Blood Red (Released in 1989) - Starring Eric Roberts, Giancarlo Giannini, Burt Young, Lara Harris and Dennis Hopper

A 1989 period American Western drama is directed by Peter Masterson and shows the brother sister pair of Eric and Julia Roberts together on the silver screen for the first time. While the movie was shot in 1986, it was released in 1989. As a result, it was actually Julia Roberts’ first movie, even though it released after Mystic Pizza and Satisfaction. But it was also her first movie starring alongside her brother, already a well-known actor.
The movie is about a Sicilian family who migrates to America in the 1890’s and starts the winemaking business. The Sicilian family-the Collogeros and another winemaking family are shown to be living in California. They come into conflict with railroad baron, William Bradford Berrigan (Dennis Hopper), who is after their land to construct railroads through the wine plantation.
Sebastian Collogeros (Giancarlo Giannini) is the head of the Collogeros family. He has 2 children, siblings Marco (Eric Roberts) and Maria (Julia Roberts). Marco is shown to be no good, especially since he doesn’t care about the business or the dispute that has escalated between railroad owner William Bradford Berrigan and his family. He is in love with Angelica (Lara Harris), who is the daughter of a rival wine plantation owner.
However, things get heated and start to escalate into a full-fledged feud with guerilla warfare. Maria is witness to her father’s murder, who is tortured and killed in front of her by Berrigan’s thugs. Berrigan is desperate to get his hands on the land which cuts through the Collogeros’ wine plantation as also the land of some of the surrounding Sicilian families’ wine plantations.




After his father is murdered and matters reach a breaking point Marco decides to take the law into his own hands. He gathers his friends and plans a revolt against the railroad tycoon. He becomes an outlaw in the process, but manages to win over the other Sicilians from neighboring wine plantations, creating an army of sorts.
Blood Red is more a quasi-western movie with gun slingers and paybacks. While the movie may start off as a social drama which has a cause, it soon turns into a full-fledged western, complete with fistfights and gun plays. One of her first movies, Julia Roberts may have done a decent role, but there isn’t enough of a role given to her. She mostly stands around in the background looking pretty with hardly any dialogues. The script gives a stronger role to Eric Roberts, who is shown to be a one man army created to wreak havoc and get revenge for the murder of his father.
The movie did not do too well in the box office, but seems to have inspired many people to actually look up the history of railroads development in America. The only problem is its direction and focus. It starts off as a period drama broaching an important issue, but soon turns into a western solely running on revenge. As a result, the end is predictable and could have been better written. But, overall the movie is worth a watch.

The Wrath of God (released in 1972) - Starring Robert Mitchum, Frank Langella, Rita Hayworth and Victor Buono

“They offered them a choice - the firing squad . . . or The Wrath of God.”
The Wrath of God, sourced from a book by Jack Higgins (under the pen name James Graham) was released in 1972; having been filmed in Mexico and was directed by Ralph Nelson. The story is about three nefarious men with a reprehensible past. Emmet Keogh (played by Ken Hutchinson) is an Irishman with a violent, bitter past. He is desperately trying to get out of the violent state in Mexico. He manages to put together enough funds to buy a train ticket out of Mexico, where revolutionaries are lined-up in the streets and gunned down with laid back reliability. Emmet meets bootlegger, gunrunner Jennings (played by Victor Buono), a big man in a white suit. Jennings asks him to bootleg Scotch Whiskey (actually guns, though Emmet doesn’t know) across the border into the US. When Keogh refuses, the ‘businessman’ has his passport and ticket stolen, arm twisting Emmet into agreeing to the task.
Father Van Horne (Robert Mitchum) is a Roman Catholic priest (or so he’d have you believe). A trigger happy man of cloth, he carries a gun in his Bible and a switchblade in a Crucifix. A fellow outlaw comments (on noticing that Horne is holding the Bible upside down) : “If that IS a Bible," he says, "read it. If that ain't a Bible, drop it." Emmet learns that the good priest was originally with the Boston dioceses, sent to Central America to raise funds. Keogh is unaware that Van Horne has been defrocked. Van Horne rescues Emmet from brigands who are angry when the latter saves a mute Native American girl, Chela (played by Paula Pritchett) from being gang raped by them.




