''Bandolero!'' is a 1968 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and starring James Stewart, Dean Martin,

Raquel Welch Jo Raquel Welch ( Tejada; September 5, 1940) is an American actress. She first won attention for her role in '' Fantastic Voyage'' (1966), after which she won a contract with 20th Century Fox. They lent her contract to the British studio Hamm ...

and George Kennedy. The story centers on two brothers on the run from a posse, led by a local sheriff who wants to arrest the runaways and free a hostage that they took along the way. They head into the wrong territory, which is controlled by "Bandoleros".

Plot

Posing as a hangman, Mace Bishop arrives in the Texas town of Val Verde with the intention of freeing his brother Dee from the gallows. Dee and his gang have been arrested for a bank robbery in which Maria Stoner's husband was killed by gang member Babe Jenkins. After freeing his brother, Mace successfully robs the bank on his own after the gang has fled with the posse in pursuit. Dee has taken Maria as a hostage after they come across her wagon, during which gang member Pop Chaney shoots and kills the man escorting Maria. The posse, led by local sheriff July Johnson and deputy Roscoe Bookbinder, chases the fugitives across the Mexican border into territory policed by bandoleros, whom Maria describes as men out to kill any gringos (foreigners) that they can find. Maria further warns Dee that the sheriff will follow, because they have taken the one thing that he has always wanted: her. Despite initial protestations, Maria falls for Dee after he protects her from the others, and finds herself in a quandary. She had never felt anything for the sheriff, nor for her husband, who had purchased her from her family. The posse tracks them to an abandoned town and captures the gang. The bandoleros also arrive, shooting and killing Roscoe, so the sheriff releases the outlaws so that the men can fight back in defense. In this final showdown, almost everyone is killed. Dee is fatally stabbed by the leader of the bandits, El Jefe, after Dee savagely beats him when he attempts to rape Maria. Then Mace is shot by another. Babe and gang member Robbie O'Hare die after killing several bandoleros. Pop Chaney is killed while going after the money Mace stole, and his son Joe dies after trying to rescue him. Maria grabs Dee's pistol and shoots El Jefe dead, sending the now leaderless bandoleros into full retreat. Maria professes her love to Dee and finally kisses him before he dies. Mace returns the money to sheriff Johnson, and then falls dead due to his wound. Maria and the sheriff, with little left of the posse, bury the Bishop brothers and dead posse members, after which Maria remarks that no one will know who was there. They then begin the ride back to Texas.

Cast

* James Stewart as Mace Bishop * Dean Martin as Dee Bishop *

as Maria Stoner * George Kennedy as Sheriff July Johnson *

Andrew Prine Andrew Lewis Prine (February 14, 1936 – October 31, 2022) was an American film, stage, and television actor. Early life and career Prine was born in Jennings, Florida. After graduation from Miami Jackson High School in Miami, Prine attend ...

as Deputy Sheriff Roscoe Bookbinder *

Will Geer Will Geer (born William Aughe Ghere; March 9, 1902 – April 22, 1978) was an American actor, musician, and social activist, who was active in labor organizing and other movements in New York and Southern California in the 1930s and 1940s. In Ca ...

as Pop Chaney *

Clint Ritchie Clinton Charles Augustus Ritchie (August 9, 1938 – January 31, 2009) was an American actor. Early life Ritchie was born on a farm near Grafton, North Dakota, to J. C. and Charlotte Ritchie, and his family moved to Washington state when he ...

as Babe Jenkins * Denver Pyle as Muncie Carter * Tom Heaton as Joe Chaney * Rudy Diaz as Angel *

Sean McClory Séan Joseph McClory (8 March 1924 – 10 December 2003) was an Irish actor whose career spanned six decades and included well over 100 films and television series. He was sometimes billed as Shawn McGlory or Sean McGlory. Early years M ...

as Robbie O'Hare * Harry Carey, Jr. as Cort Hayjack (as Harry Carey) *

Don "Red" Barry Donald Barry de Acosta (January 11, 1912 – July 17, 1980), also known as Red Barry and Milton Poimboeuf, was an American film and television actor. He was nicknamed "Red" after appearing as the first Red Ryder in the highly successful 19 ...

as Jack Hawkins (as Donald Barry) * Guy Raymond as Ossie Grimes * Perry Lopez as Frisco *

