Valdez Is Coming (1971)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Edwin Sherin

Writers:

Roland Kibbee (screenplay) and
David Rayfiel (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

9 huhtikuu 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

Honor is Always Worth Fighting For.

Plot:

A Mexican-American sheriff must resort to violence against a powerful rancher in order to get just compensation for the pregnant Indian widow of a wrongly killed black man.

Plot Keywords:

Widow | Evil Landowner | Stagecoach | Mexican | Intimidation

Cast

Burt Lancaster	...	Valdez
Susan Clark	...	Gay Erin
Frank Silvera	...	Diego
Jon Cypher	...	Frank Tanner
Richard Jordan	...	R.L. Davis
Barton Heyman	...	El Segundo
Hector Elizondo	...	Mexican Rider
Phil Brown	...	Malson
Ralph Brown	...	Beaudry
Werner Hasselmann	...	Sheriff (as Werner Hassleman)
Lex Monson	...	Rincon
Sylvia Poggioli	...	Segundo's Girl (as Sylvia Paggioli)
José García García	...	Carlos (as Jose Garcia Garcia)
María Montez	...	Anita (as Maria Montez)
Juanita Penaloza	...	Indian Woman

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, brief nudity and some language.

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | West Germany:16 (f) | UK:15 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | USA:GP (original rating) | USA:PG-13 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Estudios Roma, Madrid, Spain

Company:

Ira Steiner Productions

Quotes:

Gay Erin: [referring to Tanner] Is he coming?
Bob Valdez: He's coming - but not alone. No, not alone.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Minnie and Moskowitz (1971)

A personal revenge that carries suspense, drive and grim realism…

Valdez is more a symbol of conscience!

Burt Lancaster—at that time 57 years old—in fact dominates the film by a mystic presence, rather than actually being on screen for any length of time…

The bulk of the film constitutes a battle of wits and guns between Valdez and an extremely stubborn leader of a band of trigger-happy gun-slingers…

So when Frank Tanner (John Cypher) provokes a shoot-out which results in the death of an innocent man, Valdez asks $100 compensation from Tanner to provide financial support for his pregnant widow… Tanner not only refuses, but humiliates Valdez and orders his hired gunmen to beat him hardly, to tie him to a cross, and to drive him out of his place…

Again Spain locations represented the American frontier for this revenge tale about an aging former cavalry man who dusts off his old uniform, straps on his old guns, takes plenty of ammunition, and erupt a one-man army against a greedy, rotten, evil rancher and his henchmen to enforce justice at any cost…

As the pursuers forge deeper into the wilderness, the situation shifts around with hunters becoming the hunted…

Susan Clark (Gay) sides with Valdez without falling in love with him, while Barton Heyman (playing the chief henchman "El Segundo") provides his character with warmth and quality at a pivotal time…