Rio Conchos

***Entertaining reimagining of “The Comancheros” with Boone, Whitman, Franciosa and Brown*** Two years after the Civil War, an unlikely team of four men go on a mission to find a missing cache of Federal rifles; the trail leads to a private army of ex-Rebels and Apaches, as well as a surreal antebellum mansion built in the middle of the desert along the Rio Conchos River in Mexico. The scouting unit consists of an alcoholic ex-Confederate major and Indian-hater (Richard Boone), a gallant but formidable Army captain (Stuart Whitman), a Buffalo Soldier sergeant (Jim Brown), a likable Mexican cutthroat (Tony Franciosa) and, later, an Apache woman (Wende Wagner). The private army is led by a cracked, bitter ex-Rebel general (Edmond O'Brien). This 1964 Western has uncomfortable similarities to John Wayne’s “The Comancheros” (1961), which also co-starred Whitman. “Rio Conchos” is about on par, but I give the edge to “The Comancheros.” Anyway, this was the theatrical debut of Jim Brown, who gave up his football career at its peak to try his hand at acting. He would return to the Western genre with the similar “100 Rifles” five years later. While not ranking with the best 60’s Westerns (e.g. “One-Eyed Jacks,” “Ride the High Country,” “Hombre,” “Nevada Smith,” “Bandolero!” and “True Grit”), “Rio Conchos” is a brutal, energetic and colorful Western. It’s not far behind “Duel at Diablo,” “El Dorado” and “Shalako.” I’d put it on par with “The Sons of Katie Elder,” “The War Wagon” and “The Undefeated.” The film runs 1 hour, 47 minutes and was shot in Arizona and Utah. The effective and timeless score is by Jerry Goldsmith. GRADE: B

I don’t suppose that you could ever describe Richard Boone as a versatile actor, but he usually made for a good character in a Western and he holds this together quite well. His “Lassiter” is a man with a past who has hooked up with “Capt. Haven” (Stuart Whitman) and the not entirely trustworthy, tequila-swilling, “Rodriguez” (Anthony Franciosa) on a quest to thwart/benefit from some gun-running to the Apache. After only just surviving an ambush, they capture the feisty “Sally” (Wende Wagner) and that spells danger for this gang of disparate travellers as they head to the partially completed home of Confederate “Col. Anderson” (Warner Anderson) who has grand dreams of reigniting the civil war - and using the vengeful “Bloodshirt” (Rodolfo Acosta) and his warriors as his tools. What’s pretty clear here is that although these men, including “Franklyn” (Jim Brown), are after gold, they each have their own agenda as they hold off the pursuing Indians and then have to negotiate with a soldier whose grasp on reality is maybe just a bit shaky. It’s a bit formulaic, but that works fine: part pursuit, part siege, part revenge and just an unobtrusive hint of romance before a fiery denouement that works well. Whitman isn’t anything to write home about, but Brown and Anderson deliver quite strongly in support and the whole story has more to do with building characters than just presenting us with the usual sequence of predictable set-piece combat scenarios. It’s a bit of a slow burn at times, but I quite enjoyed watching these journeymen do their stuff.