Jock Mahoney Jacques Joseph O'Mahoney (February 7, 1919 – December 14, 1989), known professionally as Jock Mahoney, was an American actor and stuntman. He starred in two Action/Adventure television series, ''The Range Rider'' and ''Yancy Derringer''. He ...

as Stoner *

Dub Taylor Walter Clarence "Dub" Taylor Jr. (February 26, 1907 – October 3, 1994),Dub Taylor, 87, Actor in Westerns, The New York Times, October 5, 1994, Section B, Page 12 was an American character actor who from the 1940s into the 1990s worked extens ...

as Attendant * Big John Hamilton as Bank Customer * Robert Adler as Ross Harper (as Bob Adler) *

John Mitchum John Mitchum (September 6, 1919 – November 29, 2001) was an American actor from the 1940s to the 1970s in film and television. The younger brother of the actor Robert Mitchum, he was credited as Jack Mitchum early in his career. Early years ...

as Bath House Customer *

Patrick Cranshaw Joseph Patrick Cranshaw (June 17, 1919 – December 28, 2005) was an American character actor known for his distinctive look and deadpan humor. He is best known for one of his last roles, that of Joseph "Blue" Pulaski, a fraternity brother, i ...

as Bank Clerk (as Joseph Patrick Cranshaw) *

Roy Barcroft Roy Barcroft (born Howard Harold Ravenscroft; September 7, 1902 – November 28, 1969) was an American character actor famous for playing villains in B-Westerns and other genres. From 1937 to 1957, he appeared in more than 300 films for Re ...

as Bartender

Production

The film was originally known as ''Mace''. The film was shot at the

Alamo Village Alamo Village is a movie set and tourist attraction north of Brackettville, Texas, United States. It was the first movie location built in Texas, originally constructed for and best known as the setting for ''The Alamo'' (1960), directed by J ...

, the movie set originally created for John Wayne's '' The Alamo''. The Alamo Village is located north of

Brackettville, Texas Brackettville is a city in Kinney County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,688 at the 2010 census, down from 1,876 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Kinney County. History Founded in 1852 as "Las Moras" (the name of a nearb ...

. The location closed in 2009 after remaining open to movie companies and the public since 1960. Parts of the film were also shot at

Kanab Kanab ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Kane County, Utah, United States.Find a County
". ''N ...

Canyon and

Glen Canyon Glen Canyon is a natural canyon carved by a length of the Colorado River, mostly in southeastern and south-central Utah, in the United States. Glen Canyon starts where Narrow Canyon ends, at the confluence of the Colorado River and the Dirty D ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

Larry McMurtry Larry Jeff McMurtry (June 3, 1936March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or contemporary Texas.

, the author of the novel ''

Lonesome Dove ''Lonesome Dove'' is a 1985 Western novel by American writer Larry McMurtry. It is the first published book of the ''Lonesome Dove'' series, but the third installment in the series chronologically. The story revolves around the relationships b ...

'', reportedly paid homage to ''Bandolero!'' by using similar names for the characters in his book. Both tales begin near the

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

border and involve bandoleros. Both have a sheriff named July Johnson and a deputy Roscoe who travel a great distance in search of a wanted criminal and the woman who has rejected the sheriff's love. Both stories have a charismatic outlaw named Dee, who is about to be hanged and who wins the love of the woman before he dies. In the ''Lonesome Dove'' miniseries, the main characters twice pass directly in front of the Alamo—or at least a set built to replicate the Alamo. Raquel Welch later said of her performance, "No one is going to shout, 'Wow it's

Anne Bancroft Anne Bancroft (born Anna Maria Louisa Italiano; September 17, 1931 – June 6, 2005) was an American actress. Respected for her acting prowess and versatility, Bancroft received an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two ...

all over again', but at least I'm not Miss Sexpot running around half naked all the time." "I think she's going to stack up all right", Stewart said of Welch.

Reception

''Bandolero!'' earned North American rentals of $5.5 million in 1968. According to Fox records the film required $10,200,000 in rentals to break even and by 11 December 1970 had made $8,800,000 so it was a loss for the studio. (Though, as usual, subsequent revenues from TV airings and home video sales eventually pushed it in the black.) Jerry Goldsmith's score was released as an LP by Project 3 Records, and years later multiple times on CD. Because of Martin's exclusive contract with Reprise Records, all traces of him were removed from the cover, even the artwork; given that the album was strictly instrumental and his voice was never heard, this puzzled some people and struck those in the know as a rather extreme reaction.

References

External links