The Good Guys and the Bad Guys (1969)

An aging lawman and an aging outlaw join forces when their respective positions in society are usurped by a younger, but incompetent, Marshal, and a younger, but vicious, gang leader.

Director:

Burt Kennedy

Writers:

Ronald M. Cohen, Dennis Shryack

Stars:

Robert Mitchum, George Kennedy, Martin Balsam

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Robert Mitchum	...	Flagg
George Kennedy	...	McKay
Martin Balsam	...	Mayor Wilker
David Carradine	...	Waco
Tina Louise	...	Carmel
Douglas Fowley	...	Grundy (as Douglas V. Fowley)
Lois Nettleton	...	Mary
John Davis Chandler	...	Deuce
John Carradine	...	Ticker
Marie Windsor	...	Polly
Dick Peabody	...	Boyle
Kathleen Freeman	...	Mrs. Stone - Mother
Jimmy Murphy	...	Buckshot
Garrett Lewis	...	Hawkins
Nick Dennis	...	Engineer #2

Storyline

Marshal Flagg, an aging lawman about to be retired, hears that his old nemesis, the outlaw McKaye, is back in the area and planning a robbery. Riding out to hunt down McKaye, Flagg is captured by McKaye's gang and finds out that McKaye is no longer the leader of the gang, but is considered just an aging relic by the new leader, a youngster named Waco. Waco orders Mackaye to shoot Flagg, and when Mackaye refuses Waco abandons both of them. Flagg then takes Mackaye back to town only to find out that he has been "retired", and when he sees how clueless and incompetent the new marshal and the city fathers are, he persuades Mackaye that it is up to the two of them to stop Waco and his gang from ravaging the town.

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Plot Keywords:

two gun holster | gun holster | gun | holster | double gun holster | 

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Taglines:

Crash When They Clash! they drew a boundary line in blood and dared each other to cross it!

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Genres:

Comedy | Western

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Certificate:

M

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 October 1969 (USA)

Also Known As:

Un homme fait la loi

Filming Locations:

Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, Chama, New Mexico, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Robert Goldstein Productions, Ronden

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Burt Kennedy: ["Fight!"] At the beginning of the fight scene, someone (in this case, an uncredited Richard Farnsworth) looks directly at the camera and yells, "Fight!"

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Goofs

When Flagg and McKay are running along the roof of the train, the view from inside the train shows their shadows on the cliff wall beside the tracks level with their actual position on the roof, as though the sun were nearly on the horizon throwing their shadow straight onto the cliff wall directly behind them. But when the view switches to overhead on top of the train, their shadows are directly below them as though the sun were directly overhead. This same pattern is repeated several times, camera overhead showing their shadow directly below them, then inside showing their shadows on the cliff wall out to the side.

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Quotes

McKay: There's only one plan and it's as plain as the nose on your face. You can't stop the train from comin' to town 'cause they got the telegraph covered. What you gotta do is stop the train from *stoppin* in town.

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Soundtracks

For He's A Jolly Good Fellow
Traditional
Sung at Flagg's retirement presentation

User Reviews

good western

This movie was directed by Burt Kennedy, who also directed another great western in 65 called The Rounders, that had Henry Fonda and Glenn Ford. This one is sort of different but they both had some comedy in them. This one stars Robert Mitchum as an old sheriff who is retired against his wishes by the mayor, played by Martin Balsam, who only cares about the election coming up. George Kennedy plays an outlaw who used to big in his day but now is the third wheel in a gang run by David Carradine. Both Mitchum and Kennedy, even though they used to be enemies, sort of team up together to stop Carradine from robbing the train even though they don't have too. This movie came out in 1969 the same year as The Wild Bunch, which Mitchum turned down but this movie is closer to Peckenpah's earlier film Ride The High Country.