Shalako Review
<< Shalako
- 1968
- Director: Edward Dmytryk
- Cast: Sean Connery, Brigitte Bardot, Stephen Boyd, Peter von Eyk, Jack Hawkins, Honor Blackman, Woody Strode, Eric Sykes
Shot in the Almeria surroundings, this British western possibly tried to jump on the band wagon of the spaghetti westerns that were flooding the market. Despite the Spanish settings it doesn’t really feel like one, but it’s more violent and (especially) gory than most of them. There’s one scene including a necklace (you’ll recognize it when you see it) that is particularly gruesome.
The premise is very nice: a party of European aristocrats are on a hunting party in New Mexico in the 1880’s. They’re travelling full equipage, including silver cutlery, vintage wines, butlers, maids, side-whiskers and frizzled moustaches. There’s even a countess called Irina Lazaar, played by Brigitte Bardot herself. The company is threatened by hostile Apaches and duped by the treacherous guide, who’s after their jewelry (and Honor Blackman). Luckily there’s a U.S. army scout (007 himself) to settle things.
The action scenes are well-crafted and quite exciting, and although Connery is largely ineffective as the scout, the film is well-cast. Van Eyk and Hawkins are very convincing as, respectively, an arrogant and a more concerned member of the European nobility, and Eric Sykes is very funny as the butler. Casting good old Woody Strode as an Indian was quite a daring thing, put the part probably launched his career in European westerns, which would turn him into one of the most famous people in film history waiting for a train. The problem is a meandering script that slows the film down considerably, especially during the second half. There are too many conversations with Bardot, who didn’t speak zee English very well and learned her lines phonetically. Edward Dmytrick’s direction isn’t very effective either. He was sixty at the time and probably not really interested in the project, but we would’ve expected more from the man who brought us Warlock and Broken Lance. The film is also marred by a rather abrupt conclusion and particularly silly theme song.
Connery received over one million dollars out of the 5 million dollar budget and brought two Bond collaborators with him, director of photography Ted Moore and stunt coordinator Bob Simmons. Allegedly he and Bardot didn’t get along very well. Producer Loyd had cast real Native Americans as Apaches, but the ones who turned up were overweight, so he hired Spanish gypsies instead. Two other movies were being filmed on virtually the same locations around Almeria, the spaghetti western May God forgive you … I won’t! (B.B. causing much excitement among the Italian stallions) and the British war movie Play Dirty (one film crew had to remove tyre tracks, the other had to remove the horse droppings before filming).
--By Scherpschutter
