The usually entertaining Brian Keith, made to look the age of Burl Ives or Will Here, is playing a rather intolerable character, a crazy old man who's quick on the trigger but not much else as the owner of a ranch threatened by foreclosure who hires Alfonso Arau as his ranch hand after nearly shooting him in the skull. Arau, in the United States illegally (apparently just across the border), says he's looking for family but ends up sticking around at the bequest of Keith's granddaughter (Michele Carey) to look after the nutty old coot.
I wouldn't be hanging around someone who pulls out a gun and starts shooting indiscriminately, but Arau's Paco is a big hearted fellow who longs for a place to settle, looking on incredulously at Keith, not out of lack of understanding but amazement. Keith has to deal with the young man (Rick Lenz) dealing with the foreclosure, initially shooting at him, but suddenly liking him when he learns that Lenz likes his granddaughter. The camaraderie between Keith and Arau is supposed to be touching, but it just made me feel sorry for Arau. At least Keith is around to prevent sheriff Harry Morgan from deporting Arau.
Morgan describes Keith as being out of touch with reality which is true, but this film is definitely out of touch as well, seeming like something said in the early 1900's rather than 1971. Arau is quite similar to Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez from "Rio Bravo" in his demeanor, quite likeable in spite of the fact that his character is not at all realistic in a modern sense. The veteran Mexican director still makes the audience root for him, but I mainly rooted for him to get away from Keith. Veteran character actors Iris Adrian and Fran Ryan would join Morgan in Disney's "The Apple Dumpling Gang" but that's actually set in a more realistic time setting. After just a few minutes on screen, Keith began to grate on my nerves, and he's in 90% of the film. Still, the endearing performance of Arau kept me engaged, but I just longed for him to tell Keith that he was more twisted than a bull's horns. Keith is a great actor, but he's dreadful in this, even though certain elements of his character prepared him to later play Teddy Roosevelt.
I wouldn't be hanging around someone who pulls out a gun and starts shooting indiscriminately, but Arau's Paco is a big hearted fellow who longs for a place to settle, looking on incredulously at Keith, not out of lack of understanding but amazement. Keith has to deal with the young man (Rick Lenz) dealing with the foreclosure, initially shooting at him, but suddenly liking him when he learns that Lenz likes his granddaughter. The camaraderie between Keith and Arau is supposed to be touching, but it just made me feel sorry for Arau. At least Keith is around to prevent sheriff Harry Morgan from deporting Arau.
Morgan describes Keith as being out of touch with reality which is true, but this film is definitely out of touch as well, seeming like something said in the early 1900's rather than 1971. Arau is quite similar to Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez from "Rio Bravo" in his demeanor, quite likeable in spite of the fact that his character is not at all realistic in a modern sense. The veteran Mexican director still makes the audience root for him, but I mainly rooted for him to get away from Keith. Veteran character actors Iris Adrian and Fran Ryan would join Morgan in Disney's "The Apple Dumpling Gang" but that's actually set in a more realistic time setting. After just a few minutes on screen, Keith began to grate on my nerves, and he's in 90% of the film. Still, the endearing performance of Arau kept me engaged, but I just longed for him to tell Keith that he was more twisted than a bull's horns. Keith is a great actor, but he's dreadful in this, even though certain elements of his character prepared him to later play Teddy Roosevelt.