Rio Conchos (1964)

You won't be disappointed!

Sorry, this movie sucks

Overrated and overhyped

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Two ex-Confederates are recruited from a Yankee prison to help prevent a load of repeating rifles from aiding an Apache uprising.On the whole, the screenplay is too complex with too many side diversions to deliver a suspenseful result. Nonetheless, there's another generic kind of problem that detracts heavily. Large-scale westerns like this are always a problem for actors. That's especially the case for the leads. The problem is how not to be over-shadowed by the scale of action in order to maintain star status. Most noticeable here is over-acting among several of the principals: Franciosa as a leering Frito Bandido, Boone as an overly smug revenge seeker, and O'Brien as an unhinged Confederate General. All go into unfortunate overdrive to compete with the explosive action. On the other hand, Whitman is barely noticeable amid the heavy competition (he was soon relegated to TV), while the unfortunate Wagner (Indian girl) could double as a cigar store manikin. Too bad the screenplay didn't take a page from The Magnificent Seven (1960), which it resembles in several respects. There, characterizations and performances are well integrated into the action, without a damaging competition.But then, acting is not what usually draws fans to action movies. And here, there's plenty of gunpowder, from skirmishes, to showdowns, to big pyrotechnics. Otherwise, despite the hoopla of an A-western, the 100-minutes is pretty forgettable.

Gordon Douglas took this Clair Huffaker novel and directed the Great Jim Brown in his first Hollywood movie. The story concerns two officers from the America Civil War, Richard Boone and Stuart Whitman and pits them against one another south of the border. A wagon load of repeating rifles is high-jacked and smuggled across the border to Mexico. There the shipment is traded to marauding Apache Indians, who threaten to ignite a war with the U.S. Anthony Franciosa, Jim Brown,Vito Scotti and Edmond O'Brien head an all star cast. The script however is poor and the story line as wells at the action leaves much to be desired. Still, Boone and Whitman do their level best to make for an exciting drama, Anthony Franciosa shines as Rodriguez. However, it's up to Edmond O'Brien to carry the burden of the film as a demented Southern General. Recommended to audience who enjoy his films. I do. ****

Good, solid, well told if not really remarkable or memorable Western whose story (it's scripted by Joseph Landon and Clair Huffaker, based on the latter's novel) centres around a journey. An ex-Confederate officer, Lassiter (Richard Boone) comes into possession of a stolen gun; when he's arrested, he comes up with a deal to track the stolen shipment of guns into Mexico, in the company of Army officer Captain Haven (Stuart Whitman), Buffalo Soldier sergeant Franklyn (legendary gridiron star Jim Brown, who began his notable acting career with this part), and lusty, fun loving, grinning Mexican character Rodriguez (Anthony Franciosa). This unlikely bunch goes through a number of episodes in their journey before the eventual confrontation with the demented Confederate Colonel Pardee (Edmond O'Brien), who's hellbent on starting a second Civil War. Done in the style of the classic Western, with the very competent journeyman director Gordon Douglas ("Them!", etc.) handling all elements well and getting effective performances out of his cast, whether they tend towards the exuberant (Franciosa, O'Brien) or the more restrained. Lassiter is a commendably flawed protagonist, a man who's allowed his tragic past to blind him with hatred. Extremely well shot in Cinemascope by Joseph MacDonald, with thunderous music by Jerry Goldsmith, "Rio Conchos" has fine action sequences (including a reasonably rousing, fiery finale) and entertaining episodes throughout: a run in with bandits led by Vito Scotti, the entire sequence at Presidio, and an effective, quiet moment in an out of the way cantina run by the great screen psycho Timothy Carey, in what is actually a good low key (uncredited) performance. Wende Wagner, a lovely lady who left us too early, has a striking presence as a fierce and defiant Apache soldier. Also appearing are Warner Anderson as Colonel Wagner and Rodolfo Acosta as Apache chief Bloodshirt, just one of a number of villainous parts he had played in Westerns. There are certainly elements here that cannot fly in the current politically correct climate, but overall this is good fun - vibrant, colourful, and interesting. Eight out of 10.

There's no really new ground covered here - post civil war barbarity, lawlessness and retribution. But it does have some noteworthy elements.Even though violence has always formed the core of the Western, the *depiction* of the violence here is unusually graphic. Lots of blood, shootings, spearings and men burned alive. Boone bashes the Apache chief over the head with scales -- a visual metaphor for the 'broken justice' of the whole affair.And the action sequences are remarkably well arranged and edited: Franciosa throws a knife into a mounted bandido, who falls from his horse. He's dragged by his stirrup and Franciosa grabs his knife out of the passing body so he can reuse it -- all with a wink at us.Also of note is the theme of O'Brien building his own Confederacy south of the border, symbolized by the half completed neo-Classical structure in the desert. "The Undefeated" had similar themes, but this is much smarter.The weakness lies in the wooden supporting cast -- the part of the Apache girl/combatant is not handled very well. Brown is given little to do in his film debut. The women are sex objects. The Apaches are depicted as 'injuns'.It does end in a smart, unsentimental way, suggesting "Bridge on the River Kwai". But on the whole, and with today's hindsight, it doesn't clear the bar raised up by "...Josey Wales".