User Reviews

Two great men of action in one great new motion picture. Dealing with a has-been outlaw who warms up his pistol again in this old style Western. Simple and light western with a plain, regular and modest plot, resulting in the inevitable final showdown at the downtown, starred by two great titans, Douglas and Coburn. It is set in the end days of the old western with appearance of the first automobiles . A previous desperate outlaw, Kirk Douglas, faces down enemies and, nowadays, a drunk ex-sheriff called Sam Starrett , James Coburn, who was his long time nemesis . As an ex convict called Harry Holland : Kirk Douglas, who spent several years in prison, and being recently released, attempts to carry out a peaceful life. Holland heads for Bell city where only finds unknown townspeople and some children amazed and really interested in his gun-handling skills. As he goes to the saloon for a drink, there four men are playing poker game, and he joins the group to play cards. Meantime, Reggie : Derek McGrath is cheating the game, as usual . But Harry wins all the Reggie's money. Shortly after, Holland attempts to cash at the bank, but the bank teller does not accept, then Harry takes the money and run. Later on, he is wounded at a stand-off , after Holland is stuck in Bell hotel and while being surrounded by deputies : Graham Jarvis, who are unabled to catch him, but he refuses to surrender himself . In the hotel , Harry takes a traveling theatre actress, Alexandra Bastedo, as a hostage who heals his injures.

Decent but low budgeted Western with star power, emotion, thrills and some smart moments make it worthwhile watching. However, being excessively talking and some claustrophobic, mostly set in hotel room, saloon and main street where takes place the ordinary ending duel. Concerning an interesting battle of wits between the two greatest tough, two-fisted actors on the screen, Douglas and Coburn. Giving a particular character studio about two individualist roles, an old retired gunslinger and a drunken ex-sheriff. The lion's share of the acting meat deservedly goes to Kirk Douglas, being magnificently supported by James Coburn. They are well accompanied by a good support cast, such as Alexandra Bastedo, Derek McGrath, Graham Jarvis, Linda Sorensen and actor/filmaker Stuart Gillard. Medium, low budget yarn , financed by Kirk Douglas and his company Bryna and by today very prestigious HBO in one of his first productions.

The motion picture was professionally directed by Steven Hillard Stern. He was an artisan working mainly for TV and cinema too , giving several films of all kinds of genres. He directed Westerns as Black Fox saga : Blood horse, Good men and bad men , The price of peace. He made all kinds of genres including the following titles : Kill my wife please, Morning glory, Breaking the surface, Love and murder, Personals, Final notice, Weekend war, Not quite human, Rolling vengeance, Murder in space, The park is mine, Undergrads, Getting physical, Obsessive love, The ambush murders, Forbidden love, Mazes and monsters, Portrait of a showgirl, The devil and Max Devlin, Running, Miracle on ice, Money, Man against the Mob, Young love first love, Anatomy of a seduction, Harrard summer, I wonder who's killing now?, among others. Rating 5.5/10. Acceptable and passable Western.

Kirk Douglas plays an old outlaw named "Harry Hollande" who has seen better days and just wants to be left alone. When he drifts into a town named Bell City and wins some money at a poker game things turn south for him very quickly. He finds himself forced into a gunfight and kills the sheriff in self-defense. Being wounded himself and knowing he will not get a fair trial, he then decides to take an attractive woman named "Bess" (Alexandra Bastedo) hostage in her hotel room in order gain time to plan his escape. Fearing his fast draw the deputy rides a short distance to Mexico and retrieves a famous ex-sheriff named "Sam Starret" (James Coburn). Unknown to everybody else, Sam Starret is a complete alcoholic who can barely stand up on his own. At any rate, rather than spoil what is essentially a good comedy I will refrain from discussing what happens next. I would like to say however that James Coburn puts on a really great performance and in my opinion steals the show. Other decent performances were done by Kirk Douglas and Alexandra Bastedo. On the minus side though was the showing of the naked buttocks of Kirk Douglas which was totally unnecessary for this film along with some of the crude language used. While I certainly wasn't offended by any of it I just didn't think it was necessary or essential. Be that as it may, this was an enjoyable western-comedy and I think most people will probably get a few laughs at the very least.

I think perhaps both Kirk Douglas and James Coburn might have wished they had left their guns in their holsters if they ever got round to watching this really mediocre and tired drama that rather sells the genre short. The former is ageing outlaw "Holland" who has just been released from a long term in prison. He heads to a local town where he alights on a crooked poker game. He proceeds to fleece "Bell" (Derek McGrath) but in a contretemps afterwards, kills the sheriff and himself is shot before fleeing into a local hotel. It's the traditional Mexican stand off - and to Mexico, they got to find the solution. An equally aged and past his use-by-date "Starret" (Coburn) who is coaxed from his bottle to come and face down "Holland" on behalf of the petrified townsfolk. It tries it's hand at humour, and there is no getting away from the fact that both actors do exude lots of charisma, but the whole thing just looks cheap and cheerful. The dialogue is pedestrian, and the gunfights look more like circus performances than than anything we would have seen at the "OK Corral". Unlike John Wayne's last effort "The Shootist" (1976) which respected the genre and his part in it's development, this really just provides two screen legends with a poorly thought out, semi-comic, series of escapades that make for a really disappointing made-for-television swan song for both.

