User Reviews

Actor turned director Sam Wanamaker and Academy Award winning "King and I" lead Yul Brynner teamed up for the second time as director and star respectively in "Catlow," a harmless, featherweight adaptation of bestselling western writer Louis L'Amour's novel. Wanamaker and Brynner collaborated earlier on the espionage thriller "The File of the Golden Goose." Anyway, this 101-minute, PG-13 rated oater deals with the camaraderie between roguish cattle rustler Jed Catlow (Yul Brynner), and Richard Crenna's determined, arrow-straight, U.S. Marshal Ben Cowan.

"Star Trek" star Leonard Nimoy is cast against type as Catlow's nemesis who wants to put a bullet in him. Daliah Lavi and Jo Ann Pflug provide suitably distracting love interests for both Brynner and Crenna. The austere scenery around Almeria, Spain, substitutes marvelously for the Old West in this frivolous frontier yarn about maverick steers, two million dollars in stolen Confederate gold, Mexican soldiers, and savage, bloodthirsty Indians. Roy Budd's orchestral soundtrack enlivens this tolerably entertaining epic.

One of the gags in the average but unexceptional Scot French and J.J. Griffith screenplay appears to have been lifted from Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West." Our amiable anti-hero Catlow surprises a bad guy and shoots at him through the sole of his boot with his six-shooter concealed in his footwear. Jason Robards performed a similar stunt in the train sequence of Leone's classic. The most distinctive feature of this otherwise ordinary but entertaining oater is Nimoy's hand-to-hand combat with Brynner in the nude. That's right. Mr. Spock shows his butt and a glimpse of something else when our protagonist catches him off-guard with his britches down. Nothing dirty, mind you.

As "Catlow" unfolds, Cowan has a warrant to bring Catlow in for rustling cattle, but the charges have been trumped up by greedy cattlemen who don't want anybody rounding up maverick steers. It seems that their own hands demand extra pay that their bosses refuse to pay for the hardship involving in such activities. Ben Cowan is on Catlow's trail when Apache's jump him, wound him in the leg with an arrow and about about to kill, when Catlow's opportune intervention saves Ben's bacon.

Meantime, the cattlemen have hired a hardcase, Miller (Leonard Nimoy), and several gunslingers to corral Catlow. During a showdown in the desert, Catlow spoils Miller's necktie party. As he is putting on his boot, Catlow shoots at Miller through the sole with a gun. A brief gunfight erupts, and Catlow's men scatter Miller's minions. After Catlow sells his steers for $23 dollars a head, he allows Ben to take him into custody. Ben claps Catlow in irons, and they take a stagecoach back to Fort Smith. Catlow's men rescue him in route. Naturally, the cattlemen aren't happy about Catlow's escape.

Cowan rides into Mexico and Miller trails him. In a border town, Cowan finds Catlow long enough for our hero to lock him up. Catlow has set his sights on a mule train loaded with stolen Confederate gold that the Mexican army has discovered in a cave. Audaciously, Catlow hijacks the mule train right out from under the Mexican Army's nose. Cowan sounds the alert inadvertently when he stumbles onto the vicious Miller and all hell breaks loose. Catlow leads his unwilling men into the desert with the army nipping at his heels. One of Catlow's oldest accomplishess, Rios, doesn't cotton to Catlow's plans and plots mutiny.

No sooner has his men and he plunged into the desert than they find themselves at the mercy of the vicious Seri Indians. Catlow and company reach a fortress in the desert that lays in ruins. Cowan beats them to the fortress and spoils an ambush that the jealous Rosita has set up for Catlow. Catlow and his men cut down most of her gunmen and Catlow ties her up. Meanwhile, Rios decides to double-cross Catlow, join forces with Rosita and take the gold. They steal all the guns from Catlow's men and leave them unarmed to face the advancing Seris. Catlow, Cowan, and the outlaws are between a rock and a hard place when the Mexican Army ride to their rescue.

The ending is entirely improbable. Miller's reappearance, however, restores some drama. Nimoy excels as a rough and tumble villain with hate in his heart. Sadly, "Catlow" doesn't have enough grit to qualify as genuinely dramatic. The antics between Catlow and Cowan become rather childish and unbelievable, particularly the last minute reversal. "Catlow" isn't a bad western, but it is neither top drawer. The performances are adequate, the scenery is rugged, and the editing is incisive, but the story unravels toward the end.

We all know that Yul Brynner movies are serious dramas with stern and dominating performances by Brynner. Well, usually they are. In "Catlow" Brynner laughs and jokes his way through this entertaining comedy-western, supported by a fine cast.

