Chuka (1967)

Director:

Gordon Douglas

Writers:

Richard Jessup (novel)
Richard Jessup (screenplay)

Release Date:

23 July 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

Of his kind Chuka's the best there is. At fighting. At loving. And when it had to be - at killing!

Plot:

While Indians besiege a U.S. Army fort in 1876, residents of the fort a gunfighter, a stagecoach driver, two Mexican women, and a motley company of soldiers try to come to terms with their pasts. |

Plot Keywords:

Fort | Revolver | Military | Quick Draw | Carbine

Cast

Rod Taylor	...	Chuka
Ernest Borgnine	...	Sgt. Otto Hahnsbach
John Mills	...	Colonel Stuart Valois
Luciana Paluzzi	...	Señora Veronica Kleitz
James Whitmore	...	Lou Trent
Victoria Vetri	...	Señorita Helena Chavez (as Angela Dorian)
Louis Hayward	...	Major Benson
Michael Cole	...	Spivey
Hugh Reilly	...	Captain Carrol
Barry O'Hara	...	Slim - Cook
Joseph Sirola	...	Jake Baldwin
Marco López	...	Hanu (as Marco Antonio)
Gerald York	...	Lieutenant Daly
Herlinda Del Carmen	...	Indian Girl
Lucky Carson	...	Stage Driver
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ford Rainey	...	Captain Robert R. Foster (uncredited)

Directed by
Gordon Douglas

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Richard Jessup		novel
Richard Jessup		screenplay

Produced by
Jack Jason	....	producer
Rod Taylor	....	producer

Original Music by
Leith Stevens

Cinematography by
Harold E. Stine		(director of photography) (as Harold Stine)

Film Editing by
Bob Wyman		(as Robert Wyman)

Art Direction by
Tambi Larsen		(as Tambi Larson)
Hal Pereira

Set Decoration by
Robert R. Benton		(as Robert Benton)
Jack Mills

Costume Design by
Edith Head

Makeup Department
Nellie Manley	....	hair styles supervisor
Wally Westmore	....	makeup supervisor

Production Management
John R. Coonan	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ray Kellogg	....	second unit director
Howard Roessel	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Garry A. Harris	....	sound recordist
John Wilkinson	....	sound recordist
Howard Beals	....	sound editor (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Paul K. Lerpae	....	special photographic effects

Stunts
Fred Hakim	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bob Herron	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bill Shannon	....	stunts (uncredited)
Roy N. Sickner	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
David Macdonald	....	grip
Irmin Roberts	....	photography: second unit

Music Department
Herbert W. Spencer	....	orchestrator (as Herbert Spencer)
Van Cleave	....	orchestrator (as Nathan Van Cleave)

Other crew
Leon Charles	....	dialogue coach
Fred Hakim	....	assistant to producers

Production Companies

• New Art Film Company
• Paramount Pictures
• Rodlor (as A Rodlor Production)

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1967) (USA) (theatrical)
• Paramount (1967) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1970) (USA) (TV)
• Paramount Pictures (1991) (USA) (VHS) (pan and scan)

Other Companies

• Pathé  color by

Also Known As:

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Pathécolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | Singapore:PG | West Germany:16 (nf) | Norway:16

Filming Locations:

Lake Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

New Art Film Company

Quotes:

Sgt. Otto Hansbach:Now you can pull that gun of yours and shoot me where I stand, or you can defend yourself as best you can, because I intend to beat you into the ground with my fists. Now, I'm waiting on ya!

One of Hollywood's final "traditional" westerns

When "Chuka" was released back in 1967, who knew it'd be one of the last of those westerns which used to come out of the studio system with annual regularity? As an example of the genre it's quite competent and it benefits from a better than average cast -- including Oscar winners John Mills and Ernest Borgnine -- but the market for this kind of movie was drying up in the late 1960s and has never really recovered. Look for a sweaty Michael Cole, (soon to achieve fame on TV's "Mod Squad), getting a flogging as the stagecoach rolls into the fort. This flogging ranks 15th in the book, "Lash! The Hundred Great Scenes of Men Being Whipped in the Movies." Also look for the scene near the end when a freshly-dug grave is mentioned. Opinions may differ as to just who is occupying this grave.