Consequently, the three men: Van Horne, Emmet Keogh and Jennings are arrested, charged with siding up with the counter revolutionaries and taken captive - to face death by a firing squad. The man responsible for their fate is Colonel Santilla (played by John Colicos), a revolutionary with a deep feeling of hatred for the Catholic Church. The Colonel strikes a deal with them - he will free them and offer safe passage to the US – on the condition that they have to assassinate a despot from nearby – Tomas De La Plata (Frank Langella). The strongman has a personal vendetta against the Colonel, whose men put to death his father, raped his mother, and plagued his sister to commit suicide. And so, the Unholy Trinity, the father (played by Father Van Horne), the son (played by Emmett) and the Holy Ghost (played by Jennings) are to assassinate the despotic maniac.
Van Horne dons his priestly garb once more and throws open the doors of the House of God in De La Plata's village; Emmett and Jennings pretend to be business men interested in the town's mining industry – thus, the Unholy Trinity lays a trap for La Plata. Violence, extreme sometimes, tends to mar the viewing (the merciless gunning of a little boy); also, there is far too much detailing which confuses the viewer .. Notable performances are delivered by Mitchum and Hayworth. This was the latter’s last completed movie. She was constantly plagued with forgetfulness, many members of the crew thought she was downing one drink too many; they later found out that she was suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease, which was the cause of her forgetting her lines.

Dead Man (Released in 1995) - Starring Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Billy Bob Thornton, Iggy Pop and Crispin Glover

“It is preferable not to travel with a dead man.” Henri Michaux. These foreboding words greet the viewer to the monochrome Dead Man, written and directed by Jim Jarmusch, the poster boy of independent cinema. The film is similar to other different western literature such as from Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy.
The clanging of the wheels on tracks and the intermittent, unmistakably Western background music set the cadence of the film, as a dapper William Blake (played by Johnny Depp), an accountant from Ohio tries hard to find inspiration in the ‘Bee Journal’, out of place in his fine suit and clean looks. That done, he pulls out a pack of cards and decides to have a go at a game, casting a cursory eye on the scenery outside -on his way to a little township  of ‘Machine’ in the West, where his services as a bookkeeper are needed.
On the train, he meets a fireman (played by Crispin Glover), who wants to know the reason why he’s traveling so far - he tells him his parents are dead, he has no wife and the woman he loved, his fiancée - changed her mind. The fireman tells him she found someone else, Blake looks horrified at the thought and denies the possibility; but the persistent stranger only says – “Yes, she did. Well, that doesn’t explain why you’ve come all the way out here. All the way out here to hell.”  William goes onto show him a letter of employment he’s received from Dickinson Metalworks, at the town of Machine.
On arriving in the Town, Blake is informed that he is a month late and that the letter was written two months ago - they already have a new accountant. When he demands to have a word with Mr. Dickinson - the men in the office laugh their heads off! On entering the supposed office - he is greeted by a macabre sight. On the table rests a human skull with a smoking cigarette placed in an ash tray. Behind the desk hang a portrait (Dickinson?) and an open vault, with bundles of cash strewn around. Lost in his thoughts as he surveys the room, a booming voice breaks into his reverie. Seated in the chair is Mr. John Dickinson (Robert Mitchum in his final role, before his death), who looks down the barrel of a sinister gun, and asks William to get out. Needless to say, he is the laughing stock of the blokes outside in the office.



Dejected and unemployed, Blake walks into a bar, hoping to buy a drink, which he swigs sitting on the stairs - just when Mili Avital (played by Thel Russell), a former harlot who now sells paper flowers; she is thrown out of the pub by a former patron, who said he liked her better when she was in her earlier profession. Blake helps her up, and offers her a drink, she in turn asks him to walk her home - she invites him inside, and he spends the night with her - almost getting shot for it by her ex Charlie (Gabriel Byrne), who ends up accidentally killing Thel, when she tries to shield Blake. In the retaliatory firing, Charlie is shot dead by William, but not before he realizes that a bullet is lodged in his chest, as well.
Fleeing on a stolen horse, he is pursued by three of John Dickinson’s (the old man is actually Charlie’s father) henchmen - who are ordered to bring him back dead or alive. Sometime during his flight, Blake must’ve lost consciousness, for when he comes to, a big American Indian called Nobody (Gary Farmer), in full regalia, is trying to tear open his chest to rid him off the bullet - he tells him he is officially “walking dead”, since the bullet is lodged very close to his heart. Mistaking the injured man for the spirit of the poet William Blake, Nobody swears to return him safely to the spirit world. Many adventures happen on their quest for this after life peace - finally, he is shot at again and as he dies, he sees Nobody is also killed before his eyes - he is taken for burial in a canoe, as he sets his last gaze on the sky, he dies.
Symbolic, since the train fireman we met at the beginning, started his monologue thus - “…remind you when you’re in the boat, and later that night you were lying, looking up at the ceiling … why is it that the landscape is moving but the boat is still?” Was William Blake just walking dead on the train? 

