The Comancheros
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| The Comancheros | |
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| Directed by | Michael Curtiz John Wayne (uncredited) |
| Produced by | George Sherman |
| Written by | Paul I. Wellman (novel) James Edward Grant Clair Huffaker (screenplay) |
| Starring | John Wayne Stuart Whitman Lee Marvin Jack Elam Edgar Buchanan |
| Music by | Elmer Bernstein |
| Cinematography | William H. Clothier |
| Editing by | Louis Loeffler |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | October 30, 1961 |
| Running time | 105 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Comancheros is a 1961 western film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring John Wayne and Stuart Whitman. When health troubles prevented Curtiz from finishing the film, Wayne directed the remainder of the movie, though his role remained uncredited. Curtiz died shortly after the film was completed. Featured are western film veterans Bob Steele, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, and Harry Carey, Jr. in uncredited supporting roles.
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[edit] Plot
Roguish gambler Paul Regret (Stuart Whitman) escapes a death penalty after winning a duel with the son of a Louisiana judge (and he claimed that he would have only wounded him if he hadn't sidestepped). He is captured by Texas Ranger Jake Cutter (John Wayne) after a tryst with a mysterious lady, Pilar Graile Ina Balin. But Regret manages to escape, but is soon recaptured after a chance encounter with Cutter in a saloon.
In the process of returning Regret to Louisiana, Cutter is forced to join forces with the condemned to fight the "Comancheros;" white men who smuggle guns and whiskey to the Comanche indians and incite violence. Regret shows his worth by escaping an attack and returning with the other Texas Rangers.
Eventually they infiltrate the self-sufficient Comanchero community at the bottom of a valley in the desert. Pilar reappears as the daughter of the crippled but ruthless leader Nehemiah Persoff. After Cutter and the other Texas Rangers defeat both the Comanches and Comancheros, Regret and Pilar leave together for Mexico.
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| John Wayne | Capt. Jake Cutter |
| Stuart Whitman | Paul Regret |
| Ina Balin | Pilar Graile |
| Nehemiah Persoff | Graile |
| Lee Marvin | Tully Crow |
| Michael Ansara | Amelung |
| Bruce Cabot | Maj. Henry |
| Joan O'Brien | Melinda Marshall |
| Jack Elam | Horseface |
| Edgar Buchanan | Judge Thaddeus Jackson Breen |
| Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams | Ed McBain (gunrunner) |
[edit] Trivia
- Although set in 1843 Texas, the characters all use Winchester lever action rifles, which were not available until 1866 and 1873 Colt Peacemaker pistols. The Guinn Williams character is said to have served a sentence in the Yuma Territorial Prison and had stolen rifles from the army base at Fort Sill, neither of which became operational until after the Civil War (1876 and 1869 respectively).
- Stuart Whitman later played Marshal Jim Crown in the single-season but lavish western television series Cimarron Strip (1967), a ninety-minute weekly show from the producers of Gunsmoke, as well as the romantic lead in the aerial adventure comedy Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965).
- Lee Marvin later won an Oscar for Cat Ballou (1965) and played the lead in The Dirty Dozen (1967).
