The Bravados (1958) Reviews

• Splendid Revenge Western.

  jpdoherty2010-01-06

  20th Century Fox's THE BRAVADOS (1958) is another fine fifties Cinemascope western from the studio's vaults. Coming near the end of the decade it was produced with the usual Fox widescreen expertise that was displayed so well previously with such gems as "Garden Of Evil" (1954), Broken Lance" ('54),"The Tall Men" ('55) and the beautiful "The Last Wagon" (1956). Solidly directed by the ever reliable Henry King it was stunningly photographed by the great Leon Shamroy in lovely Mexican locations and the splendid screenplay derived from the novel by Frank O'Rourke. Also the initial setting of a border town is remarkably attractive thanks to the splendid Art Direction of Lyle Wheeler and Mark-Lee Kirk. A brooding unsmiling Gregory Peck is Jim Douglas who arrives in the small town of Rio Arriba after a long ride to attend the hanging of four outlaws ("you rode over a 100 miles just to see a hanging?" the Sheriff asks.). Douglas believes the four are responsible for the rape and murder of his wife and is here to bear witness to their execution. But when they escape from the local jail - taking a young female hostage (Kathleen Gallant) with them - Douglas sets out after them in a relentless pursuit ("I've been after them for six months - I'm not going to lose them now") and eventually arbitrarily kills each of them one by one except for the last who proves to him that the four could not have murdered his wife after all. Peck is superb! He gives one of his strongest ever performances. The fury in his eyes and the all consuming hatred and desire for vengeance is powerfully palpable in his gritted teeth portrayal. Others in the cast are good too. The ill-fated Stephen Boyd as the leader of the four ("I have a weakness for women"), the also ill-fated Albert Salmi ("every man is entitled to one weakness - mine's cards"), the nervous half-breed perfectly played by Lee Van Cleef ("please don't kill me! I done some bad things but I never murdered anyone") and a young Henry Silva as the Indian who knows instinctively that Douglas isn't far behind ("He has the eyes of a hunter"). Herbert Rudley too gives a good turn as the Sheriff and in the female lead is British actress Joan Collins who really doesn't have very much to do except look gorgeous. Curiously she plays an unmarried Mexican rancher by the name of Josefa Valarde but her accent is straight out of London's Park Lane. Hmmm! Nevertheless the whole thing also is perfectly punctuated by a terrific score by Alfred Newman and Hugo Friedhofer. Newman's main theme is a driving and pulsating march theme first heard under the titles over a medium tracking shot of Peck on horseback at full gallop against the night sky. The music splendidly points up and instantly establishes the determination and resolve of the protagonist. Newman also wrote a lovely gentle Mexican guitar cue for the Collins character Josefa which gets a ravishing full orchestral rendition for the finale. Friedhofer contributed to the dramatic scenes, the musical supervision was by Alfred's younger brother Lionel and the orchestra was conducted in Germany by Bernard Kaun. THE BRAVADOS is an all round enjoyable western and is a favourite among cultists. Not as good as Peck's best western ten years later - "The Stalking Moon" but still a good story of revenge and retribution in a beautiful looking well written well acted and well scored Cinemascope production. Another Fox winner!

• A personal loss, a huge mistake, a beautiful film

  secondtake2010-10-15

  The Bravados (1958) Unlike John Wayne Westerns (especially the John Ford ones), a lot of Westerns from the 1950 like the Anthony Mann films are a little edgy and psychological. This one, starring a laconic Gregory Peck, is big and beautiful and classic, and it has some of that darkness to it that makes it more contemporary. To be sure, it's still a product of the clichés of the genre. A loner is on the trail of some bad guys, and for much of the movie he hunts them down across some astonishing landscape. A woman from his past gets in the middle of it, at times, and the townspeople aren't sure what to make of him. Peck is a great lead, and he's got a strong, if predictable, supporting cast. The woman in question is a young Joan Collins, more famous for her "Dynasty" years. Also of note is the sets and lighting--if sets is the right word. There are so many gorgeous scenes, both in town and in the wilderness, and they are filmed with such great light, it's actually worth watching just to watch. And many of the night scenes are filmed with a bold darkness, the color stripped down and everything hard to discern. This isn't actually Technicolor, but a new competitor, DeLuxe, and the restoration (at least on the Netflix streaming version) is superb. If you like Westerns, this is one not to miss. If you don't, I think it's still really enjoyable, and might just get you looking for more. The director here, Henry King, is a Hollywood stalwart who took his hand at almost everything (from 1915 into the 1960s). And so you see a pro at work here, working within the genre, but intelligently.

• Very good Western about a merciless avenger who seeks vengeance against four men who murdered his wife

