The Bravados (1958)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Henry King

Writers:

Philip Yordan (screenplay)
Frank O'Rourke (novel)

Release Date:

1 August 1958 (West Germany)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

A Powerful Western Tale of Revenge and Redemption

Plot:

Jim Douglas has been relentlessly pursuing the four outlaws who murdered his wife, but finds them in jail about to be hanged...

Plot Keywords:

Shot In The Back | Revenge | Father Daughter Relationship | Chase | Rape

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Gregory Peck	...	Jim Douglass
Joan Collins	...	Josefa Velarde
Stephen Boyd	...	Bill Zachary
Albert Salmi	...	Ed Taylor
Henry Silva	...	Lujan
Kathleen Gallant	...	Emma Steimmetz
Barry Coe	...	Tom
George Voskovec	...	Gus Steimmetz
Herbert Rudley	...	Sheriff Sanchez
Lee Van Cleef	...	Alfonso Parral
Andrew Duggan	...	Padre
Ken Scott	...	Primo, Deputy Sheriff
Gene Evans	...	John Butler
Ninos Cantores de Morelia Choral Group	...	Themselves (as The Niños Cantores De Morelia Choral Group)

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Norway:16 | USA:Approved (certificate #19005) | West Germany:16 (f) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1989)

Filming Locations:

Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Gregory Peck stated that the movie was written as an attack on McCarthyism, which he strongly opposed.

Quotes:

Jim Douglass: You're wasting a lot of good lumber. A tree does just as well.
Sheriff Sanchez: They were sentenced to be hanged - not lynched!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in C'era una volta il West (1968)

it's greatest asset is also it's greatest flaw.

After "Duel in the Sun" and "The Gunfighter" this can be considered Gregory Peck's best western. He was one of the few actors that excelled in this genre. This is a film about revenge, Peck going after the men he thought raped and killed his wife. The film has a somber mood in direct contrast with the beautiful colors, Cinemascope, the pretty Joan Collins, everything looking great. I remember when I saw this film as a teenager and how much I liked it and how we were all impressed with the precise pace the story is told and how violent it was. But what did not reach me and still does not reach me today is Gregory Peck's wrongdoings. To me he was the hero until the film ends. Not at all like James Stewart in "The Naked Spur" or Arthur Kennedy in "Rancho Notorious". The cinematography does not blend with ugly feelings? Or Gregory Peck looks so much like a hero in this film that it overshadows his terrible mistakes? Henry King also made Jesse James in beautiful color and more as a legend than an human being. That was his style. That was what the public wanted. If he had made out of Peck an ugly human being I don't think I would have liked the film.