The Good Guys and the Bad Guys (released in 1969) - Starring Robert Mitchum, George Kennedy and Martin Balsam

Directed by Burt Kennedy in 1969, the film is quintessential honorable cowboy meets low life adversary. Jim Flagg (Robert Mitchum) is the sheriff in the little town of Progress. He has spent the most fruitful and honest years of his youth serving on the Force. Just as he’s about to hang his boots, he is warned by his hermit-like friend Grundy (Douglas V. Fowley) that his archenemy, an outlaw by the name of  Big John McKay (George Kennedy) - believed to be dead - is back in Progress, and that he’s planning a heist with his gang.
Jim feels duty bound to warn the Mayor - Randolph Wilker (Martin Balsam), who is disbelieving, and thinks that the sheriff is causing unnecessary panic, especially since he’s hoping to get re-elected and hopes to take over the governor’s seat (the film is  apparently set in New Mexico soon after it gained statehood); instead, he thinks that Jim ought to hand over his badge and move on - this Jim does willingly. Flagg is treated like an old relic, out of place in the changing, more modern time, given the hero’s farewell, his send-off is orchestrated by Wilker who is in a tearing hurry to see him go; Peabody, a bumbling sycophant replaces him, just as Jim thinks he ought to take matters into his own hands, and leaves Progress.
Riding out to meet McKay on his own, Jim is acquainted with the new reality that McKay is no longer boss; instead he is himself a member of a gang of much younger outlaws - who incidentally, capture Flagg. The new leader is a young outlaw names Waco (David Carradine), who makes no bones of the fact that he thinks McKay’s days as boss are over, and it is he whose command must be obeyed.



Waco orders McKay to shoot Jim Flagg, despite their legendary enmity and having been on the opposite side of the law, the two men decide to stick together and McKay refuses to do Waco’s bidding. Waco and his buddies are certain that the train heist (they plan to loot cash coming for the bank in Progress) - will go wrong because Flagg will throw a spanner in the works - so, they abandon the two men, who on their own, with grudging admiration for each other - decide to save the town of Progress. This doesn’t stop them for beating each other up and coming to fists - kind hearted  Grundy tears them apart and brings them to a boarding house run by Mary (Lois Nettleton), a friend of Jim. When they witness a young, wet-behind-the-ears outlaw shooting a man in his back, the two old timers are saddened that there is no ‘honor among  thieves’. How do they stop the robbery from happening ? What can a bunch of oldies do against such a robbery group ?
The film touches upon more profound themes like the replacement of aged experience with the cocksureness of youth, the importance of principles, irrespective of which side of the law you were on and that the expediency of the young whilst dealing with anachronisms like themselves, is nothing but a myopic lack of sight on the part of the town’s mayor and elite.

5 Card Stud (released in 1968) - Starring Dean Martin, Robert Mitchum and Inger Stevens

“Five card stud” is the earliest known game of card poker, so no guesses with regard to what the plot is: Cards and a few handsome men thrown in for good measure! Directed by Henry Hathaway, the story of the movie is sourced from a book by Ray Gaulden and is also a remake of a Charlton Heston debut film ‘Dark City’ (1950). In the current movie, Dean Martin plays the role that Heston assayed in the original film; Martin’s character is similar to the one he played in ‘Some Came Running’. The story of the film bears resemblance even to two works by Agatha Christie. Yet, the movie was captivating, although the story line was not unique, it was accepted and appreciated by movie going audiences of the time.
The film opens with seven men at a game of cards, in a typically western saloon, in 1880 in a town in Colorado. Van Morgan (played by Dean Martin) chooses to spend Saturday evening with the boys - his partners are Nick Evers (his girlfriend’s brother, played by Roddy McDowell), stableman Joe Hurley (played by Bill Fletcher), Mace Jones (played by Roy Jenson), storekeeper Fred Carson (played by Boyd Morgan) and Nick’s ranch hand Stoney Borough (played by George Robotham). They have a new partner, Frankie Rudd (played by Jerry Gaitlin); all’s well up until the time that Nick catches Rudd cheating, although the barkeeper – George, warns him - Frankie earns himself a cruel fate, meted out by  none other  than the men at the table - they drag him out to  stream and hang him near a bridge. "You don't hang a cheat," Morgan growls, "you kick him out of town." But the men ignore Morgan, who is knocked out cold. He is left on the boardwalk, where Mama Malone (played by Ruth Springford) finds him in the morning – she calls George who helps the weather-beaten Van to his room. Lacking courage to inform the town marshal, he leaves for Denver.




