Based on the real-life event, known to Civil War historians as 'The Beefsteak Raid', this film depicts fictionalised characters thrown into this desperate attempt by Confederate forces to keep their war effort going as Grant's army encircled them in both St Petersburg and Richmond in September 1864. In presenting such a philanthropic purpose of feeding the starving soldiers and residents of besieged Richmond behind the motives of the Confederate forces here, this feature stands out from the much darker deeds of Confederate characters within the majority of Western movies.
The strength of the screenplay is the moulding of the eponymous anti-hero, a Mexican national, and cattle rancher, driven by opportunism at a time when the United States had been riven apart by individuals' steadfast political and ethical ideals. As this character declares at one point: 'God deliver me from dedicated men.' As his nemesis here, the patrician former Bostonian lawyer, Major Steadman, disparagingly declares Kelly's 'three deities - money, whisky, and women.' Yet, once he has accepted his fate at the hands of his Confederate kidnappers, he becomes patient tutor to the arrogant, elite cavalrymen, so incompetent at the skills of herding cattle. Moreover, once the critical and climactic action scenes are reached, Kelly will even be prepared to risk his own life under a fusillade of Union fire to save the life of a downed Confederate cavalryman.
The film's director was initially reluctant to work again with William Holden, having had a poor experience when Holden had a 'bit part' in his 1939 production, 'Million Dollar Legs'. Holden would return to the screen here after an absence of two years, once again driven to alcoholism after the loss of his second brother to a plane crash, the first having fallen in World War II. Dmytryk's fears proved correct with Holden frequently appearing hungover on set, and so drunk on the first day of shooting that an understanding Widmark had to resuscitate his co-star with black coffee. Indeed, these two strong character-actors would strike up a lifelong friendship after their appearance together on this feature.
There is no question that, in spite of his open and virulent condemnation of the quality of the script - at one point threatening to shove it up the rear end of an unruly horse, declaring 'that's where it belongs!' - his performance here as the charismatic ladies-man and man of action would be of a style almost akin to his depiction of Pike in the much greater acclaimed 'Wild Bunch' three years later. When the Southern belle, who would sell him out to her friends in the Confederate forces, declares her astonishment that given his own father's loss of their ranch due to the actions of the US Army during the Mexican War, Kelly does not share the sympathies of the Secessionist states, Holden has one of the few lines of quality in the script. 'I have no sympathies, only instincts. And they shy away from losers'.
As for his co-star, Richard Widmark, once more he gives his characteristic menacing performance as Kelly's kidnapper, readily prepared to shoot off his captive's fingers one by one to persuade him to undertake what President Lincoln would once surmise as 'the slickest piece of cattle stealing I ever heard of'. Sporting an eye-patch three years before John Wayne's Rooster Cogburn, Widmark convinces as the fictional Confederate officer, Colonel Tom Rossiter, determined to fight to his last breath for the Secessionist cause, and to use Kelly as the instrument of deliverance for his besieged hometown. This has 'blinded' him, no pun intended, to the needs of his intended, leading to Kelly's opportunity to both come to the aid of a damsel in distress, and also seek reprisal for his captor's brutality towards him.
As for his working relationship with Holden, and the lengthy delays in shooting caused by Hurricane Betsy and Holden contracting salmonella, Widmark would state: 'That four months of being constantly together on a film location was the equivalent of ten or fifteen years of friendship'. Indeed, when Widmark contracted flu himself, Holden, aware of his love for instruments, bought him a snare drum.
The rest of the cast apply themselves well, none more so than the two female cast members, despite the woeful development of their characters within the script. Firstly, the Australian actress, Victoria Shaw, as the dignified Southern belle and reluctant hostess to Union forces on her plantation, and secondly, an all-too-brief but memorable performance by Janice Rule, wife to Ben Gazzara, who brings her intellect and renowned sense of self-assuredness to her portrayal of Tom Rossiter's trapped intended, seeking an escape from the war-ravaged South. There are also creditable performances from Richard Rust in a typical Widmark role as the vengeful Sgt Hatcher, determined to take his final revenge on Kelly, and Patrick O'Neal as the loathsome Union officer equally determined to both repulse the Confederate cattle-rustling, and settle the score with Kelly, whose values he consider inferior to his own tarnished ones.
The lengthy delays which undermined the production also led to the film being finished at the Hollywood studios, rather than on location. This is a shame, as is the greatly curtailed action sequences, given the superb cinematography on display from Joseph MacDonald in the environs of Baton Rouge. At the other end of the critical spectrum is the turgid soundtrack, featuring the oddly addictive but definitively 'cheesy' title tune in honour of our 'Irish Señor', performed by the obscure folk quartet, 'The Brothers Four'.
Overall, the film suffers from a distinct lack of pace before any real action kicks in. There are also preposterous, quite comical, scenes such as the early capture of our Confederate crack troops in the apple cellar. When the action does arrive, it is worth the wait, though Holden may wonder why action sequences in his career would be so tied to bridges. Another weakness of the production is the unfortunate and inappropriate portrayal of the slave-owning south, not in any way comparable to the level of DW Griffith, but still uncomfortable to watch in how the house slaves are shown to collude with the Confederate attempts to outsmart their Union rivals.
