The Appaloosa 1966 123movies

Watch: The Appaloosa 1966 123movies, Full Movie Online – Matt Fletcher, a Mexican-American buffalo hunter is constantly harassed and humiliated by bandit general Chuy Medina. When the bandit steals his horse – the appaloosa of the title – he sets out to even scores; at the climax, single-handedly, he takes on the whole gang..
Plot: A man tries to recover a horse stolen from him by a Mexican bandit.
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Ratings:

	6.3/10 Votes: 3,322
	N/A | RottenTomatoes
	46/100 | MetaCritic
	N/A Votes: 53 Popularity: 6.485 | TMDB

Reviews:

THE APPALOOSA (Sidney J. Furie, 1966) **1/2
Yet another film from Brando’s lean years; now, I only have THE UGLY American (1963; also included in Universal’s “The Marlon Brando Franchise Collection”) to watch from this period – but, all in all, it’s an underrated phase for the celebrated method actor. Incidentally, it was nice to see such long-term Universal regulars as composer Frank Skinner (SON OF FRANKENSTEIN [1939]), editor Ted Kent (BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN [1935]) and make-up man Bud Westmore (ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN [1948]) still involved in high profile productions such as this one after all those years. Anyway, Brando made only three Westerns in his career – the others being the self-directed ONE EYED JACKS (1961) and Arthur Penn’s THE MISSOURI BREAKS (1976) – but they’re among the more intriguing, if pretentious, from their respective eras; having said that, the film under review is easily the least rewarding of the three.

The simple plot finds aspiring rancher Brando falling foul of small-time Mexican tyrant John Saxon over the former’s appaloosa stallion (later on, Saxon’s girl, Anjanette Comer – who does what she can with a basically underwritten role – becomes the object of contention between the two); beaten up by Saxon’s men and his prize horse stolen, Brando follows in pursuit – ignoring the advise of friend Rafael Campos and a goat herder (Frank Silvera), he encounters on the way. Reaching the town where Saxon lives with his band of cut-throats, Brando tries to pass himself off as a local (by affecting a silly Mexican accent whose inspiration seems to have been Speedy Gonzales!); it doesn’t take long for Saxon to discover his ruse and, when he does, challenges the star to a game of arm-wrestling (with a sting in its tail)! Brando loses and is beaten up again, after which Comer – fed up with her own way of life – takes him to Silvera’s place to recover; catching up with the latter, Saxon’s men kill him because he won’t reveal the rancher’s whereabouts but they’re eliminated soon after by Brando himself. Finally, a showdown between the two parties takes place in the mountains.

Thematically, THE APPALOOSA – which celebrated film critic Pauline Kael had dismissed as “a dog of a movie about a horse” and whose title was, understandably changed to SOUTHWEST TO SONORA for its British theatrical release – doesn’t really cover any new ground despite Brando and director Furie’s attempts to respectively infuse meaning into every gesture and shot. The latter was known for his flashy camera stylistics, and he really goes overboard here (placing characters in the extreme foreground when the main action is occurring in the remaining part of the frame – including the very last shot – or choosing bizarre angles – such as a tilted shot during the arm-wrestling bout from the POV of a scorpion!); with this in mind, I had become even more interested in checking this one out after learning how Italian B-movie exponent Enzo G. Castellari drew on it for his impressive latter-day Spaghetti Western KEOMA (1976) on the Audio Commentary of that film’s R1 Anchor Bay DVD. All of this – plus Saxon’s enjoyably hammy, Golden Globe-nominated performance (with an exaggerated Mexican accent to match) – keeps one watching, even when the pace flags or the plot turns dreary.

Brando is said to have agreed to do this principally because he needed the cash to pay in alimony for his two ex-wives and that he quickly lost interest in the project (to the consternation of his producer and director); consequently, his contribution is atypically understated – thus allowing co-star Saxon to walk away with the film! Nevertheless, the confrontation scenes between their two characters constitute definite highlights (and the climax is nicely handled – kudos, in fact, to Russell Metty’s cinematography throughout); otherwise, Silvera and popular Mexican actor/director Emilio Fernandez (perhaps still best-known for playing General Mapache in Sam Peckinpah’s THE WILD BUNCH [1969] and here appearing as Saxon’s right-hand man) are notable among the supporting cast.

Well, I’ve done a lot of killing. I’ve killed a lot of men and sinned a lot of women.
The Appaloosa (AKA: Southwest to Sonora) is directed by Sidney J. Furie and adapted by James Bridges and Roland Kibbee from Robert MacLeod’s novel. It stars Marlon Brando, Anjanette Comer, John Saxon, Emilio Fernández and Miriam Colon. Music is by Frank Skinner and cinematography by Russell Metty.

Plot finds Brando as Matt Fletcher, a Mexican-American buffalo hunter who returns to his home town of Ojo Prieto seeking to start a cleaner life. But when he is accused of a crime he didn’t commit, he is harassed and humiliated by bandit general Chuy Medina (Saxon) who steals his horse – the appaloosa of the title – this puts in motions the wheels of revenge as he sets about recovering his beloved horse and lost pride.

Few things are as divisive when talk turns to Marlon Brando as that involving his Western output. One person will often stand up to announce One Eyed Jacks as being near genius, the next guy will call it a garbled mess. The Missouri Breaks receives much scorn, but some, myself included, actually like the quirky nature of it. The Appaloosa is not a great film, interesting for sure, with the odd fleeting moment of inspiration, but otherwise it’s a dull affair.

Brando is actually darn great in it, Matt Fletcher calls for a brooding, almost morose like, portrayal, so who better than Marlon? Saddle him up with a vengeance driven motive and bingo! You got Brando lifting the picture to at least watchable heights. But Furie seems to think he is Orson Welles, and you sense that Brando thinks the director is as well. Up close and personal camera work and angled shots are clearly meant to infuse picture with sweaty claustrophobia and psychological smarts, but they just come off as being in the wrong film since story just isn’t that interesting to begin with and many scenes just taper off into nothing.

Metty’s Technicolor photography is most appealing at what looks to me like Durango, Mexico, further adding irritants that the picture as a whole is not better. Rest of the cast are fine, with the Latino actors holding their own with their parts of an uninspiring script and Saxon turns in a good one as a bandido bastard. An arm wrestling scene over a scorpion is genuine class, and tension driven, while the snow capped final shoot-out is not without merit. But ultimately the highlights are rare and not even a brooding Brando can make this a safe recommendation to Western fans.

Character’s motivations and inspiration is strong. Film, however, is not. 5/10

Other Information:

Original Language en
Runtime 1 hr 38 min (98 min)
Budget 0
Revenue 0
Status Released
Rated Approved
Genre Action, Drama, Romance
Director Sidney J. Furie
Writer James Bridges, Roland Kibbee, Robert MacLeod
Actors Marlon Brando, Anjanette Comer, John Saxon
Country United States
Awards 1 win & 1 nomination
Production Company N/A
Website N/A

Technical Information:

Sound Mix Mono (Westrex Recording System)
Aspect Ratio 2.35 : 1
Camera N/A
Laboratory Technicolor (color by) (as Technicolor®)
Film Length N/A
Negative Format 35 mm (2-perf)
Cinematographic Process Techniscope (as Techniscope®)
Printed Film Format 35 mm