| Mackenna's Gold | |
|---|---|
film poster by Howard Terpning |
|
| Directed by | J. Lee Thompson |
| Produced by | Carl Foreman Dimitri Tiomkin |
| Written by | Novel: Heck Allen Screenplay: Carl Foreman |
| Narrated by | Victor Jory |
| Starring | Gregory Peck Omar Sharif Camilla Sparv Julie Newmar Ted Cassidy Telly Savalas |
| Music by | Quincy Jones |
| Cinematography | Joseph MacDonald |
| Editing by | Bill Lenny |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 10 May 1969 |
| Running time | 128 mins. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $7,000,000 |
Mackenna's Gold is a 1969 western film directed by J. Lee Thompson, starring Gregory Peck, Omar Sharif, Telly Savalas, Camilla Sparv, and Julie Newmar. It was photographed in Super Panavision 70 by Joseph MacDonald, with original music by Quincy Jones.
The film is based on the novel of the same name by Heck Allen using the penname Will Henry, telling the story of how the lure of gold corrupts a diverse group of people. The novel was loosely based around the legend of the Lost Adams Diggings, crediting the Frank Dobie account of the legend (Apache Gold and Yaqui Silver) in the Author's Note.
Contents |
An old legend tells of a fortune in gold hidden in the "Canyon del Oro," guarded by the Apache spirits. Along with several others, a man named Adams found it when he was a young man, only to have the Indians capture and blind him and kill all his companions. Years later, Marshal MacKenna (Peck) wounds an old Indian shaman who tried to bushwhack him; the shaman subsequently dies, despite MacKenna's attending to him. MacKenna thereby comes into possession of a map that supposedly shows the way to the treasure. Though skeptical, he memorizes the directions before burning the map.
Meanwhile, notorious Mexican outlaw Colorado (Sharif) and his gang had been tracking the old man for two weeks to get the map, all the while being chased by the U.S. Cavalry. He takes shelter in the house of the old judge of the town of Hadleyburg, stealing horses, mules and food for his journey. He kills the judge and kidnaps his daughter, Inga Bergmann (Sparv), whom Colorado mistakes for the judge's wife, as a hostage in case the cavalry catches up with him.
He finds MacKenna digging a grave for the Indian chief. When he learns that MacKenna has destroyed the map, he takes him captive and forces him to lead them to the gold. Colorado knew that in addition to being a marshal, MacKenna was a good card player with a good memory.
Colorado and one of his companions have a past history with MacKenna. Colorado was driven out of the state by MacKenna, while a fiery Indian woman, Hesh-ke (Newmar), had been his one-time love. MacKenna later had to arrest her brother, who was hanged, and it is presumed that she still holds a grudge. Colorado's main henchman is a hulking Indian warrior, Hachita (Cassidy), as well as a few other Apaches and outlaws.
On their trek, they are joined by a posse of townsmen who become "infected" by "gold fever", among them a newspaper editor, a storekeeper, a preacher, and old Adams himself. They are trailed by the cavalry, under the leadership of Sergeant Tibbs (Savalas). All, except for MacKenna, Colorado, Inga, Hesh-ke, and Hachita, plus perhaps a few others whose fates are unknown, are killed in an ambush by the cavalry or by other Apaches who are trying to protect the gold from outsiders. Tibbs periodically sends messengers back to his commanding officer, supposedly to keep him informed. Eventually, the patrol is whittled down to just Tibbs and two men. Inga is sent to the three to divert their attention. Rather than escort Inga to safety, Tibbs kills his soldiers. He returns her to MacKenna and the outlaws, wanting a share of the gold.
Finally reaching a place on the map, a tall tower called "Shaking Rock," they wait for the sun to rise on the specified day. The shadow of the pinnacle eventually points to the hidden entrance to the canyon. MacKenna, who had been skeptical, now begins to believe in the legend.
In the canyon, they find the sides interlaced with rich veins of pure gold. While all race to the canyon floor, the jealous Hesh-ke tries to kill Inga but loses the horse-back struggle and falls to her death. While the rest are celebrating their great fortune, MacKenna escapes with Inga to an Indian dwelling high up the canyon wall, realizing that Colorado does not intend to leave any of the party alive.
Hachita uses a hatchet to kill Tibbs. When his back is turn, Colorado aims a gun at Hachita and pulls the trigger. However, the guns are empty because the Apache spirits came to Hachita in a dream the previous night, instructing him to guard the gold for the Apaches only. Hachita has summoned a band of Apaches, but with a hidden knife, Colorado manages to kill him first. Colorado then pursues MacKenna and Inga up the sheer cliff to the dwellings, where a three-way fight leaves none the worse for wear.
Apaches attack. All of the shooting and shouting has shaken loose a balanced rock. It falls with a tremendous boom. After a moment's pause, large cracks appear in the walls and the crust heaves up as the sound waves trigger a massive collapse. Apaches and the survivors flee just before the walls of the canyon fall, burying the gold beneath massive tons of rubble. This is followed by the crash of "Shaking Rock."
