Bite the Bullet (1975)

Director:

Richard Brooks

Writer:

Richard Brooks (written by)

Release Date:

26 September 1975 (Finland)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Western

Tagline:

In the tradition of Shane and High Noon, a new Western Classic is born! BITE THE BULLET

Plot:

A group of ex-rough riders, an ex-prostitute and a gunfighter enter a horse race in the desert.

Plot Keywords:

Horse Race | Mexican | Endurance | Ex Prostitute | Desert

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win

Cast

Gene Hackman	...	Sam Clayton
Candice Bergen	...	Miss Jones
James Coburn	...	Luke Matthews
Ben Johnson	...	Mister
Ian Bannen	...	Sir Harry Norfolk
Jan-Michael Vincent	...	Carbo
Robert Donner	...	Reporter
Jean Willes	...	Rosie
Mario Arteaga	...	Mexican
Dabney Coleman	...	Jack Parker
John McLiam	...	Gebhardt
Robert F. Hoy	...	Lee Christie (as Robert Hoy)
Jerry Gatlin	...	The Wood Cutter
Sally Kirkland	...	Honey
Walter Scott	...	Steve (as Walter Scott Jr.)
William H. Burton	...	Billy (as Bill Burton)
Buddy Van Horn	...	Slim
Joe Brooks
Lucia Canales
Darwin Lamb
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Paul Stewart	...	J.B. Parker (uncredited)

Directed by
Richard Brooks

Writing credits
Richard Brooks		(written by)

Produced by
Richard Brooks	....	producer

Original Music by
Alex North

Cinematography by
Harry Stradling Jr.		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
George Grenville

Art Direction by
Robert F. Boyle		(as Robert Boyle)

Set Decoration by
Bob Signorelli		(as Robert Signorelli)

Makeup Department
Fred C. Blau Jr.	....	makeup artist (as Fred Blau)

Production Management
Gene Levy	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Charles Bonniwell	....	second assistant director
Tom Shaw	....	assistant director

Art Department
John Alvin	....	poster artist
Ray Mercer Jr.	....	property master (as Ray Mercer)
Tom Jung	....	poster artist (uncredited)
Tom Jung	....	poster designer (uncredited)

Sound Department
Les Fresholtz	....	sound re-recordist
Al Overton Jr.	....	sound
Arthur Piantadosi	....	sound re-recordist
Kay Rose	....	sound editor
Richard Tyler	....	sound re-recordist

Special Effects by
Chuck Gaspar	....	special effects

Stunts
Mario Arteaga	....	stunts (uncredited)
William H. Burton	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jerry Gatlin	....	stunts (uncredited)
Robert F. Hoy	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jimmy Nickerson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Walter Scott	....	stunts (uncredited)
Buddy Van Horn	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Clifford Hutchison	....	chief electrician (as Cliff Hutchinson)
Tom May	....	key grip
Richard Tim Vanik	....	camera operator (as Tim Vanik)

Casting Department
Jeanne Swain	....	casting: New Mexico

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Rita Riggs	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Don Roth	....	assistant editor
Nancy Sammons	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Joan Biel	....	music editor
Hershy Kay	....	orchestrator

Other crew
John Franco	....	script supervisor
Al Horwits	....	public relations
Lee Sollenberger	....	animal trainer
Rudy Ugland	....	horses supplier (as Rudy Ugland Jr.)
John Marshall	....	subtitle script and timing (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation
• Persky-Bright Productions
• Vista

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1975) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner-Columbia Film (1975) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1977) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2002) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (1995) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• GoodTimes Home Video (1989) (USA) (VHS)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2003) (Brazil) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Emerald Service Company  production services
• Los Angeles Times  research material
• The Denver Post  research material
• Westheimer Company  optical effects (as Westheimer Co.)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

132 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG (censored version) | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Iceland:12 | Australia:PG | Australia:M (TV rating) | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Carson National Forest, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

In Jan. 1976, Columbia distributed this film theatrically on a double bill with White Line Fever (1975) starring Jan-Michael Vincent.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the horse is being buried in the desert its side is moving with breathing.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Gebhardt:I heard your newspaper is running an honest race.
Reporter:You heard right, Mr. Gebhardt.
Gebhardt:Who the hell handicapped this owlhead as the favorite?
J.B. Parker:The smart money!
Gebhardt:That's what we come to get.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hot Lunch (1978)

One of the Great '70s Westerns - Re: SlowMo and Animal Cruelty

"Bite the Bullet" has a lot to chew on, and boasts a fine cast held firmly under control. Hackman gives his usual unobtrusive acting lesson, Coburn twinkles but not too much, and Bergen gives the first decent acting performance of her career (after Hackman chewed her out for her lack of professional skills and she requested his help).

Questions of greed, competition, teamwork, loyalty, betrayal and humanity are all given a good and non-medicinal airing. There's enough action here for the inert, and enough philosophy for the grownups.

There's been discussion in these reviews of the director's use of slow-motion. Slow motion is not used here to make intellectual points, it is an instrument of emotional expression. When one character in real time passes another in slow motion, it conveys to us how they both feel at that moment, and doesn't need to carry any other freight. As an expressive device, it works.

The question of animal abuse has also come up in these pages. In "Bite the Bullet" the horses are always photographed as heroes, often visually overwhelming their riders. Gene Hackman is shown from the beginning as a fighter of cruelty against animals, and every abuse he witnesses he then tries to remedy. The education of the Jan Michael Vincent character is a case in point.

Furthermore, this picture makes you care about the animals, unlike the traditional offhand Hollywood cruelty. Dozens of horses were killed to make the last reel of the Errol Flynn "Charge of the Light Brigade" and the film itself couldn't care less. You can see trip wires being used wholesale as late as in "Khartoum", and when those horses went down, they broke legs and were immediately shot, not pretend, for real.

Hollywood's excuse has always been that horses are expensive and they don't kill them thoughtlessly. Stunts are performed by circus horses, which presumably don't come to harm. We're told the only horses that get killed are old and already destined for the glue factory. Whether this justifies trip wires or not is up to you, but that's what they say.

"Bite the Bullet" comes off as sensitive and responsible by comparison. This is no snuff film. The Oscar-winning sound design makes you really care when the horses are supposed to be in distress.

A lot worse things happen to the human characters in just about every action-adventure film of the last twenty years. Is the "yuck" factor we're now trying to get used to more or less disgusting?

All in all, "Bite the Bullet" is a worthwhile film with content, humor and beauty. There's thousands of worse ways to spend your time than watching this movie.