Henry Levin was a very unexpected director, he could bring the best as well as the worst. JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF EARTh, THE LONELY MAN, GENGIS KAHN, THE WARRIORS - the best, but also stupid comedies such as WHERE THE BOYS ARE for instance. Yes, Henry Levin began his career at Columbia Pictures with some short movies in the forties, the equivalent of Richard Fleischer, Robert Wise or Mark Robson for RKO, and the same kind of stuff in the same decade. With William Castle, Levin was a director of all trades, an odd jobber for Harry Cohn's company, for thrillers, horror and swashbucklers movies. His masterpiece will be made for Twentieth Century Fox: JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF EARTH. So, concerning this western shot in the late sixties, it is more or less under Italian spaghetti western influence, but not too much actually, just a bit. Jack Palance is convincing as the patriarch gang leader, reminding me Raymond Massey in SEVEN ANGRY MEN, and the result is not that bad but not as powerful as THE LONELY MAN, starring the same Palance or MAN FROM COLORADO. Vince Edward's character reminded me Terence Stamp in BLUE.
Review of The Desperados
