''The Deadly Trackers'' is a 1973 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 directed by

Barry Shear Barry Shear (March 23, 1923 in Brooklyn, New York – June 13, 1979 in Los Angeles) was an American film and television director and producer. Career Military He served in the United States Army Air Forces from October 1942 to March 1945. Tel ...

and starring

Richard Harris Richard St John Francis Harris (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002) was an Irish actor and singer. Having studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, he rose to prominence as an icon of the British New Wave. He received numerous a ...

Rod Taylor Rodney Sturt Taylor (11 January 1930 – 7 January 2015) was an Australian actor. He appeared in more than 50 feature films, including '' Young Cassidy'' (1965), '' Nobody Runs Forever'' (1968), '' The Train Robbers'' (1973), and '' A Matt ...

and

Al Lettieri Alfredo Lettieri (February 24, 1928 – October 18, 1975) was an American actor. Active during the 1960s and 1970s, he commonly portrayed villainous characters. He achieved recognition for his performance as mobster Virgil Sollozzo in the crime f ...

. It is based on the novel ''Riata'' by

Samuel Fuller Samuel Michael Fuller (August 12, 1912 – October 30, 1997) was an American film director, screenwriter, novelist, journalist, and actor. He was known for directing low-budget genre movies with controversial themes, often made outside t ...

Plot

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

Sean Kilpatrick is a pacifist. He is compelled to go against everything he has stood for to bring death to a gang of

outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them. ...

s, led by the ruthless Brand, to avenge the deaths of his wife and son, murdered by the gang when it robbed the bank in Kilpatrick's town. In

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, his hunt is challenged by his noble sheriff counterpart, who is interested only in carrying out the law - not vengeance.

Cast

as Sheriff Sean Kilpatrick *

as Frank Brand *

as Gutierrez, Mexican Policeman *

Neville Brand Lawrence Neville Brand (August 13, 1920 – April 16, 1992) was an American soldier and actor. He was known for playing villainous or antagonistic character roles in Westerns, crime dramas, and ''films noir'', and was nominated for a BAFTA A ...

as Choo Choo *

William Smith William, Willie, Will, Bill, or Billy Smith may refer to: Academics * William Smith (Master of Clare College, Cambridge) (1556–1615), English academic * William Smith (antiquary) (c. 1653–1735), English antiquary and historian of University C ...

as Schoolboy *

Paul Benjamin Paul Benjamin (February 4, 1935 – June 28, 2019) was an American actor. Early life Benjamin was born to Fair, a Baptist preacher (1890–1950), and Rosa Benjamin (née Butler; 1895–1940) in Pelion, South Carolina, the youngest of 12 child ...

as Jacob * Pedro Armendáriz Jr. as Herrero *

Isela Vega Isela Vega Durazo (5 November 1939 – 9 March 2021) was a Mexican actress,Televis ...

as Maria * Kelly Jean Peters as Katharine Kilpatrick * William Bryant as Deputy Bill * Sean Marshall as Kevin Kilpatrick *

Read Morgan Read Lawrence Morgan (January 30, 1931 – April 20, 2022) was an American film and television actor. He was perhaps best known for playing Sergeant Hapgood Tasker in the American western television series '' The Deputy''. Life and career Mo ...

as Deputy Bob * Joan Swift as Teacher *

Ray Moyer Ray Moyer (February 21, 1898 – February 6, 1986) was an American set decorator. He won three Academy Awards and was nominated for nine more in the category Best Art Direction. He was born in Santa Barbara, California and died in Los Ange ...

as Priest * Armando Acosta as Mole

Production

The film began as the project, ''Riata'', written and directed by

Sam Fuller Samuel Michael Fuller (August 12, 1912 – October 30, 1997) was an American film director, screenwriter, novelist, journalist, and actor. He was known for directing low-budget genre movies with controversial themes, often made outside t ...

, starring Richard Harris and

Bo Hopkins William Mauldin "Bo" Hopkins (February 2, 1938 – May 28, 2022) was an American actor. He was known for playing supporting roles in several major studio films from 1969 to 1979, especially for his breakout role in the ensemble cast of ''Americ ...

. Production was halted during filming and then reassembled with a new director and cast, with Harris the only member of the original cast to return. According to costar

, Harris hated Fuller's script and walked out on the original production. Once Taylor signed on, he contributed to the re-write (Taylor was a member of the Screenwriters Guild) by adding scenes to flesh out his villainous character. It was through Harris' relentless drive that the film was completed at all, even using musical outtakes from other movies to cobble together the score.

References

External links

* * *
''The Deadly Trackers''
at the Complete Rod Taylor site 1973 films Films directed by Barry Shear 1973 Western (genre) films Warner Bros. films American Western (genre) films 1970s English-language films 1970s American films Films scored by Fred Steiner English-language Western (genre) films {{1970s-US-film-stub