Stagecoach (1986)

Released in 1939, John Ford's Stagecoach is one of the all-time great westerns. It was hugely influential in countless westerns that followed, and of course, is famous for helping make John Wayne a huge star, one of the biggest movie stars of all-time. So what's the biggest form of flattery? A remake! And unnecessary ones! Ford's western has been remade twice, first in 1966, and with today's review, a 1986 TV western, Stagecoach.

In the small town of Tonto, a stagecoach is set to leave and keeps its schedule in making it to its next stop in Lordsburg. It is far from an easy ride though across the desert, especially when reports of Geronimo and his Apache warriors being on the warpath start to hit the town. An already dangerous ride is that much worse. The driver, Buck (John Schneider), intends to do his job though, taking the coach through, Apaches be damned. So with a full coach of passengers, Buck leaves Tonto with a cavalry escort hoping to avoid Geronimo and his warriors. His passengers, all of them, have reasons to undertake such a dangerous trip. Some are trying to get somewhere while others are simply trying to get away, but to a person, they believe they're right. Are they? Can they get to Lordsburg safely without coming under attack?

Okay, No. 1. Something that needs to be said. There's no reason to remake Ford's film. NO reason. It's about as perfect a western as you'll find out there. So to remake it in different formats twice? Unnecessary to say the least. I haven't seen the 1966 version -- I'd like to, the cast is pretty crazy -- but I feel safe saying the original is better. The same here. Why bother remaking a movie that didn't need to be remade? Well, the answer isn't one you might easily come up with.

Any ideas? This TV western actually puts a country music spin on the original formula! Didn't see that one coming now, did you?!? The cast includes Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson in major roles. Now even as a non-country music fan, that's an impressive pairing of talent! The biggest difference between the '86 TV flick and the '39 original is the re-working of certain characters so the Big 4 Country Stars are actually given something to do. Cash is Marshal Curly Wilcox, on the hunt for Kristofferson's Ringo Kid, with Nelson as the Doc Holliday (quite the change!), and Jennings as Hatfield, a talented gambler (some would say cheater) looking for some redemption. Take the original characters/story, add country stars, lather, rinse and repeat and you definitely get some tweaked stories! That's not a bad thing, giving a refreshing new look at a familiar story.

Of the four, I thought Cash and Nelson come out the best. Cash isn't the greatest actor, but he's very natural, and his scenes with John Schneider's Buck are excellent, two experienced trailhands discussing what their best plan is and should be. Nelson too is excellent as maybe the most famous dentist ever, Doc Holliday (not any old Doc like the Ford version), philosophizing and smoking a cigar and generally having a good time. Obviously he's having some fun with the part. Jennings is okay as Hatfield but nothing crazy. I'm a big Kristofferson fan, but it's a bit of bad casting here. Maybe it's because John Wayne's take on Ringo is so iconic, but Kristofferson is too old for the part and his scenes with Dallas (Elizabeth Ashley), an aging, disillusioned prostitute, lack some chemistry. It kinda feels like a western Last Vegas or Grumpy Old Men, four aging stars getting together and having some fun. Nothing wrong with that, right?

Who else to look for on the crowded stagecoach? Also look for the always welcome Tony Franciosa as Gatewood, a corrupt banker getting out of town with his bank's latest deposit (some $30,000), Anthony Newley as Peacock, a traveling whiskey salesman, and Mary Crosby as Lucy Mallory, a very pregnant young woman traveling west to meet up with her husband, a cavalry officer.

So while there are some changes along the way -- some major, some not as significant -- mostly this TV western sticks with the original's story. The soundtrack isn't entirely country (featuring some solid uses of guitar), and the locations are solid but don't register like Monument Valley does -- I know! Go figure in that department. The biggest changes are saved for the end in a finale that feels somewhat disjointed and/or rushed. It's not an especially good flick, but it is entertaining from beginning to end. The novelty of the country casting is just enough to give it a recommendation. It ain't on par with the 1939 original, but few are. Still....it's not bad.

Stagecoach (1986): ** 1/2 /****

Fathom

James Bond, Derek Flint, Matt Helms, even the more straight-laced British spy Harry Palmer played by Michael Caine. The 1960s had countless spy and espionage movies for audiences that ate them up. A whole lot of testosterone, huh? How about a female secret agent navigating some international intrigue? I've long been aware of this one and was finally able to catch up with it, 1967's Fathom.