The strength of the screenplay is the moulding of the eponymous anti-hero, a Mexican national, and cattle rancher, driven by opportunism at a time when the United States had been riven apart by individuals' steadfast political and ethical ideals. As this character declares at one point: 'God deliver me from dedicated men.' As his nemesis here, the patrician former Bostonian lawyer, Major Steadman, disparagingly declares Kelly's 'three deities - money, whisky, and women.' Yet, once he has accepted his fate at the hands of his Confederate kidnappers, he becomes patient tutor to the arrogant, elite cavalrymen, so incompetent at the skills of herding cattle. Moreover, once the critical and climactic action scenes are reached, Kelly will even be prepared to risk his own life under a fusillade of Union fire to save the life of a downed Confederate cavalryman.
The film's director was initially reluctant to work again with William Holden, having had a poor experience when Holden had a 'bit part' in his 1939 production, 'Million Dollar Legs'. Holden would return to the screen here after an absence of two years, once again driven to alcoholism after the loss of his second brother to a plane crash, the first having fallen in World War II. Dmytryk's fears proved correct with Holden frequently appearing hungover on set, and so drunk on the first day of shooting that an understanding Widmark had to resuscitate his co-star with black coffee. Indeed, these two strong character-actors would strike up a lifelong friendship after their appearance together on this feature.
There is no question that, in spite of his open and virulent condemnation of the quality of the script - at one point threatening to shove it up the rear end of an unruly horse, declaring 'that's where it belongs!' - his performance here as the charismatic ladies-man and man of action would be of a style almost akin to his depiction of Pike in the much greater acclaimed 'Wild Bunch' three years later. When the Southern belle, who would sell him out to her friends in the Confederate forces, declares her astonishment that given his own father's loss of their ranch due to the actions of the US Army during the Mexican War, Kelly does not share the sympathies of the Secessionist states, Holden has one of the few lines of quality in the script. 'I have no sympathies, only instincts. And they shy away from losers'.
As for his co-star, Richard Widmark, once more he gives his characteristic menacing performance as Kelly's kidnapper, readily prepared to shoot off his captive's fingers one by one to persuade him to undertake what President Lincoln would once surmise as 'the slickest piece of cattle stealing I ever heard of'. Sporting an eye-patch three years before John Wayne's Rooster Cogburn, Widmark convinces as the fictional Confederate officer, Colonel Tom Rossiter, determined to fight to his last breath for the Secessionist cause, and to use Kelly as the instrument of deliverance for his besieged hometown. This has 'blinded' him, no pun intended, to the needs of his intended, leading to Kelly's opportunity to both come to the aid of a damsel in distress, and also seek reprisal for his captor's brutality towards him.
As for his working relationship with Holden, and the lengthy delays in shooting caused by Hurricane Betsy and Holden contracting salmonella, Widmark would state: 'That four months of being constantly together on a film location was the equivalent of ten or fifteen years of friendship'. Indeed, when Widmark contracted flu himself, Holden, aware of his love for instruments, bought him a snare drum.
The rest of the cast apply themselves well, none more so than the two female cast members, despite the woeful development of their characters within the script. Firstly, the Australian actress, Victoria Shaw, as the dignified Southern belle and reluctant hostess to Union forces on her plantation, and secondly, an all-too-brief but memorable performance by Janice Rule, wife to Ben Gazzara, who brings her intellect and renowned sense of self-assuredness to her portrayal of Tom Rossiter's trapped intended, seeking an escape from the war-ravaged South. There are also creditable performances from Richard Rust in a typical Widmark role as the vengeful Sgt Hatcher, determined to take his final revenge on Kelly, and Patrick O'Neal as the loathsome Union officer equally determined to both repulse the Confederate cattle-rustling, and settle the score with Kelly, whose values he consider inferior to his own tarnished ones.
The lengthy delays which undermined the production also led to the film being finished at the Hollywood studios, rather than on location. This is a shame, as is the greatly curtailed action sequences, given the superb cinematography on display from Joseph MacDonald in the environs of Baton Rouge. At the other end of the critical spectrum is the turgid soundtrack, featuring the oddly addictive but definitively 'cheesy' title tune in honour of our 'Irish Señor', performed by the obscure folk quartet, 'The Brothers Four'.
Overall, the film suffers from a distinct lack of pace before any real action kicks in. There are also preposterous, quite comical, scenes such as the early capture of our Confederate crack troops in the apple cellar. When the action does arrive, it is worth the wait, though Holden may wonder why action sequences in his career would be so tied to bridges. Another weakness of the production is the unfortunate and inappropriate portrayal of the slave-owning south, not in any way comparable to the level of DW Griffith, but still uncomfortable to watch in how the house slaves are shown to collude with the Confederate attempts to outsmart their Union rivals.