Shalako (1968)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Edward Dmytryk

Writers:

Louis L'Amour (novel)
Clarke Reynolds (screen story)

Release Date:

6 November 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Plot:

A fairly standard Louis Lamour western. Shalako, the hunter and tracker has to save a party of European...

Plot Keywords:

Indian | Native American | French | Class Differences | Jewel

Cast

Sean Connery	...	Moses Zebulon 'Shalako' Carlin
Brigitte Bardot	...	Countess Irina Lazaar
Stephen Boyd	...	Bosky Fulton
Jack Hawkins	...	Sir Charles Daggett
Peter van Eyck	...	Baron Frederick Von Hallstatt (as Peter Van Eyck)
Honor Blackman	...	Lady Julia Daggett
Woody Strode	...	Chato (Apache chief)
Eric Sykes	...	Mako
Alexander Knox	...	Sen. Henry Clarke
Valerie French	...	Elena Clarke
Julián Mateos	...	Rojas (as Julian Mateos)
Don 'Red' Barry	...	Buffalo (as Donald Barry)
Rodd Redwing	...	Chato's father
Chief Tug Smith	...	Loco (as 'Chief' Tug Smith)
Hans De Vries	...	Hans (the butler)

Also Known As:

Man nennt mich Shalako (West Germany)

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

UK | West Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) | USA:PG | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Company:

Central Cinema Company Film (CCC)

Trivia:

Jack Hawkins is dubbed by Charles Gray.

Goofs:

Continuity: A flaming arrow hits one of the covered wagons along the side, but it goes up in flames at the front above the driver's seat.

Quotes:

Countess Irina Lazaar: Shalako - it's a strange name.
Moses Zebulon 'Shalako' Carlin: Yeah. It means "rain-bringer." Zuni Indian.

Shaky Western

Based on a Louis L'Amour story, SHALAKo is a standard Western about an ex-Army colonel (a miscast Sean Connery in a really silly cowboy hat) trying to keep a party of Europeans alive after they have invaded Indian territory. A Spanish-made film, the only American in the cast is Stephen Boyd as the party's villainous guide, and he's OK. Well, and Woody Strode is the chief bad Indian! Otherwise, you have a broad spectrum of accents and acting to deal with here. Heavily eyelined Frenchie Brigitte Bardot is a countess from who knows where and German actor Peter Van Eyck plays a stiff-backed baron. Brits Jack Hawkins and Honor Blackman are a couple of English nobility. And so on. Even the butler is foreign. This is one of those glossy European flicks, of which there were quite a few made back in the 1960s and 1970s, and most of which never quite clicked here. In the end, the story comes to nothing. And the endless shots of Spanish desert wear thin after awhile. You may safely skip this one.