''Catlow'' is a 1971 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, based on a 1963 novel of the same name by

Louis L'Amour Louis Dearborn L'Amour (; né LaMoore; March 22, 1908 – June 10, 1988) was an American novelist and short story writer. His books consisted primarily of Western novels (though he called his work "frontier stories"); however, he also wrote hi ...

. It stars

Yul Brynner Yuliy Borisovich Briner (russian: link=no, Юлий Борисович Бринер; July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985), known professionally as Yul Brynner, was a Russian-born actor. He was best known for his portrayal of King Mongkut in th ...

as a renegade outlaw determined to pull off a Confederate gold heist. It co-stars

Richard Crenna Richard Donald Crenna (November 30, 1926 – January 17, 2003) was an American film, television and radio actor. Crenna starred in such motion pictures as '' The Sand Pebbles'', ''Wait Until Dark'', ''Un Flic'', '' Body Heat'', the first three ...

and

Leonard Nimoy Leonard Simon Nimoy (; March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor, famed for playing Spock in the '' Star Trek'' franchise for almost 50 years. This includes originating Spock in the original ''Star Trek'' series in 1966, th ...

. Nimoy mentioned this film in both of his autobiographies because it gave him a chance to break away from his role as

Spock Spock is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. He first appeared in the original ''Star Trek'' series serving aboard the starship USS ''Enterprise'' as science officer and first officer (and Kirk's Second-in-command) and ...

on ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

''. He mentioned that the time he made the film was one of the happiest of his life, even though his part was rather brief. The film contains a lot of tongue-in-cheek and sardonic humor, especially between Brynner and Crenna's characters.

Plot

Jed Catlow and Ben Cowan served together in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

and became friends, but now Catlow is a thief and Cowan a marshal tracking him down. Catlow is accused of rustling cattle, especially from the wealthy rancher Parkman. Parkman has hired a vicious gunfighter, Orville Miller, to kill Catlow. Offering to turn himself in, Catlow joins Cowan on a stagecoach to Fort Smith, but his men stage an ambush. Catlow heads for

Hermosillo Hermosillo (), formerly called Pitic (as in ''Santísima Trinidad del Pitic'' and ''Presidio del Pitic''), is a city located in the center of the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. It is the municipal seat of the Hermosillo municipality, the ...

, Mexico, where a woman named Rosita is in love with him and a $2 million shipment of gold is arriving soon by mule train. The ranchers send Cowan after him along with Miller. Catlow gets the drop on Miller during a bath and hits him with a jug that shatters, cutting Miller's vocal cords. After a later confrontation, Catlow tosses the bound marshal across a horse with a badge pinned on his backside and turns him loose. He is later bushwhacked by Miller; and even later he rescues the nephew of a Mexican general who had been attacked by Apaches, then both are attacked by Apaches and Cowan barely avoids a plunge to his death off a cliff. Allowed to recover at General Calderon's grand hacienda because he saved his nephew, Cowan becomes attracted to Christina, the general's daughter. After stealing the army's gold, Catlow flees toward the scorching desert and into dangerous Apache territory. He rejects Rosita, who angrily recruits men to go with her after Catlow and kill him. Cowan follows, as usual, but Miller shows up and shoots Cowan, wounding him. Catlow picks up Cowan's gun and shoots Miller. Christina will take care of Cowan. Meantime, a smiling Catlow puts on his friend's badge and gives an indication that he will turn to the right side of the law.

Cast

Production

The film was produced by Euan Lloyd, who had made a film of Louis L'Amour's novel, ''

Shalako Shalako is a series of dances and ceremonies conducted by the Native American Zuni people for the Zuni people at the winter solstice, typically following the harvest. The Shalako ceremony and feast has been closed to non-native peoples since 1990 ...

''. In June 1968 he announced he had bought the screen rights to another L'Amour novel, ''Catlow''. The script was written by Scott Finch who had written ''Shalako''. In June 1970, L'Amour said the film would be the first of five made from his novels starring Stephen Boyd, the others being '' Down the Long Hills'', '' Fint'', '' Radigan'', and '' Hanging Woman Creek''. Raising the finance for ''Shalako'' had been complicated but Lloyd managed to get the entire budget for ''Catlow'' from MGM. The film was to have been directed by

Peter Hunt Peter Hunt may refer to: * Peter Hunt (British Army officer) (1916–1988), Chief of the General Staff of the British Army * Peter H. Hunt (1938–2020), American film, television and stage director *Peter R. Hunt (1925–2002), film editor on many ...

. However Sam Wanamaker ended up doing the job. In March 1971 Yul Brynner signed to star. Within the month Richard Crenna, Leonard Nimoy and David Ladd had been cast. Filming took place in

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city g ...

, Spain in August 1971. "This picture has a sense of humour but that's not the same as being a comedy Western," said Wanamaker.

Reception

Lloyd ended up producing ''

The Man Called Noon ''The Man Called Noon'' is a 1973 film directed by Peter Collinson. It stars Richard Crenna and Stephen Boyd. It is based on a 1970 Louis L'Amour novel of the same name. Cast * Richard Crenna as Noon, a gunman who develops amnesia after an at ...

'' also based on a L'amour novel. He bought the rights to ten more for $1 million. However he produced no further L'Amour adaptations.

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, dark humor, non-linear storylines, cameos, ensembl ...

called it "along with

Burt Kennedy Burton Raphael Kennedy (September 3, 1922 – February 15, 2001) was an American screenwriter and director known mainly for directing Westerns. Budd Boetticher called him "the best Western writer ever." Biography Kennedy was born in 1922 i ...

’s Dirty Dingus Magee &

Andrew V. McLaglen Andrew Victor McLaglen (July 28, 1920 – August 30, 2014) was a British-born American film and television director, known for Westerns and adventure films, often starring John Wayne or James Stewart. According to one obituary "His career ...

’s Something Big... my nomination for worst studio western of the seventies" in which Brynner gives "the worst performance of his career." It grossed $159,500 in its first week from 29 theaters, finishing seventh for the week at the box office in the United States and Canada.

References

External links