In the early 1970s Burt Lancaster would have been in his late fifties, but (unlike some of his contemporaries who had opted for more sedentary roles) was still keeping himself fit and active in action roles. "Valdez Is Coming" was one of three successive Westerns he made in 1971/2, the others being "Lawman" and "Ulzana's Raid". It is an example of what became known as a "paella Western"; although the setting is ostensibly the American West, it was actually shot in southern Spain.
Lancaster plays the title character, Bob Valdez, a town constable who is tricked into killing an innocent man by a powerful rancher named Frank Tanner. Filled with remorse with what he has done, Valdez proposes raising $200 for the dead man's widow, suggesting that Tanner should contribute half of this sum. The casting of the film is surprisingly multi-ethnic by Western standards. Valdez is a rare example of a Mexican-American protagonist, the dead man is black and his widow Indian. Normally black Westerners (and in real life there were plenty of them) were not shown at all, Indians (with a few exceptions) were generally the antagonists in cavalry Westerns and Mexican characters confined to supporting roles. (In "Vera Cruz", an earlier Lancaster Western from the fifties set entirely in Mexico, the two leading characters are both American).
Tanner is infuriated by Valdez's suggestion. He orders his men to tie Valdez to a heavy wooden cross and drive him into the desert. (There are, of course, obvious religious undertones in this scene). Tanner assumes that Valdez will die in the desert, but he has underestimated his man. The tough, determined Valdez manages to survive, with some help from one of Tanner's men who takes pity on him, and comes looking for revenge, sending the message to Tanner that "Valdez is coming".
The original plan was for the film to be directed by Sydney Pollack with Lancaster as Tanner and Marlon Brando as Valdez. The idea seems to have been to give equal prominence to Valdez and Tanner with major stars in both roles. These plans came to nothing with Brando dropping out, Edwin Sherin taking over as director and Lancaster switching roles.
This was Sherin's first film as director- he was to make only one more feature film, "My Old Man's Place"- and I think that his inexperience shows. The film does not flow easily and there are some dull passages. The ending seems particularly abrupt; the sudden appearance of the "The End" card came as a surprise. The more experienced Pollack might well have done a better job. Lancaster gives a decent performance in the title role, doing enough to save the film from a lower mark, but the unfortunately surnamed Jon Cypher does not make a memorable impression as Tanner. (One could say he is a mere cypher). I could understand why the original idea was to have big-name actors playing both characters. We cannot, of course, know how the film would have turned out had the original plans been kept, but I cannot help feeling that it would have been better than the film we actually have. 6/10.
Lancaster plays the title character, Bob Valdez, a town constable who is tricked into killing an innocent man by a powerful rancher named Frank Tanner. Filled with remorse with what he has done, Valdez proposes raising $200 for the dead man's widow, suggesting that Tanner should contribute half of this sum. The casting of the film is surprisingly multi-ethnic by Western standards. Valdez is a rare example of a Mexican-American protagonist, the dead man is black and his widow Indian. Normally black Westerners (and in real life there were plenty of them) were not shown at all, Indians (with a few exceptions) were generally the antagonists in cavalry Westerns and Mexican characters confined to supporting roles. (In "Vera Cruz", an earlier Lancaster Western from the fifties set entirely in Mexico, the two leading characters are both American).
Tanner is infuriated by Valdez's suggestion. He orders his men to tie Valdez to a heavy wooden cross and drive him into the desert. (There are, of course, obvious religious undertones in this scene). Tanner assumes that Valdez will die in the desert, but he has underestimated his man. The tough, determined Valdez manages to survive, with some help from one of Tanner's men who takes pity on him, and comes looking for revenge, sending the message to Tanner that "Valdez is coming".
The original plan was for the film to be directed by Sydney Pollack with Lancaster as Tanner and Marlon Brando as Valdez. The idea seems to have been to give equal prominence to Valdez and Tanner with major stars in both roles. These plans came to nothing with Brando dropping out, Edwin Sherin taking over as director and Lancaster switching roles.
This was Sherin's first film as director- he was to make only one more feature film, "My Old Man's Place"- and I think that his inexperience shows. The film does not flow easily and there are some dull passages. The ending seems particularly abrupt; the sudden appearance of the "The End" card came as a surprise. The more experienced Pollack might well have done a better job. Lancaster gives a decent performance in the title role, doing enough to save the film from a lower mark, but the unfortunately surnamed Jon Cypher does not make a memorable impression as Tanner. (One could say he is a mere cypher). I could understand why the original idea was to have big-name actors playing both characters. We cannot, of course, know how the film would have turned out had the original plans been kept, but I cannot help feeling that it would have been better than the film we actually have. 6/10.