L'aigle et le vautour

Watchable Turn-of-the-Decade Western.

1950 Was a Sign-Post on the Dusty Trail of the Western Movie that Signaled a "New Direction" for the Popular Genre.

On the Horizon were Films with More on the Mind than "Cow-Boys and Indians".

More Adult

More Concerned with the Characteristics of the Characters.

Still Wearing Cowboy Hats of Course, but Not Always Announcing what was Beneath the Black & White Sun, Wind, and Dust Shields.

In other Words a Maturation.

A Place Where Horses Didn't Have Cute Kid-Friendly Nick-Names.

The Films from Directors like Anthony Mann and Budd Bottichier and Occasionally John Ford would Not Only Entertain Audiences,

but Layer the Movies with an Intent of Purpose that the First Wave of the Screen Western Lacked.

This Movie's Concern was Politics.

More Precisely, the Fate of National Territory.

The Title Symbolizes a Mexican "General", Following Juarez, and a Plan to Invade the United States Texan Border (while they were looking the other way fighting the Union in the Civil War).

It's Not a Deep-Dive into History but a Nod toward Delivering an Elementary Level History Lesson.

It has its Moments, but Overall a bit Flat and Pedestrian with the Cast the Most Glaring of Miss-Steps and Wasted Talent.

One of the Aforementioned Maturation and Next-Level Stuff, occurs Between John Payne and 2 Horses in a Violent Scene the Likes of Which were Previously Absent or Only Eluded.

Worth a Watch.

Again, a good adventure film from the '50s that only seems available on DVD in a rather poor print and whoise last 20 or 30 minutes have mismatched image and sound. Rather refrain. Miguel Marías

During the midst of the Civil War in 1863, a Texas Ranger (John Payne) and a Union agent (Dennis O'Keefe) team-up for a mission south of the border. Their focus is a town where a government agent had gone missing and the factions supporting Benito Juárez and, secretly, wannabe French-imposed emperor Maximilian. The beautiful Rhonda Fleming is on hand.

"The Eagle and the Hawk" (1950) is similar to the later "Vera Cruz" (1954), except that it takes place during the Civil War rather than immediately afterward. While it's not great like that movie, it's okay and has its highlights. The main problem is that, after a promising opening, it bogs down in the talky politics & intrigue of the Mexican town.

But the Technicolor and locations are to die for and the characters played by Payne and O'Keefe make for an entertaining duo while redhead Rhonda is stunning. The film impressively mixes magnificent location shooting with matte paintings and studio sets.

The film runs 1 hour, 44 minutes, and was shot in Sedona, Arizona, and Paramount Studios, Hollywood.

GRADE: B-/C+

Americans love to make films about the Juarez and Maximilian conflict and a big reason is that we were on the popular side then against foreign imperialism. In this case that of the French who were putting an Austrian emperor on a newly created throne of Mexico which would have become a client state. In this case both the Union and Confederacy see the danger of Emperor Maximilian.

So in a move arranged by Governor Francis Lubbock of Texas played by Grandon Rhodes, Union Army spy Dennis O'Keefe and Texas Ranger John Payne are on a joint mission to talk to a would be Pancho Villa played by Thomas Gomez who is being suckered by Fred Clark who is an agent of Maximilian from attacking Texas. Gomez is dreaming big dreams of reconquering it for Mexico, but he doesn't know he's being played for a sucker and that neither the USA or the CSA is going to stand for that.

Payne indulges in a little romance with Rhonda Fleming who is unhappily married to Clark. And Clark who possessed one of the best slow burns this side of Edgar Kennedy and usually is a comic villain plays it straight and serious here.

Payne and O'Keefe later teamed for another western for Paramount B unit producers Pine-Thomas called Passage West are much better in a much better western with The Eagle And The Hawk.

This film is set during the US Civil War. Because the US was tearing itself apart, European powers took this as an opportunity to take control of Mexico. They installed a puppet ruler of sorts, Maximillian, and convinced the man the Mexican people wanted him...though most didn't. As for the elected president of Mexico, Juarez, he was forced to run and years of fighting followed. I mention all this because this is the context for "The Eagle and the Hawk".

When the story begins, sometime incredibly unlikely takes place. An American agent (Dennis O'Keefe) teams up with a Texas Ranger (John Payne) to go to Mexico to look into trouble brewing south of the border. Now the notion of a Yankee and a Confederate working together in any capacity during the Civil War seems ridiculous....but hey, that's the plot!

Once in Mexico they learn several things. First, the American agent was looking for a fellow agent and he learns the man was very brutally murdered. Second, there's a local self-appointed leader, General Liguras (Thomas Gomez), who is supposedly aligned with Juarez. Third, there's a man who they describe as a 'German' (he's about as German as Chow Mein!) who is a big man with his own private army of sorts. How do all three of these things fit together? Well, the Yankee and Reb both work different sides in order to learn the truth.

This is a decent movie, with nice color cinematography and location shooting in Sedona, Arizona. However, it's also amazingly short on action and is quite talky. Not a bad film at all, though a VERY unlikely one considering the political affiliation of Payne's and O'Keefe's characters!