster's best efforts.Movie Review: Great film
Summary: 4 Stars
When you think about Burt Lancaster (1913-94) you think about his athleticism in films like "Flame and the Arrow" (1950), "Jim Thorpe" (1951), "Crimson Pirate" (1952), and "Trapeze" (1956), or his intensity in films like "Come Back Little Sheba" (1952), "From Here to Eternity" (1953), "The Rose Tattoo" (1955), and "Elmer Gantry" (1960), or his marvelous westerns like "Gunfight at OK Corral" (1957), "Vera Cruz" (1954) and "The Professionals" (1966), or those character studies in "Sweet Smell of Success" (1957) and "Birdman of Alcatraz" (1962). But here in 1971 we have one of his quiet roles, in "Valdez is Coming", a western in which he plays an aging Mexican former Apache fighter turned town constable.
"Valdez" co-stars Susan Clark, Jon Cypher, Frank Silvera, Hector Elizondo and Richard Jordan.
In the 1970s, when this film was made, Susan Clark seemed to be everywhere. She was in a dozen films and several TV series and TV films, including the title roles in "Babe" (1975) and "Amelia Earhart" (1976) for which she earned 2 Emmy nominations and a win for "Babe". In the 1980s she co-starred in "Webster" with real life husband Alex Karras.
Jon Cypher made his film debut playing the villain in this film. Previously he had an active career on Broadway and on TV, most notably as Dr. Alex Keith on "As The World Turns" (1977-9) and the Chief in "Hill Street Blues" (1981-7). Despite a good performance, Cypher remained primarily a TV actor, appearing as a regular in various series.
Frank Silvera (1914-1970) was an Afro-American who often portrayed a Mexican in films like "Guns of the Magnificent Seven" (1969), "Viva Zapata" (1952), and "Hombre" (1967). Silvera plays a friend of Valdez. This was his last film.
Hector Elizondo is best known for his Emmy winning role as Dr. Watters in "Chicago Hope" (1994-2000). He's been in dozens of films and TV series, was nominated for a Golden Globe for his role in "Pretty Woman" (1990) and won an ALMA award twice. This was his film debut. He plays one of the gang - in fact, he's the one who delivers the message that "Valdez is coming!"
Richard Jordan (1937-93) is best known for his role as Joseph Armagh in the TV series "Captains and the Kings" (1976) for which he received an Emmy and a Golden Globe nomination. Jordan plays a gunfighter hired by Tanner to kill Valdez. This was his film debut.
The film is directed by Edwin Sherin who is primarily a Broadway director. "Valdez" was his first feature film, and he followed this with one more in 1971 and then turned to TV where he had a distinguished career in series like "Hill Street Blues", "Law and Order" and "Homicide". Sherin was selected by Lancaster to see if an "outsider" could bring something new to the genre. His last 3 films had done poorly at the box office and he was looking for a change.
Sherin's direction is slow and steady for the first 40 minutes, which set up the motivation. He then switches tracks to more traditional shots as the action increases, and effectively uses the musical score to punch up the action. His scene shots are unusual, his landscapes are hauntingly beautiful, and he does more CUs than normal, but it is effective in giving the film an unusual look and feel. This effect is helped by the fresh faces that Sherin brought to the film, all of them recruited from Broadway.
Roland Kibbee (1914-84) produced and wrote. He worked with Lancaster on films like "The Crimson Pirate" (1952), "Vera Cruz" (1954), and "The Midnight Man" (1974) and also was active on TV, winning Emmys for "Columbo" (1971) and "Barney Miller" (1975).
The film has mixed reviews. Ty Burr claimed "it drains Lancaster of personality" and gave it a C-. Dennis Schwartz gave it a B- and said "the story if predictable and unconvincing" by said "Lancaster is impressive." George Chabot said it had "an above average story" and gave it 4 of 5 stars. It received no Oscar nominations in a year that saw films like "The French Connection", "Fiddler on the Roof", "A Clockwork Orange", "Carnal Knowledge" and "Summer of 42."
Some people have criticized Lancaster's performance as a Mexican, especially his accent. Of course, Lancaster is not the first nor the last to give an ethnically questionable performance as a Mexican. For laughs you can watch Paul Newman in "Hombre" (1967), Wallace Beery in "Viva Villa" (1934), Marlon Brando in "Viva Zapata (1952), Eli Wallach in the Spaghetti westerns, Rod Steiger in "A Fistful of Dynamite" (1971), Yul Brenner in "Villa Rides" (1968), and worst of all, Charlton Heston in "Touch of Evil" (1956).
I think the film is excellent., Maybe not on the same level as "The Searchers" or "The Wild Bunch" or "Josie Wales", but clearly a superior film with excellent performances and an unusual look and feel. The end of the film will stay with you long after the details are gone.