The Good Guys and the Bad Guys

Ah, the buddy movie where two seemingly different people team up to save the world. Nowhere was the buddy idea used more than westerns, like Butch and Sundance, Blondie and Tuco, or Llewelyn Moss and Anton Chigurh. Okay, maybe not that last one. Director Burt Kennedy uses this formula in his 1969 comedic western The Good Guys and the Bad Guys with a retired marshal working together with his outlaw rival to stop a train robbery.

Between 1966-69, established star Robert Mitchum made eight movies (so much for slowing down later in your career). Six of the eight were westerns ranging from near classics, 1966's El Dorado, to average, Young Billy Young. Mitchum seemed to know what his fans wanted, and from reading his biography, he actually enjoyed making westerns, he stuck with the genre. Why fix something that isn't broken? What sets 'Good Guys' apart from many wild west stories is that it deals with the closing of the west, but with some humor. We're not talking the grandiose violence of The Wild Bunch here.

In the town of Progress, U.S. Marshal James Flagg (Mitchum) tells the mayor, Randolph Wilker (a very funny Martin Balsam), that a gang has been spotted in the area. Leading the group is Big John McKay (George Kennedy), an old rival of Flagg's believed to have been killed in a bank robbery in Texas on the Red River. Flagg guesses that the gang is going to knock off a train carrying $100,000 for the new bank in town, but Wilker has another idea. The mayor retires Flagg -- ceremony and gold watch included-- and puts his own man in charge, leaving the marshal to take matters into his own hands.

Flagg pursues the gang but ends up a prisoner with who else as his guard, McKay. The gang has been taken over by a young outlaw, Waco (David Carradine), who doesn't have much regard for the veteran outlaw. Rescued by an old mule skinner, Grundy (Douglas Fowley), Flagg heads back to town with a handcuffed McKay. But when the chips are down, the marshal/outlaw combo realize they need to help each other so Flagg and McKay team up to stop Waco's gang from hitting the train, deciding they can't attack the train if it doesn't stop in Progress.

For the first hour or so, the comedy here is pretty low-key as Mitchum's Flagg deals with the forward-thinking mayor who's more concerned about the upcoming election than anything else. In Progress, the crowded, paved streets are covered with cars while Flagg rides through on his trusty horse. The humor is saved for the finale as Mitchum and Kennedy hijack the train with Waco's gang riding to catch up and Mayor Wilker leading a posse of cars, wagons, horsemen, and railroad push carts in pursuit. There's a great helicopter shot of the prolonged chase that is a site to see.

As the rivals who aren't so different, Mitchum and Kennedy bring the movie up a notch from what would have been a much lesser western without strong actors in these roles. It's the early 1900s and for better or worse, the duo has 'outlived their usefullness' as technology and the changing times have pushed gun-toting peace officers and bank robbers out the door. After they return to town, the two have a great scene as they discuss what used to be and how things aren't like they used to be. Flagg's been relieved of his duties and McKay has been left behind by his gang. So with nothing else to do, the former marshal and the former outlaw say 'what the hell?' and team up.

I'll recommend this movie mostly because of Mitchum, a long-time movie star, and Kennedy, who was still relatively new to movies after spending years in guest starring spots on TV shows. As always, Mitchum has this ease of making characters likable, and it's nice to see him in a good guy role. He was known for playing roguish brutes who were ultimately good, but Flagg is good through and through, even getting his own theme song. Kennedy gets some good laughs as McKay and has some great chemistry with Mitchum in their scenes together. Other cast members include Tina Louise as a married woman looking for a fling with the mayor, Lois Nettleton as Mary, the owner of the boarding house who is with Flagg, and John Davis Chandler as Deuce, a psychotic member of Waco's gang. Carradine is given little to do and has no background as Waco, but Carradine was intimidating and a good villain just standing there.

Absolutely nothing spectacular about this one --check that, the New Mexico locations are beautiful-- but as you've most likely figured out, a western has to be bottom of the barrel for me not to find something redeeming about it. Watch this one for typically strong performances from Robert Mitchum and George Kennedy and a great supporting part for Martin Balsam. Couldn't find a trailer on Youtube, but that's a good thing. The one featured on the DVD special features was unintentionally corny while also giving away the ending.

The Good Guys and the Bad Guys (1969): ** 1/2 /****