Begrabt die Wölfe in der Schlucht

It's a bit bitty this western, and you do have to get past Gregory Peck's "haud yer whisht" Scots accent, but apart from those it's actually quite a solidly presented story with a good effort from all concerned. Jack Warden steals the show as the sheriff ("Gifford") pursuing "Archie" (Peck) and his half-breed sidekick "Billy" (Desi Arnaz Jr.) after they committed a robbery in which a man was - accidentally - killed. The story follows the chase - but not in a conventional sense. The balance of power frequently shifts between the pursuing and the pursued; there are some rather fancily dressed and menacing Apache on the warpath (for whisky) and when they alight on the rather venal homesteader "Spence" (John Pearce) and his nervous wreck of a pretty young wife "Esther" (Sian Barbara Allen) there is even room for a tiny bit of romance for the young man. There is quite a strong undercurrent of racism here. The young man's heritage earns him the enmity of many, especially the rather odious "Cope" (David Huddlestone) who runs a remote outpost with his squaw (Dawn Little Sky) whom he treats little better than a chattel. Indeed, even the title of the film suggests a double standard that is writ quite large into the narrative here. There's a bit of long-distance sharp shooting, quite a bit of gentle witty repartee and though not at his best, the star has a curmudgeonly charisma that helps hold the other characters firmly in place. I hadn't heard of this film before I saw it in a cinema yesterday, and I really did quite enjoy it.

This movie gets broadcast so often that I am surprised there are no other comments. All the performances are excellent, the typical plot of pursuit of the outlaws is well handled, and the racism theme that would probably not fly if the movie were made today is realistically dealt with.

The surprise is Desi Arnaz Jr. in one of his few roles. No great acting is required of him, but he does a very creditable job, and the already handsome young man is smashing in his dark Indian make-up.

I think this movie is underrated as a western. Or maybe it's just under-seen, which is really a pity. With nice color photography, it's got some really great western visuals, a meaty storyline, a collection of disparate characters whose fates you really start to care about, and some memorable, quotable dialogue here and there. Jack Warden is excellent as a gruff frontier sheriff "just doing his job," as it were. He's a toned-down and more accessible version of Gene Hackman's over-the-top bastardly sheriff in "Unforgiven." Gregory Peck, playing a words-of-wisdom-spouting Scottish outlaw with a big heart, is really quite good with his Scottish accent (no, it's not perfect, but passable), and has some memorable lines. Desi Arnaz Jr. is quite the sympathetic character as a half-breed Kiowa Indian outlaw being brought to justice by the sheriff. The supporting cast is quite good, and oh.. that nasty little band of outlaw Apaches they run into is truly a scary lot. You can't help but wonder how many white settlers they raped, murdered and pillaged.

All in all, the movie is packed with memorable western images and meaningful lines of dialogue . See it if you get a chance. I'd love for this movie to get more air time.

I am a fan of the Cowboy/Western genre. I've watched a lot of Western movies, from the 50's B movies to the John Ford masterpieces and Clint Eastwood's honest portrayal. This is a very good Western, it has some great powerful performances from Peck and Arnaz Jr who was truly very watchable and conveyed a lot of underlying emotions. The movie concerns the relationship between diverse characters, Peck's humorous kind portrayal of a man who has turned to crime to ensure a living, to Arnaz's contained portrayal of a man caught between two worlds, perhaps his two hats nomenclature is a euphemism for the two worlds he straddles. The supporting characters are no less interesting with Jack Warden as the relentless sheriff who doesn't understand the relationship between the two and David Huddlestones Store owner who was a buffalo hunter sharpshooter in the recent past and who can see the new future promised by the railroad and the advent of civilization to come. The move itself is quite metaphorical and symbolic but doesn't lose sight of the main thread, that of the growth of Billy Two Hats in the company of his wise mentor. I really enjoyed it, and I hope you will too. The only downside was Gregory Peck's dreadful Scottish accent which appears and disappears randomly throughout.

I saw this film on Turner Classic Movies (TCM).

It seems others have made a virtue out of this film's odd credentials and quite possibly used these against the film itself. On the face of it and if you didn't know (most folks won't, or care) then this is a decent western, with a Sam Peckinpah sense of gritty realism and dynamism.

The story follows a familiar one; an aged Scottish Gregory Peck and a young half-caste youth become fugitives - then friends - after a bungled bank robbery. They are pursued by racist and violent sheriff Jack Warden who hounds the pair, right to the bloody finale. There's good action and the unusual Israeli scenery actually adds a bit of variety to the surroundings.

The interestingly titled Billy 'Two Hats' is given an unusually sympathetic and approachable role, especially considering the western genre's tendency to the opposite toward native American characters. This again, adds to the flavour of the film, giving it a nuance that marks it apart from dozens of others.

I'd not heard of 'Billy Two Hats'; its title got me interested in the TV listings and found it well worth the time and effort but not quite enough to buy it on DVD.