An American skydiver touring Europe with a U.S. parachuting team, Fathom Harvill (Raquel Welch) has become quite the attraction for audiences. Well, now she's getting some attention for another reason. After one successful jump, Fathom is approached by a mysterious security officer, Colonel Douglas Campbell (Ronald Fraser), who enlists her help in a matter of worldwide peace. A trigger/detonator -- dubbed the Fire Dragon -- that can set off a nuclear device has gone missing. The trail has led Campbell to a countryside Spanish villa where an agent working for the Chinese, Peter Merriwether (Tony Franciosa), is staying. With no other alternative to getting into the villa, Fathom will have to parachute in, pretending to have gone off course and accidentally landing at the villa. Find the Fire Dragon, get out and return it. Simple, right? Not everyone is telling her all she needs to know.

This is a fun movie. That's all, and that's not a bad thing so deal with it. From director Leslie H. Martinson, 'Fathom' has that 1960s style that can be so fun to watch now, look back and appreciate. The 1960s are my favorite decade for movies, and while this isn't an all-time classic (far from it), it's what can be so fun about the decade as a whole. It's goal is to be fun, to entertain, to put pretty people in pretty places with some witty repartee (and some subtle sexual innuendos. Scandalous!). 'Fathom' was filmed on location in the Spanish coast and countryside in and around Cartama, Mijas, Malaga, Torremolinos, and Nerja in Andalucia. It is a gorgeous-looking movie, Spain providing quite the visual backdrop....in addition to other things to come. There's also a dreamy theme song, listen and more importantly watch it HERE, with a good score from John Dankworth. The message is simple. This isn't a hard-hitting spy movie. It's not quite a spoof, just somewhere fun in between.

Blah blah blah, let's talk about Raquel Welch! One of the biggest sex symbols of the 1960s (and in Hollywood history in general), Welch was coming off the immensely successful One Million Years, B.C. that really put her and her fur bikini on the map. This is Miss Welch at her best. With the right part in a more dramatic movie, she did have some acting chops she could show off. This is more suited to her comedic ability, a lighter, more fun role that doesn't strain any acting muscles. Welch was a better comedic actress than she's given credit for, and this is a good follow-up rule to her speech-limited part in 'Million.' This movie was one of three female spy movies from Warner Bros. in 1967, and it's not a mystery why this one was remembered better than Caprice (starring Doris Day) and Come Spy With Me (starring Andrea Dromm). It's Raquel Welch.

Let's not misconstrue this, and yes, it's time to be a shallow dude. Raquel Welch is sexy, beautiful and taking her status as a 1960s sex symbol quite, quite seriously. Yes, there's a twisting story with a whuddunnit mystery, but let's get down to basics. This movie exists to get Welch into as many skimpy outfits as humanly possible. We're talking bikinis, short skirts, tight jumpsuits, plunging necklines, any and all. I've long had a crush on Raquel Welch, but I don't know if she ever looked as downright good-looking as she did here. And so ends a rant from this shallow guy. If you're a Welch fan, you'll like this movie.

But onto actual movie analysis! The cast supporting Welch is having some fun, none of the characters telling the complete truth and all of them having a secret or two. Actually the top-billed star here, Franciosa does what he does best, a roguish charming renegade, here as Merriwether, an agent working for the Chinese. He has a great chemistry with Welch, calling her 'Poppet' for some reason. He also gets some help from Greta Chi's Major Jo-May Soon, a real-life Chinese agent. Having some fun as the security officer who sends Fathom on her mission, Fraser does a good job as the equally mysterious Col. Douglas, Richard Briers playing his assistant, Lt. Timothy Webb, who has an interest in Welch's Fathom. Also hamming it up in Bond villain-esque mode is Clive Revill as Serapkin, the monocle-wearing Russian black market dealer with a low body temperature, forcing him to...."seek warmth" with Fathom at basically all times. Also look for Tom Adams (a supporting player in The Great Escape) as Mike, a hotel owner with an interest in everything going on.