  ma-cortes2011-11-20

  Pleasant classic Western with magnificent Gregory Peck who steals the show as a merciless revenger gunfighter . He is relentless in his vengeance , deadly in his violence but he learns that he has become no better than those he hunts . A Hollywood production full of action , exaggerated characters , shootouts and lots of violence . For revenge, he doesn't care why he kills or how ¡ ... . An errant Jim Douglas (Gregory Peck) sees the atrocity over his family and executes a single-handedly revenge, as he ravages and murders each person involved in his vendetta . Douglas has been relentlessly pursuing the four outlaws (Albert Salmi , Henry Silva , Stephen Boyd and Lee Van Cleef) who killed his wife, but finds them in prison about to be hanged . But the prisoners escape and villagers enlist Douglas' aid to capture them . The conflict is a simple one between avenger Douglas and oppressors, nasties bandits commanded by cruel Bill Zachary (Stephen Boyd) . Douglas along with a posse set out in pursuit the outlaws and he faces the vicious bandits. It's an exciting western with breathtaking showdown between the protagonist Gregory Peck against four heartless bandits . In the film premiere attained success , nowadays is well valued and I think it turns out to be a good classic Western. The picture is fleshed out with a marvelous cast as Gregory Peck who is excellent as a good father turned revenger . Nice too is Henry Silva as the brash Mexican young gun and Andrew Duggan as the amiable Padre . Joan Collins gives a good performance as Jim's former girlfriend , she does a well measured portrayal of a woman who still loves her previous sweetheart and who promises to leave with him which ultimately can never be . Stephen Boyd as a cruelly baddie role also is terrific . The film packs violence , gun-play , high body-count and it's fast moving and quite entertaining. There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing some shootouts or stunts every few minutes . This is a dark downbeat story of an avenger gunfighter perfectly performed by Gregory Peck told with genuine realism and honesty . Stylishly written by prestigious by Philip Yordan-Johnny Guitar- , the screenplay was based on an original story by Frank O'Rourke. The movie was directed with a positive flair by Henry King . There are many fine technicians and nice assistants as Lyle Wheeler and Walter Scott in charge of Art Direction and Set Direction respectively . Good production design creating an excellent scenario with luminous outdoors, dirty and rocky landscapes under a glimmer sun and a fine sets on the Mexican landscapes . The musician Lionel Newman composes a nice soundtrack and well conducted , being helped by the maestros Hugo Friedhofer and Alfred Newman , tough uncredited ; it's full of agreeable sounds, and a haunting musical leitmotif . Sharply photographed with striking cinematography by Leon Shamroy in Technicolor, Techniscope with negative well processed and outdoor sequences filmed in Jalisco, Mexico Morelia, Michoacán,St Jose Perua mountains, Mexico. Henry King 's direction is well crafted , here he's less thought-provoking and broody and more inclined toward violence and too much action , because he's a expert on compelling Adventure/Western genre . Henry King directed other classic Western as ¨ Jesse James(1939)¨and ¨The gunfighter(1950)¨ with Peck again . Koster was specialist on Adventure genre as proved in ¨Untamed , Captain King , Captain of Castilla , Black Swan , Stanley and Livingstone ¨and many others . Rating : Better than average . Worthwhile watching .

• Tremendous tale of revenge

  drystyx2007-03-10

  I'll try not write the big spoilers in this review. This is a tremendous story of revenge, and how it consumes a man, and how it can be hazardous. Peck plays a man who wants revenge for his wife's murder. He follows the trail of four bandits who are about to be hanged, and this is one stellar super star cast of bandits-the smirky handsome Stephen Boyd, the introverted Henry Silva, the gruff Albert Salmi, and later star Lee Van Cleef. They bandits escape, and Peck chases them, cheered on by nearly all of the people he meets. The four men commit evil upon evil, but most of it is done by Boyd. Silva is more or less their guide, and he exudes the most sympathy from the viewer. The movie is perfectly written and directed. It makes the viewer cheer each time Peck kills a bad man, just what the movie wants you to do. In the end, it turns out to be more of a thinking man's movie, and it makes you ask yourself some questions, and at the same time, entertain you. A great movie.

• Losing A Moral Compass

  bkoganbing2007-03-26

  John Wayne's Ethan Edwards, Jimmy Stewart's Howard Kemp, or any number of roles Kirk Douglas has played have nothing of the intensity of Gregory Peck's Jim Douglas in The Bravados. Peck is perfect casting for the part because he's playing against type. If Atticus Finch's wife had been a homicide victim, I think this is how we would see him. Totally lose a moral compass and become a relentless stalker. It's what makes The Bravados work, because we identify Gregory Peck with an innate decency. Peck's house was robbed and his wife raped and murdered by intruders. Peck has a line on them, they're four killers who've been caught and scheduled to hang for a bank robbery in a town several miles away where a bank teller has been killed. But they escape with the help of the hangman, Joe DeReda soon to become a stooge. These are a quartet of the nastiest villains ever, Stephen Boyd, Albert Salmi, Lee Van Cleef, and Henry Silva all of whom have played villains with relish on the big screen. One of them, Boyd, in fact is a rapist, they take young Kathleen Gallant the daughter of the town's dry goods merchant along as a hostage. Charles Bronson never executed bad guys with as much relish as Peck did. They are convicted murderers who've escaped, there's no law to answer to. Peck may be doing some public service homicides, but there's a higher law he must answer to for the preservation of his own soul. In fact the ending brings quite a twist to the tale. The Bravados is one of six films directed by long time 20th Century Fox director Henry King who is most known for doing nine films there with Tyrone Power. In fact the first couple that Peck did were probably properties that were meant for Power, but Darryl Zanuck switched them for his new up and coming leading man. This one however is all Gregory Peck's film, I'm not sure Power could have done a better job. Peck gets some able support from the villainous quartet and from Joan Collins as an old flame he finds that has settled in the town the four have savaged. Special mention should go to Andrew Duggan as the priest in the town where apparently everyone is Catholic. Duggan does a good job as the padre who gives just the right spiritual advice and counsel to a troubled soul. Themes like rape were not exactly subject matter for westerns before the Fifties. The Bravadoes succeeds both as Saturday matinée shooting and as serious adult drama. It shouldn't be missed when broadcast.