The Deadly Trackers (1973)

Director:

Barry Shear

Writers:

Samuel Fuller (story)
Lukas Heller (writer)

Release Date:

21 December 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Western | Drama

Tagline:

The sheriff fought for peace. Now he would kill for vengeance.

Plot:

Sheriff Sean Kilpatrick is a pacifist. Frank Brand is the leader of a band of killers. When their paths...

Plot Keywords:

Sheriff | School | Revenge | Hat | Dead Child

Cast

Richard Harris	...	Sheriff Sean Kilpatrick
Rod Taylor	...	Frank Brand
Al Lettieri	...	Gutierrez, Mexican Policeman
Neville Brand	...	Choo Choo
William Smith	...	Schoolboy
Paul Benjamin	...	Jacob
Pedro Armendáriz Jr.	...	Herrero
Isela Vega	...	Maria
Kelly Jean Peters	...	Katharine Kilpatrick
William Bryant	...	Deputy Bill
Sean Marshall	...	Kevin Kilpatrick
Read Morgan	...	Deputy Bob
Joan Swift	...	Teacher
Ray Moyer	...	Priest
Armando Acosta	...	Mole

Also Known As:

Riata (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

110 min | West Germany:105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 (cut) | Iceland:16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Mexico

Company:

Cine Films Inc.

Trivia:

Samuel Fuller was the original director, but after repeated clashes with star Richard Harris, he was fired and replaced by Barry Shear.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Jacob is fleecing Choo-Choo at cards, he plays with an Ace of Clubs, an Ace of Diamonds, and a Queen. When Choo-Choo picks a card, it is the Ace of Spades, and the Spade on the card is much larger than the other symbols.

Simplistic chase western, with heaps of blood-spilling but little else.

After The Wild Bunch had pushed back a few boundaries in terms of violence, especially within the western genre, there followed a spate of similar westerns. Billy Two Hats, Chato's Land, The Hunting Party, The Revengers and The Last Hard Men were among the front-runners. Also on any list of brutal '70s revenge-westerns would be The Deadly Trackers, originally planned as a Samuel Fuller movie but completed by Barry Shear after Fuller quit the project. This violent, bloodthirsty film is, alas, somewhat disappointing.

Irish sheriff Sean Kilpatrick (Richard Harris) looks after the Texas town of Santa Rosa and has made a point of solving crimes and capturing criminals without resorting to violence. In fact, he has never in his life fired a gun in anger, yet has somehow fostered total law, order and respect among the townsfolk. His methods are tested to the limit when outlaw Frank Brand (Rod Taylor in a surprisingly sadistic performance) and his gang rob the local bank. During their escape attempt, the outlaws inadvertently kill Kilpatrick's own wife and child. Devastated, Kilpatrick ditches his anti-gun, anti-violence attitude and pursues Brand and his cronies. The chase leads to Mexico, where Kilpatrick has no official authority and is viewed as little more than an outlaw himself. The Irish sheriff tracks down and kills Brand's gang one-by-one, until just he and Brand remain.

Just a year earlier, Barry Shear had made the film Across 110th Street, regarded as the most violent movie ever made up to that point, so it's perhaps no surprise that this film emphasises the gore and brutality to the extent it does. Harris is quite memorable as the Irish sheriff, giving another of his energetic performances, and Taylor's villainous turn reveals an ugly side rarely portrayed by the actor in his other films. However, in most aspects The Deadly Trackers fails to make the grade as a good, worthwhile film. It is far too simplistic for its own good, with no resonance beyond the immediate plot (and the plot itself is pretty basic, being nothing more than a straightforward chase narrative). The supporting performances are generally rather lacklustre, possibly because none of the characters beyond the two principal players carry much depth or interest. Also, the story is dismayingly familiar, with precious little that it fresh or original; just lots of tired and predictable scenes that have been begged, borrowed and stolen from many other sources (even the music is lifted directly from The Wild Bunch.... perhaps to keep the budget down?) On the whole, The Deadly Trackers is a dismal misfire in which the detail to violence and the intriguing lead performances are the sole points of interest.