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Touches You

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Instant Favorite.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

It's 1867 Val Verde, Texas. Dee Bishop (Dean Martin) and his gang try to rob a bank. They are captured but Maria Stoner (Raquel Welch)'s husband is killed in the process. Mace Bishop (James Stewart) arrives in town posing as hangman Grimes looking to free his brother. The gang escapes pursued by Sheriff July Johnson (George Kennedy) and the entire town. Mace decides to take the opportunity to rob the bank himself. The gang takes Maria hostage and reconnects with Mace. They ride south of the Rio Grande into bandit country followed by Johnson and his men.It's a traditional old fashion western where Raquel Welch's perfect hair and make-up is never messed up. There are great actors but they are doing nothing special. It takes no risks and doesn't feel gritty. The bandits are non-descript. There is no tension.

This is an underrated Western that gets no critical respect. This is because the director Andrew McLaglen came from a TV background and took orders from Duke in a series of late Wayne Westerns. However, he also did some above average work, including both Shenandoah and Bandolero. This scored a 6 out of 10 in my IMDb rating, which is very good and tallied 15 points in my ranking system, a very good score.Here's what I thought was good about this movie: The co-leads, Dean Martin and James Stewart are great in this. James Stewart is just a wonderful comedic actor. It's a shame Anthony Mann didn't have a sense of humor. He underused Stewart in his 1950's Westerns. In addition to Stewart's wonderful part at the beginning as a fake hangman, there are a number of back and forths between he and Martin later in the movie that are as good as the dialog between Stewart and Widmark in "Two Rode Together".George Kennedy is another very underrated actor and like Dean Martin, he's an underrated comedic actor. Kennedy really fills up the screen like few actors can.I admit I've had a life long crush on Raquel Welch. She looks great in this and her character has quite a bit of depth. I bought the romantic subplot between her and Martin. Hostage/captor thing, you know.McLaglen does a nice job of keeping the story moving. They don't get stuck in Val Verde.There are extended location shoots in Glen Canyon in Utah that are absolutely stunning.Excellent use of Civil War and Mexican themes.Good music scoreAs mentioned, good use of comic relief throughout.There were a number of things that kept this movie from being better: There was basically no heavy. The Mexican bandidos were almost completely undeveloped. This severely undercut the dramatic tension in the story, especially since there was so much humor. At some point, humor can cease to be counterpoint to relieve dramatic tension and a movie becomes a comedy. This almost happens to Bandalero and is one reason why it's not taken seriously by critics.The night camp studio sets were very artificial looking.The ending felt abrupt and contrived.The body count in the final shoot 'em up scene was unnecessarily high. The bandidos are pretty ridiculously stereotyped. Maybe that's why they didn't shoot in Mexico. They wouldn't let them.More on the final shootout, McLaglen commits the cardinal sin of having the stupid brown skinned bandidos ride around endlessly out in the open, making themselves perfect targets, while the white people pick them off from well protected hiding spots. Of course, 20 bandidos ride in, 40 are killed, and 20 ride out. They run like rabbits when their "jefe" is killed. All implausible and ridiculousFinally, exactly what happened to the real hangman? Stewart must have killed him. Inconsistent with his character.

When I first watched the movie I thought it was an okay pot boiler. Raquel Welch is as hot as a woman could be dressed in 1860s clothes. Then I watched it again after reading someone's comments about how some of the characters are the same as Lonesome Dove. If you enjoyed Lonesome Dove, watch this it will become much more interesting. The credits show it was scripted by James Lee Barrett based on a story by Stanley Hough. No mention of McMurtry but there has to be some connection.In both you have sheriff July Johnson with deputy Roscoe chasing a woman who is running with an outlaw named Dee. It's Dee Bishop instead of Dee Boot. Watch it and you will probably find more similarities.If nothing else Raquel Welch is smoking hot and the rest of the cast is really solid. Take a look sometime.

I don't think this is a typical western at all. For the first half-hour it keeps viewers in the dark about situations and at points its twists seem more like those of a film noir. It also has an odd shift in tone. The first 1/3 is pretty light and it gets progressively grimmer and darker as the characters head south into Mexico. I think the key to its excellence is that there is a moral drama going on here between James Stewart and Dean Martin and they are both excellent and very moving. The fact that they are two of my favorite actors obviously has something to do with my opinion. In particular, Dean is much better then his reputation would suggest. The film has a very exciting climax, good supporting cast, some good dialog and is nicely shot, in Panavision, by western specialist William Clothier and has a Morricone-inspired score by the great Jerry Goldsmith.