Chuka

Confronted with impending starvation and death "Chief Hanu" (Marco Lopez) of the Arapaho tribe mulls attacking a nearby United States Army outpost to acquire food and weapons. Although the commanding officer of the fort "Colonel Stuart Valois" (John Mills) fully understands the plight of the Arapaho, his superiors don't believe an attack is imminent and have forbidden him to help them out. Adding to his concern is the fact that the soldiers he has under his command are extremely undisciplined and a search party he has recently sent out has yet to return. Along with that a stagecoach carrying two female passengers and a gunslinger has arrived and with them the driver brings even more ominous news. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this film turned out to be a solid, no frills western for the most part. Admittedly, some of the action scenes were a bit too far-fetched with the gunslinger "Chuka" (Rod Taylor) being much too fast and accurate with his pistol to be believed. Even so, I liked the way the story progressed and I thought that Luciana Paluzzi was perfectly cast as "Senora Veronica Kleitz". Be that as it may, I enjoyed this movie and because of that I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

Just recently I found a video store in New Haven County where fine old westerns can be had on VHS. One of the ones I had long wanted to see was "CHUKA" or Chuka: the Gunfighter, from 1967.

The video transfer was high quality and so watching this movie on tape was an enjoyable experience. Luciana Paluzzi is stunningly beautiful.

Indeed, Chuka is something of a Hollywood fantasy but the tone and the settings of the story are fairly well done.

Both Paluzzi and her niece, played by Victoria Vetri ( as Angela Dorian ), do very well in this western oddity. Ernest Borgnine is good as ever, at being Ernest Borgnine. Rod Taylor was also very good and very believable as the cowpuncher turned hardened hired killer.

The most interesting part of the story was about how Fort Clendennon became a dumping ground for misfits, rejects, and bad officers. This is a well-known but seldom portrayed part of the truth of how the U.S. Army operated in the late 1870's. It is true that in this fiction, many of the soldiers and civilians seem to be just a little too clean for that day and age, but it doesn't really detract from the rapid pace of the events in this drama.

Additionally, the extreme deprivation imposed on the Arapaho tribal nation by the Army at this time is another important element. The "injuns" are rather cartoonish in their depictions but at least some aspects of their true grievances are relayed in the plot.

Perhaps this Chuka -- pronounced Chuck-Uh -- is a lot more savvy than circumstances in that day and age might have permitted, but Rod Taylor does really well at being fast-as-lightning and very tough.

This film gets a vote of 7 from me, which was really a six with a kicker for the beautiful Vetri and the beautiful Paluzzi.

Many of the better westerns have been good about presenting the Mexican culture of that time in a favorable light, and this is one of them, and neither Vetri nor Paluzzi appear as simply being "eye candy" for a rough-and-tumble western. The dinner sequence where Colonel Valois rakes his officers over the coals and embarrasses them all is a piece-de-resistance in western drama. Other elements are not so convincing but this is fun way to see a good western drama from a by-gone era of movie making.

Chuka derives its power from the high quality of the story on which it is based. I can recommend it heartily for western fans, for Victoria Vetri fans, and for Rod Taylor's excellent, dynamic performance.

That's for me one of the best Gordon Douglas' western, besides RIO CONCHOS of course. And Rod Taylor is purely magnificent in this awesome role, as excellent as in THE MERCENARIES, which he made the same year. It is a superb story, adapted from a novel by Richard Jessup that I have not read. It is action packed, moving, poignant concerning characters relationships, even the sub characters are terrific. John Mills, the British famous actor, gives here one of his most brilliant performances. It is an Indian wars, military western, not an outlaw one, a fort under siege scheme, an underrated film for my taste, but I repeat, an excellent one. And an unforgettable ending which may leave you unsatisfied. But that's a matter of opinion.

Chuka was co-produced by Rod Taylor's Company Rodlor he had all control of this fine picture, since The Time Machine the Australian Rod Taylor became one of my favorite actor, on greats movies as The Birds and The Mercenaries, he made few westerns, Chuka quite sure is the best, here in Brazil according my old fellows moviegoers, have been said the same, Chuka is great, Rod Taylor recently was presented by Tarantino as one his great hero in his childhood.

Supported by a strong casting the plot orbit around of the odd members of Fort Clendennon, where gathered the scum of the US's Army, surrounded by hungry Indian of the great nation Arapahoe in middle of the desert, Chuka arrives at Fort facing his destiny where his former girlfriend Veronica (Luciana Paluzzi) and his niece Helena (the beauty Victoria Vetri) whom find a safe shelter, there are multiples colorful characters, as the British Colonel Stuart (John Mills) who was spelled by British Army due he is a drunker.

The Major Benson (Louis Hayward) for a cheater gambler, the rough Sgt. Hahnsbach (Ernest Borginine) follows the strict orders of Col. Stuart by personal reasons, anyway all them were there as a punishment impose by the US's Army, the highlight come up with the fight between Chuka and Hahnsbach that surprisingly ends up in a draw, the final Arapahoe attack on the fort is inexorable, but stays a feasible doubt at the end, great western, too much underrated by IMDB's members!!

Resume:

First watch: 1988 / How many: 4 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 8.

Chuka is an unusual and unsatisfying Western with a plot that several times reminds one of Beau Geste. It starts with the US Cavalry retrieving their comrades' bodies at a fort that has been overwhelmed by Indians and then flashes back to portray the events that led up to the massacre.

John Mills usually plays a sympathetic character but as Colonel Valois he has no redeeming feature at all, even at the end he stands apparently helpless as his ragtag soldiers fight off the Indian attack. (One wonders why a colonel has such a small command, which seems to total barely 40 men, and the fort itself is small enough to fit conveniently into a studio.) It is hard to find much to like about most of the cast, but then the members are playing unlikeable people. Rod Taylor as the gunslinger Chaka shows his good side in the opening scenes when he offers his food to starving Indians but drives a hard bargain when his scouting expertise is needed. Louis Hayward, looking a bit like the British character actor Terry-Thomas, pays for the services of an Indian girl. Only Ernest Borgnine, appearing larger than one usually visualises him, makes much of a screen impact, and his character is one of the few who seems not to have an unfortunate past.

The two Mexican ladies marooned at the post after rashly travelling across country in a stagecoach are an intrusion into the plot (but then I often groan at the contrived introduction of glamorous women into an environment that in real life would be all-male).

All in all, a disappointing oddity.