Sometime later, Morgan returns, and to his horror, learns that there have been two deaths – of the men who were at the game that night; it seems like they are revenge killings: strangulation by barbed wire, stuffed into a barrel of flour (ingenious!), each death more horrific than the other, till only he would remain alive, the others were all about to be strategically bumped off! Also, the town has acquires a gun slinging priest Jonathan Rudd (Robert Mitchum) - who, Van discovers later is none other than the murdered man Frankie’s brother. On the other hand, Nick is convinced that the killer was in some way related to the man he killed: so, it seems logical that he try and hunt him down. Who could it be - there’s a gold rush on, and with so many strangers in town, it’s hard to tell!
Although they were together that evening at the game, Nick has no love lost for Van Morgan, who happens to be dating his sister Nora (Katherine Justice). But it isn’t brotherly love or concern that he is seething with - in fact he hates Nora and his father. His angst is that if Nora were to marry, the rambling ranch and all its wealth would be inherited by his sister - leaving him out in the cold. He’d rather that Nora married someone he, Nick, chose. That way, the poor unsuspecting creature could easily be put out of the way and Nick would have no worries. A string fella like Morgan wouldn’t be that easily taken care of!
Nick chooses to play dirty, and discloses the names of the perpetrators to Jonathan, hoping he’d kill Van Morgan, making his life easier! He even beguiles Rudd by telling him a far fetched version of that night where it was Nick who tried to talk sense into the men and he who was knocked out trying to save Frankie. Is the real killer brought to justice? Is Frankie’s spirit finally at rest? Western-mystery-thriller-noir- an interesting package, worth the watch!

The Way West (released in 1967) - Starring Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum and Sally Field

A truly epic movie directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, sourced from the novel of the same name by A.B Guthrie Jr. With stirring performances from all the actors, The Way West is a heartrending and touching story of the early Pioneers.
1843. US Senator William Tadlock (played by Kirk Douglas) is following the Oregon Trail with his family from Missouri, and to help him get there safely - is Dick Summers (played by Robert Mitchum), a scout. His son and help are also accompanying Tadlock. Although Summers advises William not  to go ‘especially if you’ve never been there’- the Senator thinks otherwise, he tells Dick he knows that he is grieving for his dead Indian wife, he asks William to leave. Tadlock, also a widower, thinks that the scout’s grief has corrupted his guts.
Meanwhile, the others accompanying William on the trail are a peasant couple from Pennsylvania, Lije Evans and Rebecca (played by Richard Widmark, Lola Albright). Becky isn’t happy about the move, though. They have a sixteen year old son Brownie (Michael McGreevy), who is funny and brimming with the joie de vivre of youth - impressing young Mercy McBee with a red fox kitten. Others include a newlywed couple, the Fairmand and the McBee family.
That day, when Summers suggests they camp for the night, William notices another wagon trail, and insists they keep moving. The trail races into the creek, and everyone puts their back into making it first. A fist fight ensues when Tadlock tells the rival trail members that his trail will cross first - considering it might rain that night. Summers breaks up the fight and points out that Tadlock knew all along that the rivals weren’t travelers, but part of a cattle train - offended, William asks him not to gall him with his ‘truthful  opinions’ - he is paid after all, to only point the way. (Cattle may drown if the rain-filled river were to overflow).
Meanwhile they welcome a stowaway - Brother Weatherbee - slave to the Holy Ghost, who has only the spirit of Christ and the shirt on his back in lieu of supplies! The others are happy with the decision, for a preacher ‘will overcome the calamities of human nature - such as weddings, babies…’ ‘…funerals…’  Dick Summers volunteers to look after him, much to Tadlock’s chagrin and consternation.




