Shalako (1968)

[Scott]

SHALAKO (1968) - Decent British Western shot in Spain starring Sean Connery, Bridgit Bardot, and even Woody Strode as the Indian chief ! The story is about a European hunting party lead by some cowboys into Indian territory. It's actually a good story and location shots were also good. Bardot was great in VIVA MARIA (1965), but Connery isn't a great Western lead and may explain why he didn't do more in this genre.  If your looking for another good British Western also try HANNIE CAULDER (1971).





Post Edited (04-05-05 00:07)

[trekgeezer]

This movie isn't the worst western I've seen, but I just had real problems with James Bond as a cowboy and an African American playing a Native American. This was not the only time Woody was cast as an Indian.

[Scott]

Sean Connery is actually the most distracting feature and looks kinda dumpy as frontier man in this film. I didn't know which actor was Woody Strode in the film till the ending credits. The story isn't great, but it certainly works, but some of the directing and acting could have been better.

[Yaddo 42]

Seemed like I mentioned in another thread on this one that I've never really liked it very much, despite a promising cast and set up. Can't put the blame entirely on Connery, but I know this is one of my least favorite films of his. The whole movie seems kind of flat, ltough the scene where Honor Blackman is killed made me uncomfortable the first time I saw it. Plus I think I saw it around the time I had hit the burnout point on Louis L'amour books and films.

Woody Strode as an Indian chief? Is that any odder than his Sensei character in the fun but goofy "Jaguar Lives? In that one he seems to be an Indian and an Asian martial arts master at the same time.

Speaking of Woody Strode and acting Indian-like, I need to go pick up the new DVD version of "The Professionals". It's one of the few films that makes me want to replace my old VHS version.

[BoyScoutKevin]

Maybe not a "good" western, but an interesting western, if only for the cast. Most of which, excluding Woody Strode, seldom appeared in a western. And now he goes into his professorial mode.

The European western.
We have all heard of the spaghetti western or Italian western. But there was also a series of German westerns based upon the characters created by German writer Karl May. And the French had their western character Lucky Luke, which was turned into a series of films, both live action and animated, as well as an animated television series. And I seem to remember there were even some Spanish westerns. But the unlikiest western, would seem to be the British western. "Shalako" and "Hannie Caulder" being two of them. As for a third British western, that would be the comedy western "The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw" from 1958 w/ a cast of both Brits: Kenneth More, Ronald Squire, Sid James, Robert Morley, and Americans: Jayne Mansfield, Henry Hull, Bruce Cabot, and William Campbell.

Louis L'Amour
Yaddo 42 is correct. The film was based on the western novel of the same title by the late Louis L'Amour. I am sorry, though,  to hear he burned out on L'Amour's novels. And while L'Amour did write alot of novels, both western and non-western, most of which I have read. I never did burn out on them myself. As he was (is) considered , by myself and others, as one of the great western writers of all time.

The black Native American
It is not that far fetched for a Native American to be black or at least look black. There was considerable intermingling of blacks and Native Americans during the early history of the U.S. Indeed, that is why the U.S. invaded Florida, when it was still owned by Spain, and why the U.S. finally bought Florida from Spain. The white slaveowners in the southern U.S. got tired of their black slaves running off to Florida and intermarrying with the Native Americans, especially the Florida Seminoles. Indeed, when many of the Native Americans in the South were rounded up and moved to Oklahoma, one group of them, rounded up from Florida, were collectively known as the Black Seminoles. As while they may have been Native Americans, they looked more black then Native American.

Professorial mode off now.