The Desperados

Some American, some British players went to the plains of Spain where it stayed dry for the filming of this European horse opera. The story centers on a family named Galt who with patriarch Jack Palance have a Quantrill like connection to the Confederacy. But they operate pretty much on their own plundering as they please.

Two of the sons George Maharis and Christian Roberts are pretty much chips off the old block. But Vince Edwards has sickened of the life and left them after a Kansas raid and has settled in Texas with wife Sylvia Sims and his young son.

Try as they may no one can keep up with Jack Palance who overacts outrageously in his role. He so dominates this film the others barely get their innings in.

Not the greatest of westerns, but Palance fans will love it.

Absolutely one of the worst movies I ever seen. Unlike Plan 9 From Outer Space this movie is not one of those so bad they are funny or good flicks. Why? Because it takes itself too seriously. And the production wasn't shoddy and because of the well known actors.

Jack Palance who is one of my favorite actors, but tends to have bouts of hammery really pours it on. He plays the father of a a marauding confederate gang, obviously a take on Quatrill raiders, but only because the are a violent gang and they are confederates. For some reason I see a resemblance with John Brown. He is bible spouting father, who is actually a Parson, the trouble between the brothers which happened with John Brown. But even though Hollywood tends to portray Brown as a madman as Jack Palance is in this movie in reality he wasn't. Because of those reasons I do think they were not really basing this gang on Quantrill raiders but on John Brown and his sons! The movie Che the other worst movie of all time was next up for Palance, what was he thinking?

Vince Edwards is the son who decided to break off from Daddy Dearest and the Boyz. I am just going to say he pays for it. George Maharis plays one of the brothers. Both are good, as Sylvia Syms who plays Vince Edwards wife. Vince Edwards was actually very good. A very quiet and nice performance, but then Mt St Helens would look quiet next to Palance. I forgot how much I liked him and how we lost him too early. But it is Palance's performance which needs to taught in all acting and movie schools on not how to act, that is in the center of this movie and does it suffer for it.

Lastly the music was so inappropriate it sounded like it came from another movie..a romance movie. I never heard so many flourishes in my life. It was just as bad as Palance was. I do not understand how a actor can have such bad performances but then turns right around and does work that will knock your socks off. No other actor has the knack for doing that. It is like he knows some of these flicks are stinkers and acts accordingly.

Avoid this movie if you can. It side swiped me early one morning and I continued to watch because I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I gave it 3 stars because of Vince Edwards good performance otherwise it would of have gotten a 0.

Jack Palance is horrible in this film. He gives what I call a "berserk" performance which is so over the top, that it is hard to watch. George Maharis and Christian Roberts are equally as bad in their acting; both sound ridiculous using Southern accents and they also grossly over act their roles as psycho lunatics. However, if you don't take this garbage too seriously, it does provide some late, rainy night, entertainment.

What could have been an interesting tale of marauding renegade Confederates out for revenge becomes a slapdash, tawdry mess of a film. Ringleader Palance (a former parson!) and his sons Edwards, Maharis and Roberts, along with a huge gaggle of violent rebels blaze a path across the southwest frontier robbing, raping and burning anything in their midst. It's all because their own loved ones were brutalized when they were out killing Union soldiers on a raid. Finally, Edwards decides he's had enough and he and his wife (Syms) start over in a new town with an assumed name. They also have a son. However, it's only a matter of time before the relentless Palance and his band of un-merry men make their way to this heretofore quiet town. Edwards (his svelte, muscular days as a posing strap model long behind him) gives an exceedingly wooden performance. His character's motivations rarely make sense because of the weak script and because it's never really clear what he's thinking! Outfitted with Elvis-style porkchop sideburns, he mostly stares blankly and expressionless at the events around him (unless constipation can be considered an expression.) At the other end of the spectrum is Palance, who mercilessly overacts with an abandon not likely to be found anywhere outside the movie "Mommie Dearest". His ungodly performance has to be seen to be believed. Inexplicably drawing out certain words and syllables, screaming at the top of his lungs and throwing over-the-top tantrums every few minutes, he is a profound embarrassment. Maharis is given little to do as the middle son, but Roberts, as the youngest son, gives Palance a run for his money in the ham acting department. It is excruciating to watch Roberts mug and cajole incessantly through the film. O'Mara pops up rather briefly as a lame hooker (!) who hobbles around everywhere when she ought to be doing her job. She finally gets a little more to do near the end. Brand turns up as the rotund, but caring Marshall of the town Edwards has settled in. He pays for his friendliness with a sound beating. The lovely and talented Syms is FAR out of place in a movie this crass and tasteless. She provides the one ounce of class that the picture has. The sets look like something that Bonanza would reject as inauthentic, the camerawork is distractingly busy, the editing is choppy to say the least and the music is alternately abysmal and inappropriate. On good thing the film has going for it is a series of pretty decent action sequences. Some of the raiding is arrestingly done and there's a nifty scene onboard a moving train. The dynamic of the son turning against the father and having a fateful reunion could have been a great one, but unfortunately there were too many weak elements involved to sell it properly. Another oddity is the prevalence of British actors in the cast (playing Americans.)

Not a great entry to the late '60's early 70's US Western' genre but for the most part an enjoyable fare and certainly easy enough to watch. Jack Palance recreates a role, only really seen in it's Italian counterparts and has been given a life long licence to completely overact. This might be a joy to some viewers but a tad unrealistic, if not at times irritating (here is also out of context). For sure there are some highly exciting set pieces, unusual camera angles (another Italian influence) with some rare aerial shots. Together with some death defying stunt work but as a whole comes across as somewhat contrived. More emphasis/input was needed on the script, acting, story and a little subtlety would have been greatly appreciated. 'Desperados' simply tries to hard (without the necessary class) but on the other hand is a nice little exploiter, for an extensive an ever growing western collection.