I can't believe someone paid Douglas and Coburn to do this...ugh. Awful and I'm a good judge. The "straw" in the wagon is green... need I say more?

I fist saw this movie sometime in the mid-eighties back in Saudi, channel 3, although, any nudity was edited out. It left a solid impression on me, particularly some of the quotes by Kirk D. and James C., and the way that rich punk Reggie talked pouring alcohol on the floor "go ahead lick it up, ain't nobody but us watch'in and we don't give a sh*t", to a drunk James C., who replies with a cool deep voice "you piss'in me off Reggie". Also James C.'s shoot out scene with some spanish bandit...spanish dude "senor we are six people with two horsees, and you are 2 peoples with 3 horsees , we would only like to borrow one of your horsees" ...Sherif replies "Go to hell." The Movie is well worth a view, I'd give it a *** out of ****.

In this cute western, Kirk Douglas plays an ex-con recently released from prison. He tries to start over in a small town, but once the townspeople recognize him, they try to run him out of town. Early on, he gets shot, and no one lifts a finger to help him. It's actually a pretty sad scene, but keep watching, because it gets much better! He holes himself up in an old hotel and takes the beautiful Alexandra Bastedo hostage-but she doesn't really mind. . .

I couldn't understand why one of the running gags in the movie was making cracks about Kirk Douglas's age; this was not a "old guys still got it" role. He shoots at bad guys, hops around in action scenes, struts around in his underwear, and has a sex scene! And he looked just fine to me. In fact, one of my favorite scenes in the movie is one of his dialogues with Alexandra Bastedo. They're in a bedroom, and after some seductive banter, he unbuttons his pants and walks slowly across the room to her. Finally, he breaks the silence by sticking his middle finger through a hole in his pants and asking, "Can you sew?" Too funny! What more could a girl want?

Draw! was an unexpected treat when I rented it; I found it much more enjoyable than the average western. It's funny, charming, suspenseful, and romantic. A great choice for your next movie night, for fans and non-fans of the western genre. For a fun double feature, rent Dirty Dingus Magee as well!

Funny, romantic, suspenseful. Wonderful light western with some great comic lines and sight gags. Normal I criticize westerns for being so unrealistic, but this movie doesn't make any pretense to be anything but fun. And it works.

This 1984 made-for-cable western was one of, if not the first, shown exclusively on HBO first before a Canadian theatrical release. It is a light, entertaining film buoyed by its two leading men. Kirk Douglas is Handsome Harry Holland, a retired gunfighter who pops into a small town long enough to win some money in a poker game from the local spoiled rich brat. Holland tries to collect his winnings and leave, but kills the town sheriff in self defense after getting a bullet in the leg, and holds a traveling Shakespearean actress Bess (Alexandra Bastedo) hostage in her hotel room. The town panics, and deputy Blodgett (Graham Jarvis) leaves to get legendary lawman Sam Starret (James Coburn). The years have not been kind to Starret, who is a raging alcoholic. As Holland and Bess fall in love, Blodgett literally drags an incoherent Starret back to town. Harry and Sam have a friendly history, when they were not trying to kill each other, and Harry almost agrees to Sam's plea to surrender. Enter the circuit court judge, a man who Harry maimed years ago. He makes no bones about his desire to hang Harry, and Sam and Harry are forced to face off in a final showdown.

While a small film, "Draw!" is very funny. Hearing Harry injuring himself while saving a runaway stagecoach in the opening minutes is good, as is Sam's constant efforts to get inebriated. Coburn and Douglas are great together, looking aged but not decrepit and still carrying an old time movie star magic that lights up the screen every time they appear. Douglas' scenes in the hotel room do get a little claustrophobic after a while. I wish he could have had more time away from the same four walls. Coburn is great, but he is not onscreen until over a third of the way through the film. While his part is the more comical of the two, once he is on, you wish he had brought his deadpan delivery into play earlier. The final twist ending, which you can see coming down the Chisholm Trail, is fun but predictable. Bastedo is good, if not a little vacuous, as the love interest who really just needs to stand around and look pretty. Jarvis, a well known character actor, is very funny as the exasperated deputy. His scene where he shouts down some bandits is hilarious. All things considered, this is just a plain, fun film. The director keeps things going, letting his two stars take the screen, and not trying to draw attention to himself with fancy camera work. I highly recommend "Draw!"