Visually striking but odd and unsatisfying western that suffers from long stretches of boredom and not being able to decide if it's a comedy or a serious action film. It also features Telly Savalas as one of the more pointless villains in western cinema, though he does turn in a watchable performance with what little he was given. Shelly Winters is along for the ride too, in an even more pointless role as his floozy. It's as though the studio was nervous about the bare script and needed to pack the production with as much star power as possible.
And the script is bare. Burt Lancaster loses his furs to a party of Kiowa indians , who saddle him with unwanted runaway slave Ossie Davis in return. In pursuit of his furs, Lancaster sees them taken over by Savalas' band of 'Scalphunters' and the story plays out until the end as a game of cat and mouse with Davis in the middle. That's it. A nearly two hour film in epic widescreen and the story is as scant as that.
Except when Lancaster and Davis butt heads physically and philosophically, the film is a washout. Their scenes together, providing a few good laughs, are the only reason to stick it out till the end.
Entertaining in a low key way, Lancaster is always worth seeing, but hardly a good western. A blip on Sydney Pollack's filmography.
And the script is bare. Burt Lancaster loses his furs to a party of Kiowa indians , who saddle him with unwanted runaway slave Ossie Davis in return. In pursuit of his furs, Lancaster sees them taken over by Savalas' band of 'Scalphunters' and the story plays out until the end as a game of cat and mouse with Davis in the middle. That's it. A nearly two hour film in epic widescreen and the story is as scant as that.
Except when Lancaster and Davis butt heads physically and philosophically, the film is a washout. Their scenes together, providing a few good laughs, are the only reason to stick it out till the end.
Entertaining in a low key way, Lancaster is always worth seeing, but hardly a good western. A blip on Sydney Pollack's filmography.