The wagon trail’s first tragedy strikes, when Tadlock in his quest for speed, forces the oldest member of the group to cross the creek - he loses his life by drowning. Things get worse when William holds the old man responsible for his end, to which Lije vehemently puts up a denial, saying it was speed that killed him. The Senator even asks McBee to hurry with the burial and not bother with a Christian funeral - a waste of time. His apathy shocks the trail. But William proves his point that greed was responsible for the tragedy - the man had a heavy belt with money tied to his waist, which prevented him from coming to the surface. He asks if anyone cares to have a share of ‘dead man’s money’ - he flings the belt back into the creek.
The Prairie gives way to the inhospitable and hot desert terrain, but the love lorn lads sing ballads for Mercy McBee - whilst Johnnie and Amanda Mack (played by Michael Witney, Katherine Justice) unsuccessfully try consummating their marriage in a crowded train. This distresses Amanda, who does not want to get pregnant on the train - and frustrates her young husband. Whilst the members cast their cares to the wind and enjoy a morning of revelry, Tadlock shows Rebecca Evans the map of a city – yet to be built in Oregon. He tells her he might’ve been president, save for the fact that he fell in love with a woman, married her, but she died. William goes onto tell her that none in the present company would understand her vision - save for Becky. Disturbed by the depth of his emotions, Rebecca leaves his tent in a hurry.
Elsewhere, young Brownie has wandered far from the train, he stands on an outcrop - carving his name and Mercy’s - when unbeknownst to him - Sioux Indians hiding beneath the rock - take him captive. Dick Summers comes to his rescue - speaking to the men in their native tongue. The Sioux escort them back to the train. Summers offers them supplies - they ask for whiskey, instead!
That night, while the Sioux are in a state of drunken partying, Mercy and Mack find an opportunity to bond- he eventually seeks solace in Mercy’s willing arms - who tells him she does not regret what has happened. He asks her to return to her parents. Hearing a rustle in the bushes, he looks up to see a wolf - without preamble, Mack shoots it down. When he inspects to see what it is - he runs.
Meanwhile, Summers and Tadlock discover that the wolf was actually a little boy - the Chief’s son. They have no clue who is responsible. The next day, Dick and Lije distract the Sioux, leading them on a wild goose chase - so that the train can move ahead smoothly, through a herd of bison. Mercy, deeply in love with Mack, is saddened by his refusal to reciprocate the same for her.
The Sioux come again to the camp - this time, bearing the dead child on horseback - hungry for the blood of the murder. Tadlock tells him that he will fulfill their wishes, if they let the train go free. William tells the people present that if the perpetrator does not give himself up - Brownie Evans will be hanged, for it was he who brought this calamity today. However, he asks all the men who own shotguns - to step up and own up. Just then Johnnie Mack confesses - his wife lies on his behalf, saying he was with her all that night. But Mack sticks to his story - and is hung. A grief stricken Mercy flings herself off of her wagon, Brownie saves her, and he asks her to marry him - she refuses at first, because she doesn’t love him, however agrees since she is pregnant.
Tadlock and Summers labor on, and one day, he loses his son in a mad stampede. He buries him in the wilderness, as wagons drive over the burial mound, so that wolves and Indians find no trace of the grave. So sad and distraught is the man, that he asks his slave to whip him. The wagon train finally reaches the periphery of Fort Hall, Oregon, where other pioneers welcome them, they stop for the night - and Brownie and Mercy get married. One last hurdle is the soldiers who try and stall them at the Fort, bribing them with money and animals - William tells them to let them go, since a woman has been infected with small pox. The colonel orders them out.
Winter falls upon them, and the travelers face many hardships. Lije Evans turns on Tadlock, wanting charge of the train. When William tries shooting Evans, the mob falls upon him - as Becky shouts out to them that he ought to be hanged like Mack. Tadlock jeers at them, saying they lack the courage to do so - meanwhile, Becky shares Tadlock’s vision, when the train hits a ravine, as Evans contemplates turning back. Summers tells them that if they cross the gorge - they’ll be closer to Oregon. And so, they devise a pulley to lower people down the gorge, with success; however, as Tadlock rappels down - Becky cuts away the rope - he falls to his death: Captain William Tadlock, who led the Oregon Liberty Company.