In a 99-minute movie, 'Fathom' packs one surprise/twist on top of each other in waves. We're never sure who's working with who, which side is trying to scam Fathom out of the Fire Dragon (it ain't what it seems), and who will end up with it in the end. Getting there? Basically nonstop action, lots of fun, some cool stunts that force Welch to run, jump and fly across Spain. A very entertaining movie throughout.

Fathom (1967): ***/****

A Man Called Gannon

There is a certain charm I associate with westerns. The idea of a man riding across the country, all his possessions he's either wearing or they're on his horse with him, and answering to no one is an incredibly cool premise for me. Countless westerns have used that iconic character, the loner-drifter-cowboy, including 1969's A Man Called Gannon, a remake of 1955's Man Without a Star.

Riding a train west after a failed cattle ranch in Texas, cowboy drifter Gannon (Tony Franciosa) meets Jess Washburn (Michael Sarrazin), an inexperienced Easterner from Philadelphia. Jess wants nothing more than to be a cowboy, but he's got no idea where to start. In a jam when they witness a murder, Gannon saves Jess, and the youngster feels obligated to him. Booted off the train, they get jobs working at a local cattle ranch through Matty (Susan Oliver), a prostitute and "friend" of Gannon's. As the experienced cowboy teaches Jess everything he can, they find themselves in the midst of a budding range war. As the sides separate though, Gannon and Jess find they may be on opposite sides.

It's been awhile since I saw the 1955 version/original so I didn't associate this 1969 remake right away with it. The 1955 version starred Kirk Douglas and was pretty good in a simple, straightforward kind of way. There's no reason to remake it to begin with, but here we go just the same. 'Gannon' is one of a wave of movies released in the late 1960s and early 1970s about the changing of the west on the personal level; the cowboy. It reminds me a lot of Monte Walsh, released a year later. It tries to be a little too lyrical and schmaltzy, especially its main theme, a folk song called 'A Smile, A Memory and an Extra Shirt.' 'Gannon' struggles to find the right tone from the get-go, bouncing back and forth between physical comedy, goofiness and the natural darkness that comes from the changing times in the west. Pick a route and take it.

What makes it worthwhile is the casting of Franciosa and Sarrazin in the two lead roles. Neither actor had a ton of star power, but they were both solid actors capable of delivering above average performances. It doesn't hurt that the two parts -- the weathered, veteran cowboy and the inexperienced, wet behind the ears youngster -- are basically the definition of two archetypal western characters. You've seen them before, and you will see them again. I typically think of Franciosa as more of a heavy, a bad guy, so it's cool to see him in a more straight, good guy role. He at first wants nothing to do with Sarrazin's Jess, but can't really shake the persistent youngster. Sarrazin too does a fine job with the part, a young man who so desperately wants to be something, anything, that he puts himself in a bad situation to get to that point.

The relationship that develops between the two is the best part of the movie. Gannon keeps on teaching everything he can, and to his credit, Jess does a good job of picking things up whether it be shooting, roping, or handling a horse. Gannon has a checkered past and still holds some tremendous guilt from a past incident that went horribly wrong. In young Jess, he sees potential to right a wrong. The problem is simple, he can only show him how to do things, but at some point, Jess will have to decide things for himself. As the hooker with a heart of gold, Oliver does a very good job as Matty, a woman trying to fix Gannon for lack of a better description. Judi West plays Beth, the ranch owner trying to keep the place afloat by any means necessary (and with anyone who will help....in the bedroom), John Anderson plays Capper, the ranch top hand, David Sheiner is the maligned but tough sheriff, with James Westerfield, Gavin MacLeod and Eddie Firestone playing some of the cowhands at Beth's ranch. 

Unfortunately as things develop in this 105-minute flick from director James Goldstone, the pace lets up and the story loses steam. The opener, with Gannon meeting an old acquaintance (Jason Evers) as a telegraph line is set up, is nearly perfect, setting up how out of place this veteran cowboy is in a changing world. But as things progress, the story goes in too many directions and never quite gets back on the right track. It's never bad, but I started to lose interest (a lot) at about the hour-mark. Harmless enough western, probably worthwhile for a watch.

