Catlow (1971)

An outlaw tries to avoid interference as he journeys to Mexico to pull off a $2,000,000 gold robbery.

Director:

Sam Wanamaker

Writers:

Scot Finch (screenplay), James Griffith (screenplay) (as J.J. Griffith)

Stars:

Yul Brynner, Richard Crenna, Leonard Nimoy

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yul Brynner	...	Catlow
Richard Crenna	...	Cowan
Leonard Nimoy	...	Miller
Daliah Lavi	...	Rosita
Jo Ann Pflug	...	Christina
Jeff Corey	...	Merridew
Michael DeLano	...	Rio (as Michael Delano)
Julián Mateos	...	Recalde (as Julian Mateos)
David Ladd	...	Caxton
Bessie Love	...	Mrs. Frost
Robert Logan	...	Oley (as Bob Logan)
John Clark	...	Keleher
Dan van Husen	...	Dutch
Cass Martin	...	Sanchez
José Nieto	...	General (as Jose Nieto)

Storyline

Marshall Cowan and the mercenary Miller are both separately hunting the outlaw Catlow. During the Civil War both Cowan and the always smiling Catlow were comrades. Catlow helps Cowan, when he is wounded in the right leg by an arrow from the Apaches, despite Cowan hunting him. Catlow escapes with help of his gang. Catlow then robs a Mexican gold shipment, worth $ 2,000,000. Catlow flees with the stolen gold through the dangerous territory of the Apaches who, besides Miller, Cowan and the Mexican cavalry, are hunting for him and his gang of outlaws.

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Plot Keywords:

outlaw | spaghetti western | male nudity | native american | street shootout | 

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Taglines:

The Mexican cavalry wanted him murdered. The Apache nation wanted him massacred. Texas ranchers wanted him mangled and his only hope was a Marshal, who wanted him hanged.

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Genres:

Comedy | Western

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for western action violence

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

1 October 1971 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Man Called Catlow

Filming Locations:

Sierra de Gádor, Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In Catlow (1971), Leonard Nimoy plays a bounty hunter who carries a Winchester Model 1892 "Mares Leg" Rifle as his main weapon, in a tribute to the Western series, Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958-1961), in which Steve McQueen's bounty hunter used as a main weapon.

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Goofs

When Cowan is riding through the canyon at the start of the film he sees a chukkar partridge on a rock. This could not happen in the post Civil War era, as this bird was not introduced into the U.S. from Afghanistan until the 1920's as a game bird.

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Quotes

Cowan: Well, you see, all I own is a couple of guns and a tin star and, of course, a beautiful new horse and saddle.
Christina: Is that how you judge the worth of a man? By how much he owns?

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Connections

Referenced in The Last of the Gentleman Producers (2004)

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Soundtracks

Catlow's Theme (Main Title)
Composed and Arranged by Roy Budd
Performed by Roy Budd And His Orchestra

User Reviews

Such a pleasant western!

This is a rather little entertaining western to watch. It has all of the violence and shooting but still it's made in a sort of more light and fun way.

Never thought I would ever see Leonard Nimoy in a western. He made some appearance in western's but mostly in series and TV-movies. I think this is his biggest western's role out of his career. On top of that, he also plays the villain in this one and he does it extremely well. He truly had some real talent for playing the bad guy and I wouldn't had minded seeing him in more roles such as this one. Yul Brynner is also good as always. He really was in his element in westerns. In this movie he takes a more of a kind and humorous approach, which also works out really well for him.

The characters are good ones but the character treatment isn't among the greatest. Yul Brynner will disappear out of the movie for some time, then Richard Crenna and then Leonard Nimoy. He's supposed to be the main villain, but nevertheless he gets hardly featured in the second halve of the movie at all. Consistency is not a too common thing within this movie.

It's fine that the movie concentrates mainly on two characters, that are different and also on the other side of the law, but still great friends, although they are not afraid to punch, or shoot at each other either to get what they want. This sort of approach of an unlikely friendship isn't of course uncommon in a western.

The story is a fine one, that leaves plenty of room for action. There a lot of shootouts, also involving villainous Indians. It all makes sure that the movie at all time is a fast going, with plenty happening on the screen.

It's a real '70's western. '70's westerns are a total different thing from westerns from any other decade. It has that typical kind of '70's rawness all over it and in this case the movie also features some experimental techniques, such as some extremely fast editing in some scenes. Not sure if it truly helps or uplifts the movie but it still makes it a tiny bit more interesting to watch.

Really a movie I enjoyed watching, though it's obviously no genre classic. It's just too small and insignificant for that.

7/10

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