Monte Walsh (1970)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

William A. Fraker

Writers:

David Zelag Goodman (writer)
Lukas Heller (writer)

Release Date:

7 October 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Plot:

An aging cowboy realizes that the West he knew and loved will soon be no more--and that there will be no room for him, either.

Plot Keywords:

Cowboy | Aging | End Of An Era | Based On Novel | Independent Film

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Lee Marvin	...	Monte Walsh
Jeanne Moreau	...	Martine Bernard
Jack Palance	...	Chet Rollins
Mitch Ryan	...	Shorty Austin (as Mitchell Ryan)
Jim Davis	...	Cal Brennan
G.D. Spradlin	...	Hal Henderson
John Hudkins	...	Sonny Jacobs (as John 'Bear' Hudkins)
Raymond Guth	...	Sunfish Perkins (as Ray Guth)
John McKee	...	Petey Williams
Michael Conrad	...	Dally Johnson
Tom Heaton	...	Sugar Wyman
Ted Gehring	...	Skimpy Eagans
Bo Hopkins	...	Jumpin' Joe Joslin
John McLiam	...	Fightin' Joe Hooker
Allyn Ann McLerie	...	Mary Eagle

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:16 (f) | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-16 | USA:GP (original rating) | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

CBS Studio Center - 4024 Radford Avenue, Studio City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Cinema Center Films

Trivia:

Eric Christmas' first movie.

Quotes:

Monte Walsh: Cowboys don't get married, unless they stop being cowboys.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Go West, Young Man! (2003)

Soundtrack:

The Good Times Are Comin'

Elegy to the west.

Here's a case of Palance putting in a great supporting role like he has done so often, a truly selfless actor with a great humility.

Seldom does an actor allow himself to look as pathetic as Palance does in his performances. This is a great film, primarily due to the metaphor near the end where Marvin tries to tame a horse, frustratingly attempting to control the nature of all things around him. The austere writing and stilted acting lend to the overall tone, creating an elegiac western greatly under-appreciated in its time. One of those small, offbeat movies awash in a decade of so many sparkling little films, each challenging the strictures of Hollywood. I loved it.