Rio Conchos

Rio Conchos is a story about two men who won't let go and keep seeking vengeance. Richard Boone is a former Confederate soldier who came home to find his family massacred and is wreaking a terrible vengeance on the Indians. Kind of like Ethan Edwards would in The Searchers if left to his own devices.

The other man is Edmond O'Brien, Boone's former commanding officer, who is seeking vengeance for the lost Confederate cause and the way it went down in Generals Grant and Sherman's war of attrition. He's hijacked a group of repeating Spencer rifles and is about to trade them to Chief Rudolfo Acosta of the Apaches.

When Boone is found with one of the repeaters by the army, he's tossed in the guardhouse and then given a choice of staying there or leading Captain Stuart Whitman to the weapons. After thinking it over somewhat Boone agrees.

So an unlikely quartet of Whitman, Boone, Jim Brown, and Anthony Franciosa set out. This group has little regard for each other and that does impede the teamwork involved to successfully pull off the mission of either get the weapons back or destroy them.

This was the feature film debut of Cleveland Browns halfback Jim Brown who went on to a pretty successful acting career after his days on the gridiron were through. OF course Tony Franciosa as their Mexican guide/interpreter is as usual the best one in the film. Talk about someone no better than he ought to be.

Rio Conchos has enough action to satisfy the biggest western fans around. The ending, shall we say the conclusion of the film and the mission leave an uncertain future for the survivors of the last battle.

This really was the last good conventional western action film, just before Sergio Leone and Sam Peckinpah opened the gate to a new genre. It is a very violent film, if you watch it closely, though not as graphic as what came a couple of years later. It is worth watching for the scenery, action, and most of all, a tremendous cast.

The great Jimmy Brown, Richard Boone, Tony Fransiosa, and ....Stuart Whitman. Wait...Stuart Whitman?!...no...he stinks. hes got no charisma, no screen presence. hes dull, flat...He stunk in everything. But I heard hes one of the richest men in California, so he wouldnt mind my saying so.

Actually, Stuart Whitman, the dullest of the major characters, is not needed at all. The screenwriters should have had the guts to transform the character into Jim Browns role...even make him a black officer. That could have been historically accurate, and even have set up a whole dynamic of tense racial relationships, especially when confronting Boones ex-Confederate racist character. Alas, nobody had the guts in 1964, but it would have been interesting, and the film would be even more highly regarded today.

The film ends abruptly and strangely, but it fits. Pay attention to Wendy Wagner as the Apache chick, shes hot, hot hot! I would have liked to have seen more of her.

Remember, if anybody wants to win trivia contests, "The Dirty Dozen" was not Jim Browns first film. "Rio Conchos" is!

"Rio Conchos" is a tough, fast-paced, action-packed western, with good performances by all concerned. If the story--Union soldiers go undercover to find the men who are supplying guns to renegade Indians and outlaws and come across a Confederate plot to carve out territory in the West--seems familiar, that's because it's a variation of John Wayne's "The Commancheros" of a few years earlier, and it's almost as good, and in some ways better. Richard Boone gives a very flavorful performance as the tough major in charge of the operation, in conflict with subordinate Stuart Whitman. Jim Brown, in his film debut, is a bit stiff, but otherwise acquits himself quite well. Anthony Franciosa, playing a Mexican outlaw paroled to accompany them on the mission, doesn't quite pull the characterization off, but handles the action scenes very well. Director Gordon Douglas, an old pro at this kind of picture, keeps things going at breakneck speed, with exciting action scenes and good byplay between the characters. This is one of the best-made action westerns of the '60s, with good plot twists, and is consistently interesting all the way through. Highly recommended for western fans.

This was directed by Gordon Douglas and stars Richard Boone, Stuart Whitman, Jim Brown and Edmond O'Brien. Boone stars as a former major in the confederate army and is now just a drunk who hates the Indians and kills as many as he can. Boone is found with a repeating rifle that was stolen from the army but he didn't know that and is thrown in jail. Whitman was the soldier who was in charge of the rifles but they were stolen and taken down to Mexico. So Whitman and Brown go after the rifles undercover and they take Boone and Anthony Franciosa, a Mexican who was about to be hanged, along with them. It's a pretty good western and it's nice to see Boone with the starring role instead of playing the villain.

Rio Conchos is directed by Gordon Douglas and adapted to screenplay by Joseph Landon from the Clair Huffaker novel. It stars Richard Boone, Stuart Whitman, Jim Brown, Tony Franciosa, Wende Wagner and Edmond O'Brien. Music is scored by Jerry Goldsmith and Joseph MacDonald is the cinematographer. Out of 20th Century Fox it's a CinemaScope production filmed in De Luxe Color, and primary location used for filming was Moab, Utah.

One ex-Confederate officer out for revenge against the Apache, one Army Captain driven by a sense of duty, one Buffalo Soldier continuing to prove himself and one Mexican convict getting a second shot at freedom. Four men, one journey, a mission to find who is arming the Apache with repeating rifles. Danger, mistrust and hostility are their only companions.

The plot may be routine, and certainly it owes a debt to The Comancheros (Huffaker involved there too), but this is a tough and dark Western propelled by fine acting, quality direction and photography to die for. Structured around a men on a mission basis, each one with their own particular issues, it's very much a character driven piece. It's the time spent in the company of these men that makes the film so riveting, it never gets dull, the character dynamics are such, that we never quite know what to expect from the next part of the journey. Director Douglas also doesn't shy from action, pitting our odd group against Mexican Bandits and Apache Indians along the way, and then delivering a high octane finale that has a few twists and turns to keep it away from being formulaic.

Whitman and Brown acquit themselves well enough, as does Wagner as the sole female of the piece. But acting wise this film belongs to Boone and Franciosa. The former portrays a bitter vengeful heart with ease, with a lived in alcoholic face, his destiny you feel is mapped out from the off. The latter shines as the ebullient character of the group, shifty, sly and as untrustworthy as it gets, Franciosa's play off of Boone gives the film its central pulse beat. But arguably all players are trumped by MacDonald's photography and Douglas' use of the scenery. From pretty much the first frame the landscape is the big character here. Douglas wisely using many long shots to reveal miles of vistas, then knowing when to pull in close to envelope the characters to give off the feeling of mental claustrophobia. Exterior work here belies the budget afforded the film, and all told it's a far better movie than the bigger produced Comancheros. Goldsmith's score is also a plus point, striking the mood from the get go, his arrangements flow at one with the hazardous destiny of the four men.

One of the better 60's Westerns, it's in desperate need of a remastering job being done on it. 8/10