Truly Dreadful Film

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Somewhat scattered drama set in the last days of the Civil War. Glenn Ford is the top billed star but he disappears for almost the entire middle of the film and it's really George Hamilton and Inger's show. Partly a chase story and partly a drama of how once fastidious men can be corrupted and destroyed by war. George does fine as the Confederate soldier who can't face the war's imminent end since it has given him purpose and he has nothing to go back to. This was made towards the end of his short serious actor phase before he slipped into the overly tanned caricature he became and he gives it his best effort.Inger Stevens, breathtakingly beautiful in the first of several westerns she made in the period between the end of her series "The Farmer's Daughter" and her too early death, registers strongly as the missionary who is in love with Glenn Ford but must contend with her captive status against George and his increasingly unruly band of refugees. It also affords a chance to see several notable actors starting out. Max Baer of Beverly Hillbillies Jethro fame plays a total whack job with brio and Harry Dean Stanton shows up in a small part. Most surprisingly right at the top of the film is a baby faced Harrison Ford who vanishes after a few minutes. Not really a western nor a great film by any means but a decent effort if you like dramas set in the West.

It aired on TCM last night and as I remembered that when it came out in 1967 I walked out of it, I wanted to see just how bad this thing was, or if I was that impatient. I rarely walk out on films.As soon as the credits ended, I was reminded of one of the initial negative reactions I had to the film. We get a title song under the credits (left over from when the production title was "The Long Ride Home") and as soon as the director credit disappears, so does the song. As in someone picked the needle up off the phonograph record before it was done. That's only the first example of the kitchen blender editing that goes on in this film.A group of Confederates are in a Northern fort, caged in a big pen and apparently treated decently by Major Glenn Ford. The leader of this group is played by George Hamilton and when his accent isn't atrocious, it's gone. The editing faults show up again when somehow a bunch of the rebels kill some guards, turn the fort's cannons around and begin firing on it. We just don't get to see how they managed to get out of the holding pen in which they were confinedThey escape through some magical tunnel that leads to the river, but with no establishing shots, we have no idea of how far that tunnel goes. We never even get a shot in the tunnel. The rebs manage to catch up to and defeat a previously departed detail that includes Ford's betrothed Inger Stevens and they accomplish this by magically hiding in trees that manage to be right in the path of each Union soldier in the detail as they attempted to scatter when fired upon.There's all sorts of exposition here to show us what a mean bastard Hamilton is - he's left most of his men behind when he should have waited for them at the river. There's so much exposition that we forget that top-billed Glenn Ford is even in the film since he disappears for about a half-hour. Ford's search party includes two comic relief types (one of whom is Dick Miller) who seem to have walked in from another movie or an episode of "F Troop." This is made more apparent as they are frequently seen in obvious studio shots that don't match the surrounding footage shot on location.It was at this point that I recalled that this film was started by Roger Corman but it was usurped by the studio and given to Phil Karlson. Corman's involvement would explain Dick Miller, but the handling of his scenes might explain why Corman was dismissed. Apparently it was enough of a disaster for longtime producer Harry Joe Brown to quit the business.Harrison Ford (billed with middle initial "J") gets reasonably prominent billing but he disappears once the film leaves the fort - we don't see if he's killed while the rebels escape. Paul Petersen is given very prominent billing above the title, but he doesn't show up with any dialogue until Glenn Ford comes back into the film in the last half-hour. That's just as well, Petersen is horrendous in his few scenes.Even worse is Max Baer, Jr. as a whacked-out Confederate who loves killing and physically sparring with a buddy. This goes on my list of all-time worst performances and it indicates why Baer never got beyond Jethro Bodine on "The Beverly Hillbillies." Surprisingly effective is Todd Armstrong as Hamilton's sympathetic second-in-command yet this was his last feature film. As George Hamilton's moral conscience, he has the most well-written role in the film.There is one strong plot twist here involving Inger Stevens that is quickly thrown away. En route, Baer comes across a Union dispatch carrier and kills him, taking from him the message that the war is over. The message couldn't have been that important to the carrier anyway as he's hanging out in a cantina with a bunch of whores. Hamilton swears Baer to silence (this way he "can kill more blue-bellies") as he wants to engage in a cat-and-mouse game with Ford.This makes no sense as there would be no need for further pursuit but that would mean that the film would end just as abruptly as the title song. So just in case, Hamilton rapes and beats Stevens after telling her that the war is over. He leaves her there, but when Ford (the Glenn one, not Harrison) catches up to her, she fails to tell him that the war is over. She wants vengeance for having been spoiled. The film makes little more of that motive.I could go on, but the film isn't really worth the verbiage I've given it thus far. Consider this a public service message and beware at all costs.

Despite his advancing age, Glenn Ford made a number of westerns during this period, this one being one of his weakest. It does have an eccentric cast, most notably George Hamilton, who doesn't fit at well here. It's not that he can't act, but his look and demeanor come off a bit too "nice" for a character who should be meaner and grittier. Oddly, he has much more screen time than Ford, though maybe that's for the best since Ford seems a bit bored and uninterested in the little we see of him. It's not like the script is inspired or anything, giving us weak characters, unfunny comic relief (despite some brutality shown or implied several times), and even offensive racial stereotypes. Not to mention an underwhelming ending that at the same time feels unfinished. The production quality is also surprisingly cheap and sloppy at times, not just with some incredibly bad editing, but with obvious post-production shots and sequences shot in a studio instead of outdoors on location. Probably wasn't the inspiration for the movie "The Hunting Party" made several years later, but who knows.

Hollywood at its worst. No story, no script, wooden (Glenn Ford, Inger Stevens, and George Hamilton) or over- (Max Baer as Jethro on angel-dust) acting, even the "comic" relief is embarrassing. This leaves you with only violence and photography. Zion National Park looks good. Flick looks bad.