El hombre temerario

After being enlisted by a hot widow (Angie Dickinson), a former war spy (Burt Reynolds), a blacksmith (Ossie Davis) and an inventor (Clint Walker) team-up to salvage a treasure in gold bars from a sunken ship in the Platte River, a treasure the woman's husband stole. They then have to return the gold bars to the Denver Mint before the phony bars are discovered and the woman's family name is tarnished. But how will they get all those gold bars into the Mint without anyone noticing?

People tend to dub this a Western Comedy, but it's not in the silly sense of "Blazing Saddles" (1974) "Texas Across the River" (1966) or "The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox" (1976). It's more of a Western Caper with amusing flashes, mainly due to Reynold's fun-loving title character.

The same plot was later used in John Wayne's "The Train Robbers" (1973) with Ann-Margret in the Angie Dickinson role, minus the caper in the third act. They're both worth checking out, but I favor "The Train Robbers" because, to me, the caper in the last act gets kind of tedious, not to mention unbelievable. Nevertheless, "Sam Whiskey" features a great cast with fun-lovin' chemistry and quality Western locations.

It is presumed that the story takes place circa 1870-75 since it is detailed that Sam was a spy during the Civil War and he appears to be around 30-35 tops. Actually, the earliest the story COULD have taken place would be 1906, which is when the Denver Mint began minting coins, but this would make Whiskey about 65 years old, which he obviously isn't. Adding to the problem, the Carson City Mint shut down in 1893. So the timeline is all fudged up.

The movie runs 1 hour, 36 minutes and was shot at Universal City, Burbank and Lake Camanche, Ione, California (with underwater scenes done in Silver Springs, Florida).

GRADE: B/B- (6.5/10)

I think "Sam Whiskey" is a bit underrated and is actually one of Burt Reynolds' better films despite it's meager score of 5.9 on IMDB. It's very enjoyable...enough that you can look past the final portion of the movie which is, needless to say, farfetched....but fun.

Sam Whiskey (Reynolds) is certainly NOT a great hero in this film. He talks big and makes big promises, so that is why Laura (Angie Dickenson) hires this ne'er-do-well to do an anti-robbery! What is an anti-robbery? It's when you are paid to return something stolen without anyone being the wiser! In this case, apparently Laura's father stole gold from the local mint and replaced it with gold-painted lead blocks. Sam's job is to retrieve the faux gold and replace it with the original. First, he needs to hire some partners to help him. Second, he needs to retrieve the gold. Third, they need to somehow switch it with the fake stuff!

In many, many ways, this film is a like a lighthearted and slightly comic version of a later film, John Wayne's "The Train Robbers". The Wayne film is rated higher but I frankly enjoyed the Reynolds movie more even though how they replace the gold is hard to believe...especially since gold is MUCH heavier and difficult to work with than it is in the film! Worth seeing and fun...and, incidentally, the song Sam sings will DEFINITELY get stuck in your head if you do watch it!

Reynolds' undeniable charm and appeal are stretched to their limit in this simple, eternally average western yarn. He plays the title character, a drifter who is talked into a nearly impossible heist job by the sexually persuasive Dickinson. The film opens with an enjoyable confrontation between Reynolds and Davis (who would later work together on "Evening Shade".) The pair later hooks up with gorgeous lunkhead inventor Walker and attempts the job at hand...putting $125,000 worth of gold BACK INTO the Denver mint. They are pursued by a mysterious man, with the thickest eyeglasses on the planet, who wants the gold for himself. The film has a light tone and has the elements to be amusing and entertaining, but somehow misses the mark. For one thing, if one removed the scenes of the covered wagon travelling cross country, the film would probably run about 40 minutes! Also, the plot, as written, is just a little thin to sustain a feature film. Reynolds is near the peak of his attractiveness and shows off his chest in a bathtime scene. Unfortunately, Walker (who possessed the chest to end them all!) is denied that chance. The closest he gets is a bondage scene in which his shirt is cut open slightly. (Was Reynolds afraid of a little beefcake competition?) Davis does well in his role and Walker has a few nice bits as well. The whole thing just has a sheen of mediocrity over it. Dickinson is her usual stiff, breathy-voiced self, but is attractive and manages to supply a touch of amusement. Oft-used character actor Schallert is given a nice role. One mystery that even J.B. Fletcher couldn't solve: How could anyone, after hearing Reynolds sing in this film, hire him for "At Long last Love"?? Fans of Reynolds and of quirky westerns should enjoy it more than others.

Sam Whiskey is directed by Arnold Laven and written by William W. Norton. It stars Burt Reynolds, Ossie Davis, Clint Walker and Angie Dickinson. Music is by Herschel Burke Gilbert and cinematography by Robert C. Moreno.

Widow Laura Breckenridge (Dickinson) offers Sam Whiskey (Reynolds) a $20,000 reward for the return of some gold that her late husband had stolen from the Denver mint. However, she doesn't want the gold for herself, she wants Sam to put it back into the mint before it's found to be stolen and soils her family name!

Maybe it's because I consider myself a Reynolds fan that I found this to be a whole bunch of fun? That I appear to be at odds with critical consensus about Sam Whiskey's worth as entertainment?

Stolen money burns a hole in your pocket.

Sam Whiskey knows exactly what it's doing, it mixes the caper movie with a Western setting and lets the principal players have fun with it. The quadruple lead players bounce off of each other with considerable charming results, the set-up is suitably daft, a reverse robbery if you like, and there's no shortage of suspense and action. In fact the various twists that arise as Reynolds, Davis and Walker go about their mission of goodwill for the sultry Dickinson, are well implemented into the plot. The De Luxe colour photography is most pleasing, though the absence of scenic panoramas is sorely felt, and the music score is complementary to the tone of the story.

True, the direction is hardly inspiring, the quirky nature of the whole thing narrows down the number of film fans it might appeal to and the idea is indeed thin. Yet for Reynolds fans it should be sought out, to see him at the end of the 60s before "his" time would come in the 70s. Watch him perform with a comedic glint in his eye, see Dickinson smoulder and raise temperatures, Walker play at odds with his macho persona, and Davis having fun being the tough boy of the group. Enjoy the cheekiness (Re: ludicrousness) of the caper, the early diving technique on show or sample the verbal amusement that comes from the stars. I just know I had a big enough grin on my face come the end to make this a strong 7/10 rating. Non Reynolds fans should probably knock a point off that rating, though.

It's no mystery that Burt Reynolds is one of the most underestimated actors of our time. In this particular film, he gave us one of his best comedy-stilish acting ("no-one noticed it", he said) which makes this movie working. Burt's acting would be enough to make it watchable, but also Ossie Davis and Clint Walker fit well in their roles.

For me the remarkable of this movie is a) the way it is directed and edited (it ain't dull for one second), although there are some silly situations (e.g. Burt firing with a machine gun to save his friends killing all his enemies without hitting his friends...), but hey, it's a comedy and it's not the story which is most interesting. It's the mood of the film and the way characters are portrayed. It contains a lot of fine jokes and dialogue ("I'm not riding this long way to bury your bird") and chemistry between Burt and Angie Dickinson is amazing. Also the more serious parts of the film (stealing the gold out of the fort) are working well.

Also, there are some things which seem to be rare in a film: The fact that no-one of the "thieves" have intentions killing his buddies to keep the gold for himself. No, they even break in to return it back to the government! It's hardly believable, but it is that fact that make the film and these characters charming.

I give it a 7 of 10