The Quick and the Dead

This is one terrific western film. Sam Elliott, who is marvelous as a "Shane-like" character, plays a drifter who follows a family of green homesteaders across the western plains and protects them from a savage pack of outlaws. The family, which includes Tom Conti and Kate Capshaw, also becomes more sufficient as the story progresses. It's a lean, well-directed film, with not a scene or character wasted. Not until Unforgiven did a western film arrives as superior as this HBO production. The story is based on an entertaining L. Lamour novel of the same name. The novel has a significant plot twist from the film, which I won't reveal here.

Sam Elliott who is doing his level best to keep the western alive as an American art form stars in The Quick And The Dead which has nothing to do with the film Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, and Leonardo DiCaprio did. But it has one great western pedigree as the story is from the pen of Louis L'Amour.

In fact there are some elements in this story that are most similar to L'Amour's most famous western Hondo. Although Sam Elliott isn't quite the G-rated cowboy John Wayne was.

Tom Conti, Kate Capshaw and their son Kenny Morrison are traveling west to settle and work the homestead that Conti's late brother had in Wyoming territory. But they run afoul of some outlaws led by Matt Clark and the outlaws mean to them harm.

If you remember in Hondo the mutual attraction of the frontier scout and the settler's wife who is waiting for her husband to get home. That's going on big time here only Conti is very much on the scene. Elliott thinks him a worthless tenderfoot at first, but Conti's character develops over the course of the film and the more you see, the more you realize there's a lot to him. A lot more than there was to Leo Gordon in Hondo.

Nice location cinematography in Arizona standing in for Wyoming territory. The roles are well cast and cowboy heroes don't come any better than Sam Elliott.

The story of The Quick and the Dead is very simple: a young married couple and their son accidentally anger a gang of bandits and they begin pursuit, then a mysterious drifter begins helping them out and protecting them from said gang. However it is still a well-written story that manages to keep you interested in what's happening.

The acting is decent enough. Sam Elliot is no Clint Eastwood but he does a good job as the stranger who befriends the young settlers who are heading West. Kate Capshaw, who you may remember as Willie Scott in Indiand Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Tom Conti also deliver some great performances as the young married couple who are travelling to the West with their son in the hopes of starting a new life.

The villains are also well-portrayed. Matt Clark manages to be intimidating as the leader of the bandits, but he manages to be a fairly complex character rather than just a cardboard-cutout villain. The rest of the gang does have their own inner-conflicts which they deal with over the course of the story.

I also thought the historical references were interesting. It is mentioned that the film takes place shortly after Custer's Last Stand, although the actual events have little bearing on the main plot beyond a very brief sub-plot which I'm not going to go into detail about.

Overall, this is a very entertaining and interesting film and I'd recommend it to any fan of Westerns.

RELEASED IN 1987 and directed by Robert Day, "The Quick and the Dead" is a made-for-HBO Western starring Sam Elliott as Con Vallian, a mysterious stranger who helps a family heading West in their conflict with a group of ne'er-do-wells. Vallian's desire is piqued by the wife (Kate Capshaw), is that interest mutual? Will the family make it to the Bighorn Mountains alive-and-well or will violence and adultery destroy them?

If you don't remember Kate Capshaw, she was the blonde in 1984's "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" and later married director Steven Spielberg.

I was impressed with this little-known Western. Although made for cable, it's based on a Louis L'Armour book and is actually better than some theatrically released Westerns. There are flaws, like the kid's questionable acting skills and the fact that the film was noticeably shot in Northern Arizona rather than Eastern Wyoming, but -- all things considered -- this is a solid realistic Western in the tradition of "Shane" and "Will Penny." Don't expect the mythic tone of 1995's big-budget Western of the same name.

Highlights include the breathtaking cinematography, a believable and mature approach, Kate's beauty, a hackneyed plot redeemed by quality characters (like Tom Conti as the settler husband/father), insightful drama & plot surprises and, of course, Sam Elliott as the quintessential Westerner. Really, Elliott is as good or - more likely - better than any Western icon you care to name (Wayne, Eastwood, Cooper, Scott, Stewart, Costner, etc.).

