Similar in story to Michel Winner's CHATO's LAND, VALDEZ IS COMING turns out to be the better film thanks to its realistic depiction of racism and politics in the American west. Headliner Burt Lancaster (who plays a Mexican, which is slightly distracting) stars as Valdez, a man who stands up for the rights of the individual and finds himself all but condemned as a result. What plays out is familiar – a lone renegade pursued by a posse of evil men, whom he skilfully defeats – and also unique, including a twist ending that totally avoids cliché while being a bit of an anti-climax.
The film is a mix of the good and bad, with interesting parts of the script failing in the execution. The opening stand-off is particularly good, but the latter scenes involving moustache-twirling villain Jon Cypher and his prim and proper mistress, Susan Clark, are dated and dull. Lancaster is a commanding presence as always, and there's a particularly good supporting role from half-crazy Richard Jordan as a trigger-happy cowboy, but in contrast the direction is pedestrian (the director later moved to TV) and there are intriguing plot points that end up going nowhere. Filmed in Madrid, the Spanish scenery is a highlight, and the sequence in which Lancaster is punished by the villains is inventive, sadistic and straight out of a spaghetti western.
The film is a mix of the good and bad, with interesting parts of the script failing in the execution. The opening stand-off is particularly good, but the latter scenes involving moustache-twirling villain Jon Cypher and his prim and proper mistress, Susan Clark, are dated and dull. Lancaster is a commanding presence as always, and there's a particularly good supporting role from half-crazy Richard Jordan as a trigger-happy cowboy, but in contrast the direction is pedestrian (the director later moved to TV) and there are intriguing plot points that end up going nowhere. Filmed in Madrid, the Spanish scenery is a highlight, and the sequence in which Lancaster is punished by the villains is inventive, sadistic and straight out of a spaghetti western.