A Man Called Gannon (1969): ** 1/2 /****

Rio Conchos

No matter what movies will tell you, there was nothing particularly pleasant about the wild, wild west. Let’s even limit that from the years immediately following the Civil War right up into the 1890s. Depending on the western, you’re going to get a different picture of that brutal, plain nasty survival based time. One of the deepest and darkest? That’s 1964’s RioConchos, an ahead of its time western that still resonates today.

It’s 1867 along the Texas/Mexico border, and a shipment of 2,000 new repeating rifles meant for the undermanned U.S. cavalry has been stolen without a trace. Jim Lassiter (RichardBoone), a former Confederate officer, is arrested with one of those rifles soon after brutally shooting down a handful of Apache warriors. Lassiter is approached to undertake a dangerous mission; find the rifles before they fall into the wrong hands. He doesn’t want to but agrees to it, an incident from his past haunting him. Under the command of Capt. Haven (Stuart Whitman) and a cavalry sergeant, Franklin (Jim Brown), and with a shifty bandit, Rodriguez (Tony Franciosa), along to “even things out,” Lassiter heads into Mexico. What awaits? A Confederate officer, Pardee (Edmond O’Brien), trying to start a second war with an army of Apache warriors.

From the first time I saw this Gordon Douglas-western on a beat-up old VHS, I loved this western. It’s harder to find although it has received a DVD release the last few years. It has all the little things going for it. Jerry Goldsmith’s score is a gem (listen HERE), setting the stage for a similar score four years later with Bandolero! There’s also the location shooting in Arches National Park and Dead Horse State Park in Utah and  that adds that sense of realism that the best desert westerns have. Those little things, they can make a bad movie mildly acceptable and a decent movie into a good to great final product. The story as well doesn’t spell everything out for you. It’s not always clear what some characters’ intentions are, adding a sense of mystery to the mission.

What appealed to me most about ‘Conchos’ though was the casting. It’s a men on a mission movie, and a goodie. These aren’t four specially trained commandos working together. This is a group of four very different men at that. With his gravelly voice, heavily lined face and generally nasty demeanor, Boone looks extremely comfortable in the western setting. Lassister’s background adds some much-needed sympathy to the Lassiter character. Franciosa especially is a scene-stealer as the shiftless Rodriguez, always ready with a smile but mostly waiting for a chance to double-cross you. Whitman delivers a workmanlike performance, lost in the shuffle against Boone and Franciosa. In his first movie, Brown is a nearly-silent presence, but an imposing one at that.

The focus is on the back-stabbing quartet, but the supporting cast also features Wende Wagner as an Apache woman the group picks up along the way on the trail, Warner Anderson as Colonel Wagner, the Union commander setting up the mission, Rodolfo Acosta as Bloodshirt, a warring Apache chief, Vito Scotti as a Mexican bandit, and an uncredited Timothy Carey as a suspicious bartender with few answers. O’Brien as Pardee is nothing more than a cameo. The character is more important as a name and idea, Pardee finally showing up in the last 30 minutes. Hearing Boone say ‘Parrrrrr-deeeeeee’ is worth the price of admission alone.   

As for the whole nastiness factor, ‘Conchos’ has plenty of it and more to spare. We’re introduced to Lassiter callously gunning down five Apache warriors burying one of their own. Lassiter and Haven hate each other almost as much as the Apaches. The former Confederate wants revenge for the death of his wife and daughter at the hands of Apaches, and he sees Indians as one being; man, woman, child. It doesn’t matter. In a rage, he tries to bash Wagner’s Sally’s head in. The border setting helps too. It’s a country with little law or rule. Whoever is fastest with a gun rules.

Now up to this point, you wouldn’t be wrong to think this is an action-packed western. Ready to be surprised? It isn’t. The action is kept to quick-hitting scenes that don’t linger. That ends up being a good thing. It doesn’t overstay its welcome. An encounter with bandits is chaotic and bloody as is a showdown later with an Apache war party. The nastiness in the action department comes late when Lassiter and Co. encounter Pardee’s army of ex-Confederate soldiers, Mexican bandits, and Apaches, enduring some brutal torture at their hands. The ending still surprises me in its darkness, but it’s an ending that won’t be easily forgotten. An underrated western, one definitely worth catching up with.

Rio Conchos <---trailer (1964): *** 1/2 /****