100 Rifles (1969)

In 1912 Sonora, Mexico, native revolutionary Yaqui Joe robs a bank to buy arms for his oppressed people, but finds himself sought by an American lawman and the Mexican Army.

Director:

Tom Gries

Writers:

Clair Huffaker (screenplay), Tom Gries (screenplay)

Stars:

Jim Brown, Raquel Welch, Burt Reynolds

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jim Brown	...	Lyedecker
Raquel Welch	...	Sarita
Burt Reynolds	...	Yaqui Joe
Fernando Lamas	...	Verdugo
Dan O'Herlihy	...	Grimes
Eric Braeden	...	Von Klemme (as Hans Gudegast)
Michael Forest	...	Humara
Aldo Sambrell	...	Sgt. Paletes
Soledad Miranda	...	Girl in Hotel
Alberto Dalbés	...	Padre Francisco (as Alberto Dalbes)
Charly Bravo	...	Lopez (as Carlos Bravo)
José Manuel Martín	...	Sarita's Father (as Jose Manuel Martin)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Akim Tamiroff	...	Gen. Romero (scenes deleted)

Storyline

Reynolds plays Yaqui Joe, an Indian who robs a bank in order to buy guns for his people who are being savagely repressed by the government. Set in turn of the century Mexico, it tells the story of his flight into Mexico and his pursuit by an American lawman. They eventually become allies and team up with Welch to take up the cause of the Indians.

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Plot Keywords:

arizona ranger | premarital sex | phoenix arizona | yaqui indian | diversion | 

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Taglines:

All they need is . . . 100 RIFLES

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Genres:

Adventure | Romance | War | Western

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

26 March 1969 (USA)

Also Known As:

One Hundred Rifles

Filming Locations:

Villamanta, Madrid, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

$3,920,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Marvin Schwartz Productions, Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The producers wanted Raquel Welch to shower under the water-tower sans shirt. "It was just one more way of trying to get Rocky nude, " Welch later said. She defied the producers and kept her shirt on. Years later, Burt Reynolds commented, "It was twice as sexy the way she did it."

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Goofs

After the fight in the desert, the rebels see the Mexican Army coming across the vast wasteland toward them. They ride down the edge of a steep hill and in the very next scene are seen riding along a flowing river amongst lush green trees.

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Quotes

Yaqui Joe Herrera: How come they done give you a badge in the first place?
Lyedecker: Well I guess I took a job nobody wanted. And even at that it took me a whole year to get it.

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Alternate Versions

All UK releases are cut by 4 secs to remove 2 horsefalls.

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Connections

Featured in Macked, Hammered, Slaughtered and Shafted (2004)

User Reviews

Revolution okay

Judging by the plot this movie shows up as a pretty typical action western of the late sixties with revolution stuff leaning strongly on the messages of counterculture and the Vietnam era. Mostly it seems to ride somewhere between 'The Professionals' and 'The Wild Bunch' for its mood and action. A strong link through the story can also be made to Damiano Damiani's 'A Bullet for the General', an excellent spaghetti western with some political overtones. In '100 Rifles' one can forget the politics and concentrate on action. This is a very violent western but still surprisingly low on gore. A bit like in those older westerns, a lot of shooting and stabbing and whatever without gushing copious amounts of fake blood. Maybe that suits better here. We have seen enough Peckinpah imitations already.

The film takes full advantage of Raquel Welch's well working sex appeal. The hot love scene between her and Jim Brown was considered controversial at the time the movie came out. Now it's just two people making love and Welch really enjoying her work or being corny, judge yourself. Brown makes a highly likable hero and Reynolds in his before super-stardom state of career is also good as a halfbreed bandit with the familiar glint in the eye. At times I got the feeling he was lightly making fun of Marlon Brando's Zapata. That may be, because I recently saw on DVD an old episode of Sonny and Cher Show in which he was successfully aping Brando's Kowalski from 'A Streetcar Named Desire' and was so funny. So, an okay action western but nothing revolutionary in spite of the story subject.