I first saw this movie at the drive-in theater with my folks, when I was 7 years old. It affected me deeply, because this was the first "serious" western I had seen. Oh, sure, TV westerns had their serious moments, but most of them had healthy doses of comedy and I was just getting to the age when the good guys and the bad guys weren't so cut and dried. Plus, Jethro was in it, so it's probably pretty funny. Surprise! Still, I was glued to the screen and completely taken in by the story. Now, having finally seen it again on Encore, I still think it's pretty good. There are some major editing problems, but the acting is very good, and the dichotomy of the war is very present and really makes one think about the futility of our civil war. I didn't remember much over the years, except that the ending really struck me, and it still does, 41 years later. Maybe I'm just a sucker for westerns, but I'd really like to see this on a fully restored DVD. Oh, and as a musician, as well as a fan of Mundell Lowe's jazz stuff, his score here was intrusive and inappropriate. It sounded more like a rah-rah WWII score.
But stay with this one to the end. Maybe it'll stick with you for 40 years, too.
But stay with this one to the end. Maybe it'll stick with you for 40 years, too.