In the rising dust, the image of old Prairie Dog, the Indian shaman, appears over the scene, relishing the action of the Apache spirits who were guarding the treasure.
Colorado warns MacKenna to not chase him. He leaves in disgust, believing the gold has been buried beyond reach. Before MacKenna and Inga ride off together, a saddlebag on the horse MacKenna took in the mad scramble is shown to be full of the large gold nuggets Tibbs had been loading into it.
Although Allen's novel title and hero shared the same spelling of the name "Mackenna," and the film's title according to the studio is "Mackenna's Gold," Peck's character is listed in publicity materials as "MacKenna."
Screenwriter Carl Foreman and composer Dimitri Tiomkin joined up to coproduce the film. The screenplay by Foreman was based on the novel of the same name by Heck Alen. The novel released on 1963 was based on the legend of Lost Adams Diggings. According to the legend, teamster named Adams and some prospectors in Arizona were approached by a Mexican Indian named Gotch Ear, who offered to show them a canyon filled with gold. However in the novel as well as the film, the gang abducts a Marshall named Mackenna to find a way to the Canyon. The film also adapts elements from other novels based on the same legend, like Apache Gold and Yaqui Silver (1939) by Frank Dobie.
Thompson's first choice for the role of MacKenna was Clint Eastwood. However he was offered the lead role in Hang 'Em High (1968) and subsequently Gregory Peck replaced him. Omar Sharif was in the originally decided cast following the critical and commercial success of Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Doctor Zhivago (1965). Julie Newmar played Hesh-Ke, a former love interest of Mackenna. During the swimming scene at the pool, her character was supposed to be topless with a loincloth. In an interview, she stated that at the last minute she decided to do the scene nude and no one, especially the male actors and crew, argued with her about the decision. The film also features a stable of Hollywood veterans like Eli Wallach, Raymond Massey, Edward G. Robinson and others appearing in lively supporting roles.
Originally planned to be shown in single lens Cinerama with reserved seat roadshow engagements, Columbia pulled the plug on that idea, and the film was drastically cut down from nearly three hours (plus an intermission) to just over two hours.
Although most of the film was photographed on 65mm stock, a handful of scenes were filmed in 35mm anamorphic.
Zuni Mountains were the locations of digging according to the legend, but the film was shot mainly at Glen Canyon of Utah and Canyon de Chelly of Arizona, specifically Spider Rock. In the climax scenes, as the sun rises, the shadow of "Shaking Rock" grows longer. In reality, shadows become shorter as the sun rises higher.
The "Old Turkey Buzzard" theme song sequence was shot at Monument Valley, on the Arizona-Utah border. Interestingly, the bird shown flying during this sequence is not a Turkey Vulture or Turkey Buzzard but an American Black Vulture. The two species of birds have overlapping ranges but are not in the same genus.
The pool and waterfall where part of the action takes place was man-made and the water had to be hauled in by tanker truck.
The use of stock footage is evident in the raft scene where the brief glimpse of the waterfall is provided by footage of High Force a waterfall on the upper reaches of the River Tees in the North East of England.
The original score and songs of the film were composed by Quincy Jones. The opening song, "Old Turkey Buzzard", is a recurring background theme. It was sung by José Feliciano and was composed by Quincy Jones with lyrics by Freddie Douglas.
The theme song was used on the Late Show with David Letterman in 2007 as a random running gag. A 13-second clip would be played after Letterman threw his blue index cards through the "glass" window behind his desk, and was often combined with a video clip of the turkey buzzard soaring in the sky during the movie's opening sequence. Letterman would gradually show increased mock irritation with the clip in discussions with bandleader Paul Shaffer, while at the same time calling it "exciting, moving, inspirational" and "stirring, haunting, beautiful". The running gag ultimately resulted in Feliciano making a guest appearance on the Late Show on October 16, 2007, singing a longer version of the song (with the buzzard video clip superimposed over him).
| Track listing | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "Overture" | 4:36 | |||||||
| 2. | "Old Turkey Buzzard" | 2:46 | |||||||
| 3. | "Canon Del Oro" | 5:13 | |||||||
| 4. | "Waterhole Trek" | 2:37 | |||||||
| 5. | "Reve Parisien" | 2:40 | |||||||
| 6. | "Old Turkey Buzzard (Instrumental version)" | 2:30 | |||||||
| 7. | "Soul Full Of Gold" | 2:40 | |||||||
| 8. | "Main Title" | 3:00 | |||||||
| 9. | "Apache Camp" | 4:36 | |||||||
| 10. | "Massacre Montage" | 2:42 | |||||||
| 11. | "Old Turkey Buzzard (Spanish version)" | 1:30 | |||||||
| 12. | "Finale" | 2:47 | |||||||
|
Total length:
|
37:37 | ||||||||