''Alvarez Kelly'' is a 1966 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film set in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

directed by

Edward Dmytryk Edward Dmytryk (September 4, 1908 – July 1, 1999) was an American film director. He was known for his 1940s noir films and received an Oscar nomination for Best Director for '' Crossfire'' (1947). In 1947, he was named as one of the Hollywoo ...

and starring

William Holden William Holden (born William Franklin Beedle Jr.; April 17, 1918 – November 12, 1981) was an American actor, and one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the film ''Stalag 17'' (1953) ...

and

Richard Widmark Richard Weedt Widmark (December 26, 1914March 24, 2008) was an American film, stage, and television actor and producer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, ''Kiss of Death'' (1947) ...

. The picture was based on the historic Beefsteak Raid of September 1864 led by Confederate

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

Wade Hampton III Wade Hampton III (March 28, 1818April 11, 1902) was an American military officer who served the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War and later a politician from South Carolina. He came from a wealthy planter family, and ...

Plot

Mexican cattleman Alvarez Kelly (

) is contracted to deliver a herd to the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. As he nears the end of his long

cattle drive A cattle drive is the process of moving a herd of cattle from one place to another, usually moved and herded by cowboys on horses. Europe In medieval central Europe, annual cattle drives brought Hungarian Grey cattle across the Danube River ...

, Kelly is captured by Confederate raiders led by Colonel Tom Rossiter (

). The Confederacy desperately needs the beef to feed its soldiers besieged in Richmond. Kelly is "persuaded" to help shanghai and deliver the stolen herd to Richmond. Despite the hatred between the two men, they manage to work together. Kelly first teaches Rossiter's men how to drive cattle. Then, they proceed to capture and drive the herd away, despite the efforts of Union officer Major Albert Stedman ( Patrick O'Neal). As revenge, Kelly arranges passage for Rossiter's discontented fiancée, Liz Pickering (

Janice Rule Mary Janice Rule (August 15, 1931 – October 17, 2003) was an American actress and psychotherapist, earning her PhD while still acting, then acting occasionally while working in her new profession. Early life Rule was born in Norwood, Ohio, to ...

), on a blockade runner leaving the besieged city.

Cast

as Alvarez Kelly *

as Col. Tom Rossiter *

as Liz Pickering * Patrick O'Neal as Major Albert Steadman * Victoria Shaw as Charity Warwick * Roger C. Carmel as Capt. Angus Ferguson * Richard Rust as Sergeant Hatcher * Arthur Franz as Capt. Towers * Don 'Red' Barry as Lt. Farrow (as Donald Barry) * Duke Hobbie as John Beaurider * Harry Carey Jr. as Cpl. Peterson * Howard Caine as McIntyre *

Mauritz Hugo Mauritz Hugo (January 12, 1909 – June 16, 1974) was a Swedish-born American film and television actor. Selected filmography * ''Wanted by the Police'' (1938) * ''Criminal Investigator'' (1942) *''The Crime Smasher'' (1943) * ''Outlaws of St ...

as Ely Harrison *

Barry Atwater Garrett "Barry" Atwater (May 16, 1918 – May 24, 1978) was an American character actor who appeared frequently on television from the 1950s into the 1970s. He was sometimes credited as G.B. Atwater. Life and career The son of the landscape pai ...

as General Kautz (as G.B. Atwater) * Robert Morgan as Capt. Williams * Paul Lukather as Capt. Webster * Stephanie Hill as Mary Ann *

Indus Arthur Indus Arthur (born Indus Jo Saugstad; April 28, 1941 – December 29, 1984) was a 1960s film and television actress. Early life Arthur was from Los Angeles County. Both she and her grandmother were named for the Indus River in Tibet. Her grand ...

as Melinda * Clint Ritchie as Union L.t.

Production

The film was shot in the vicinity of Baton Rouge,

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

.substituting for central

and the Civil War battlefield areas around the Confederate and state capital of Richmond and Petersburg encircled and under siege in 1864.

Reception

The film was generally well received by critics.

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

of ''The New York Times'' remarked that it was "a good picture—nice and crisp and tough", praised the script writer Franklin Coen for "blueprinting a fresh idea, and salting it with some tingling, unstereotyped behavior and gristly dialogue". He further praised the cinematography, the casting of Holden and Widmark, which he considered "sardonic perfection", and added that the "picture perks up beautifully in the ripely-detailed homestretch". ''Variety'' praised the action sequences with the cattle stampede but, unlike Crowther, thought there were some issues with the script which they believed "overdevelops some characters and situations, and underdevelops others". Author John H. Lenihan compares the film to ''

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'' ( it, Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo, literally "The good, the ugly, the bad") is a 1966 Italian epic spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood as "the Good", Lee Van Clee ...

'', in that both films "offer no consolation in their vivid deglamorization of war. The heroes, or antiheroes, of both films pursue selfish pecuniary ventures as a conscious alternative to becoming committed in a pointless destructive war".

References

External links

* * * * {{Edward Dmytryk 1966 films 1966 Western (genre) films American Civil War films Films directed by Edward Dmytryk Columbia Pictures films Films set in Virginia 1960s historical films American historical films 1960s English-language films Films set in Richmond, Virginia American Western (genre) films 1960s American films