Watching "Santee" on the Encore Western Channel wound up leaving a lot more questions than answers for me on a number of different levels. The most troublesome aspect of the story was young Jody Deakes' (Michael Burns) willing team up with Santee (Glenn Ford) following the confrontation and killing of his father. That seemed like just a little too much of a stretch from both sides of the coin. Putting myself in Jody's shoes, and even if my old man was an outlaw, I think at the very least I'd be looking to ride off and be glad I didn't catch a bullet myself. From Santee's perspective, there was always the distinct possibility that Jody could turn on him at a moment's notice, particularly after Jody made it an obvious threat.
So there's that. But even before the showdown that took out the elder Deakes (Robert J. Wilke), I was left wondering how much of a bad a-- Santee could possibly be that Deakes preferred to take it on the lam rather than have his gang mount a stand against him. There was ample time and distance to set up an ambush, even if Santee could have taken out a couple of them which would have seemed likely. I don't know, the whole story didn't seem to be set on a firm foundation, and I found myself scratching my head more than once.
But it was cool to see Jay Silverheels in a non-Tonto characterization as Santee's friend and hired hand. He showed a much greater range of acting ability than we ever got a chance to see as Lone Ranger's sidekick. When he got misty eyed at the thought of Santee riding off to face the Banner's, I was reminded of that memorable anti-pollution commercial of the era in which Iron Eyes Cody shed a tear for a troubled environment; seems to me that Silverheels might have been just as effective. And speaking of Silverheels/Tonto, I was intrigued by the appearance of John Hart's name in the opening credits. Though I couldn't pick him out in the picture as the character Cobbles, I was hoping to catch a glimpse of him and Silverheels in a scene together. Not many fans know that Hart appeared in a little over fifty episodes as The Lone Ranger when Clayton Moore sat out a season in a contract dispute.
Another puzzling aspect of the picture had to do with the cinematography. As gorgeous and bright as the the daytime landscape scenes appeared to be, they were offset by the murky, almost muddy night time and darkened interior photography. I think a few other reviewers on this board might have offered an insight into that, as this was an early attempt to film with videotape. It wasn't enough to distract from the picture too much, but it did leave another one of those question marks.
And for the biggest question mark of all - what was with that song 'Jody' ??? It sounded so out of place in a Western drama that I had trouble containing a compulsion to laugh out loud. Performed by Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere and the Raiders no less, not the creative association I would have come up with if I were producing this picture. But I didn't, so that's that.
Anyway, Glenn Ford fans will want to catch him in one of his final leading roles, but that might be the single reason to recommend watching "Santee". Even so, I had to wince a few times, that is, whenever he got up on his horse - I didn't think he'd make it. In addition to his arsenal, he was packing on quite a few pounds at this stage of his career. He may have had a feared reputation as a bounty hunter, but he sure was no Josh Randall.
So there's that. But even before the showdown that took out the elder Deakes (Robert J. Wilke), I was left wondering how much of a bad a-- Santee could possibly be that Deakes preferred to take it on the lam rather than have his gang mount a stand against him. There was ample time and distance to set up an ambush, even if Santee could have taken out a couple of them which would have seemed likely. I don't know, the whole story didn't seem to be set on a firm foundation, and I found myself scratching my head more than once.
But it was cool to see Jay Silverheels in a non-Tonto characterization as Santee's friend and hired hand. He showed a much greater range of acting ability than we ever got a chance to see as Lone Ranger's sidekick. When he got misty eyed at the thought of Santee riding off to face the Banner's, I was reminded of that memorable anti-pollution commercial of the era in which Iron Eyes Cody shed a tear for a troubled environment; seems to me that Silverheels might have been just as effective. And speaking of Silverheels/Tonto, I was intrigued by the appearance of John Hart's name in the opening credits. Though I couldn't pick him out in the picture as the character Cobbles, I was hoping to catch a glimpse of him and Silverheels in a scene together. Not many fans know that Hart appeared in a little over fifty episodes as The Lone Ranger when Clayton Moore sat out a season in a contract dispute.
Another puzzling aspect of the picture had to do with the cinematography. As gorgeous and bright as the the daytime landscape scenes appeared to be, they were offset by the murky, almost muddy night time and darkened interior photography. I think a few other reviewers on this board might have offered an insight into that, as this was an early attempt to film with videotape. It wasn't enough to distract from the picture too much, but it did leave another one of those question marks.
And for the biggest question mark of all - what was with that song 'Jody' ??? It sounded so out of place in a Western drama that I had trouble containing a compulsion to laugh out loud. Performed by Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere and the Raiders no less, not the creative association I would have come up with if I were producing this picture. But I didn't, so that's that.
Anyway, Glenn Ford fans will want to catch him in one of his final leading roles, but that might be the single reason to recommend watching "Santee". Even so, I had to wince a few times, that is, whenever he got up on his horse - I didn't think he'd make it. In addition to his arsenal, he was packing on quite a few pounds at this stage of his career. He may have had a feared reputation as a bounty hunter, but he sure was no Josh Randall.