There are mature and insightful themes, like the undeniable connection of Vallian and Susanna. Most of us can relate: You stumble across someone of the opposite sex and instinctively sense a palpable connection, some kind of profound mutual fascination, yet - for whatever reason - pursuing an intimate relationship is not an option. In an entire lifetime you will only experience a handful such 'connections,' or less. These exchanges are permanent because they are so potent they are forever burned into one's psyche.

"The Quick and the Dead" may not be a top-notch Western like "Dances With Wolves" or "The Outlaw Josey Wales," but it's certainly a quality Western and well worth your time.

THE MOVIE RUNS 91 minutes.

GRADE: B.

Yep, the reason is the man who wrote it - Louis L'Amour. Most of his stories, although about tough men, always had women in them - and they were strong women. Women with common sense who knew how to get things done. In the Quick and the Dead it was Susanna McKaskel played by Kate Capshaw. Sam Elliott had it right when he said she was a handsome woman. Kate Capshaw was indeed beautiful in this film. She reminded me of a clean-scrubbed, Debbie Boone type "real" woman! At least in this movie, who knows what is in anyone's home life. In the story, she is traveling by covered wagon with her husband and son to a new log cabin home in the wilderness. They had set off alone due to disease sweeping the wagon train. They are beset by a group of "bad guys" who follow them relentlessly, thinking they can steal their horses, goods and one of the outlaws wants Kate. Of course they never figured on Sam Elliott as Con Vallian mixing in to help the pilgrims. I'm not going to give the details of the story away, except to say it was well done and one of those movies that you "know", that's the way it really was in the old West - not fancy dressed gunslingers parading up and down the town street. The western landscape was beautifully photographed. This is a Conagher type movie that is down to earth with hard living and real drama. As for the actors of course Sam Elliott is always great, with his smartest move marrying that pretty Katharine Ross in real life. He fits in somewhere between John Wayne and Clint Eastwood in the resourceful, tough guy roles. And he has that deep voice that allows no argument. He has so many great movies to his name like Gettysburg, We Were Soldiers, Conagher, Road House and Shadow Riders. He's a top hand at acting. Tom Conti as Duncan the husband was a bit of a disappointment for me. Not that there was anything wrong with his acting, he is good. I just think he was miscast and looked too much like a soft modern man instead of a disillusioned ex soldier from the Civil War taking on the extremely dangerous trek to the West. Then again that was the part he was playing, and if it hadn't been for that lean, mean mountain man helping, he and his family would have been dead. Kate Capshaw whose real last name is Nail, got her name from first husband Robert Capshaw. Then she married Steven Spielberg, her director in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Spielberg may be way out in left field politically, but he sure knows how to choose a good woman for a wife. Unfortunately, Kate's career has been up and down but don't think she has to worry with the Spielberg bucks. I like Kate's style and wish hubby Steven would get her more work back into the movies. The McKaskel's young son in the movie is played by Kenny Morrison. He was no Brandon De Wilde in Shane, but did fairly well for the part given him. He continues to work in film including some CSI TV work. He is just coming into his prime so who knows. The actor playing the half-breed Indian tracker was Patrick Kilpatrick is certainly a good actor. However, I'd have liked to see a real American Indian play the part, but I guess they couldn't find a Graham Greene. I have to mention the leader of the outlaws, Matt Clark. This guy has been in so many movies and TV shows his face is like a member of the family. I've never seen him do a bad acting job - he's a professional. I especially remember his great supporting acting in Emperor of the North Pole as the yard worker bullied by Earnest Borgnine, a part in The Outlaw Josey Wales and a host of others. I have no idea why another movie in 1995, took the same title as this The Quick and the Dead. It's a silly excuse for a Western fantasy starring Sharon Stone, and who knows why a good actor like Gene Hackman would associate himself with it. Stone doesn't surprise me as she uses her sexuality to get roles then pretends she is morally superior in real life. Be sure not to confuse the two movies - the Louis L'Amour/Sam Elliott 1987 version is the real Western. If you like westerns with a truer to life flavor, and if you like Louis L'Amour, this movie will appeal to you. It is well worth watching.