Outlaw Catlow (Brynner) and marshal Cowan (Richard Crenna) are former Civil War buddies but now Cowan is trying to arrest Catlow for cattle rustling. Ultra-bad guy Orville Miller (Leonard Nimoy!) has been hired by local ranchers to hang Catlow. A lot of the rambling plot isn't very linear and is often hard to follow. Some characters disappear for extended periods before unexpectedly reappearing, and there's little continuity between scenes. Outlaws, evil ranchers, Indians, Mexican soldiers, bounty hunters, and fiery ladies are thrown into the mix with entertaining (and confusing) results. The sudden switch between comedy and violence is sometimes pretty jarring, and there are lots of cartoonish gunfights. Anyway, Miller is so mean that you know he'll be dead by the end of the movie, and Catlow decides to take up law enforcement at the end of the film...after stealing $2 million in gold.

Brynner has so many funny lines that I lost count, and his banter with Crenna is most entertaining. Nimoy's turn as a villain is good, except his character abruptly disappears for most of the movie before reappearing at the end to die, and he has a nude scene that I certainly could have done without. Jeff Corey adds humorous support as an old member of Catlow's gang. Daliah Lavi plays Catlow's fiery Mexican girlfriend Rosita, but much of what she does makes no sense at all. It's very hard to get used to seeing Nimoy wearing a cowboy hat and riding a horse, all the while speaking with Mr. Spock's voice. This is one Yul Brynner movie that's so uncharacteristic of his usual work that even with its obvious flaws it's certainly worth catching, and it's funny as well.

"Catlow" is an agreeable western from the pen of Louis L'Amour. It stars Yul Brynner in the lead role with Richard Crenna as the U.S. Marshal and an evil Leonard Nimoy as the dastardly villain.

Catlow (Brynner) and his gang, including his feisty girl friend Rosita (Dahlia Lavi), are running off a herd of maverick steers to market much to the chagrin of cattleman Parkman (Walter Coy) who has hired mercenary gunfighter Miller (Nimoy) to eliminate Catlow. Meanwhile Marshal Cowan (Crenna) is also on Catlow's trail. Cowan is ambushed by Apaches and wounded. Catlow saves him and nurses him back to health. During this time Miller surprises Catlow and sentences him to be hanged. But crafty old Catlow turns the tables on him and drives him off.

When Cowan tries to arrest his old Civil War buddy, Catlow flees to Mexico after selling the stolen cattle of course. As Cowan purses he comes upon a wounded Mexican soldier who just happen to be the nephew of the local commanding General (Jose Nieto) Taken to the General's home, Cowan is introduced to the general's niece Christina (Jo Ann Pflug) and a romance develops.

Catlow learns of a shipment of gold being brought in by mule train (Haaaa!). Cowan learns that the gold rightfully belongs to the U.S. government and vows to bring it back. Catlow has other ideas and manages to over power the mule train and make off with the loot with both Cowan and Miller in pursuit along with the Mexican Army..

The group is forced to cross a desert where there is little water. They come to a deserted settlement where they await an attack from the Apaches. During the night Rio (Michael Delano) the rebellious member of Catlow's gang and the self serving Rosita team up to steal the gold and the weapons (how did they do that?) of the others. As the Apaches ready for the attack, Catlow, Cowan and the others realize that they have no weapons. Just as the Apaches close in................................................................................

Yul Brynner plays Catlow against type. He plays him as a happy go lucky bandit with an ever present grin. He plays well off Crenna as the serious minded Marshal. Nimoy with his Steve McQueen type sawed off rifle makes a nasty villain. Look for his in the buff tussle with Brynner. Dahlia Lavi almost steals the picture as the devious fire brand of a girl friend. Jo Ann Pflug makes an elligant and cultured Christina. Watch for David Ladd as Caxton one of Catlow's faithful gang members.

I really liked this film, with the exception of (Spoiler) Leonard Nimoy in the nude in a tub. To say this scene brings nothing to the table is a gross understatement, and that scene is cringe worthy to say the least. I really think the posters who talk about this film have never saw it, or are unfamiliar with with stars (Or both), For example one poster who talked about Richard Crenna (Marshall Cowan) and asks how he never did more Westerns must have been unfamiliar with "The Real McCoys", "The Man Called Noon", and countless others (Many of which I never saw, because they were made for TV), but if you are going to ask the question, all you need to do is read Crenna's IMDb Page, and you will learn. The main reasons to watch are Yul Brynner ("Catlow"), who although not considered a "Western Actor" certainly was (Including two classics "The Magnificent Seven" and "Westworld"), and Jo Ann Pflug (Christina). My favorite part? Spoilers Ahead: Is the ending which shows what Catlow does to the rest of his partners in crime by locking up Rosita (Daliah Lavi) in jail for her actions, and becoming Marshall and taking the rest of the gang back to Arizona for trial. As for the Marshall he gets shot up, and cannot take the prisoners back to Arizona (Which is why Catlow does it), and after being healed, he will have to face a different kind of sentence there is no escaping from.... The hacienda with Christina, who knows what she wants and will get it. I really like the scenes between Christina and Cowan such as when they are ballroom dancing and horseback riding, you can see how perfect they are together, even if Cowan did not know it, he will have a lifetime to realize it. 8/10 Stars.