El Gringo

(mild spoilers)

This isn't as bad as its critical reputation, but it isn't very good either. In fact, it's pretty much "not enough one thing or another" in every department-an attempt at a sort of hip new antihero western that nonetheless isn't at all sufficiently committed to that path, as it's far too old-school in execution.

The score is a big, traditional, old-fashioned one (despite the odd, gratuitous sitar flourish); the whole look is very much trad Hollywood-studio western (presumably the establishment crew and resources were foisted on director Sergio Narizzano, then hot from the British New Wave hit "Georgy Girl"); the casting conventional apart from Terence Stamp. The latter may indeed be miscast to a degree-yes, his English accent carelessly slips through a lot-but at least he does provide a certain moody outsider coolness that Robert Redford (who dropped out at the last minute) wouldn't have channeled so easily.

The racial tolerance theme is "modern," yet the script chickens out by having Blue-who was raised by the Mexican bandidos who killed his Yankee parents-yearn to be "tamed" and "civilized" by the white folk who've taken him in after he's wounded, thus reinforcing all cultural stereotypes. Nor is it credible that the settlers who are suspicious of Blue would so easily accept his command later on when they're under threat. Or indeed that Blue would command forces against his "own people"-it's one thing to reject his Mexican background, another to lead a massacre of those people. Blue gets an eve-of-battle speech trying to explain his contrary psychological makeup, but it's too little, too late.

This is a handsomely photographed film with a lot of nice scenery in vivid color, and the climactic shootout is effective enough. But coming out the same year as "Butch Cassidy" and other truly revisionist westerns that embraced a fresher style and sensibility, "Blue" must have felt old-hat in 1968. And it's still a disappointing mediocrity.

Terence Stamp is an actor of some range, but that range doesn't extend to playing naturalized Mexicans. His extreme unsuitability for his role is apparent as soon as he speaks: his first words - "I'll do that" - are delivered in what appears to be thick cockney; a little later his delivery has a Devon burr. Only when Blue gave an account of his upbringing did I realised he was meant to be American. The mystery is why, having kept their leading man silent for the first forty-five minutes, the film-makers should have allowed him to speak at all.

This kicks off a four-movie tribute to the recently-deceased Silvio Narizzano who, in spite of his Italian name and Canadian origins, worked almost exclusively in English-language films; he made his name with the Oscar-nominated "Swinging Sixties" hit GEORGY GIRL (1966) which briefly took him to Hollywood where – like his contemporary Sidney J. Furie with THE APPALOOSA (1966) – he found himself turning a very ordinary cowboy tale into a Western with pretensions. In fact, I had missed out on this one a couple of times on Italian TV over the years, owing perhaps to its bad rep (Leonard Maltin rates this a measly *1/2) and, thus, made for a surprising choice to be issued on DVD (albeit emerging a no-frills affair) from Paramount...but, for this same reason, was extremely well-served by the transfer that utilized a gorgeous print whose colors leapt right off the screen on my 40" HD-TV!

In any case, this is a Western that, while not quite following the "Spaghetti" model (apart from the reasonably graphic violence), was still deemed an arty aberration (not least because it had British leads!) – stylistically, the film seemed to evoke the self-indulgent ONE-EYED JACKS (1961; down to recruiting Karl Malden for a major role!) whereas, thematically, it owed a good deal to HOMBRE (1967) with its racial issues and martyr hero. Its lack of critical and commercial success, for one thing, sent off star Terence Stamp (as much a brooding presence here – he is silent for the first half-hour or so, with the title itself a reference to the color of his eyes and, in fact, he goes by the name Azul i.e. Spanish for 'blue' – as Marlon Brando and Paul Newman in the two-mentioned films respectively) into a 10-year period of European wanderings mainly devoted to highbrow/obscure fare! For the record, it was originally intended for Robert Redford who, bailing out at the proverbial 11th hour, subsequently found himself slapped with a lawsuit by the studio for breach-of-contract!

The cast includes a couple of other popular names from this era: Joanna Pettet (who had been one of THE GROUP {1966}, here affecting a convincing drawl – though her acting and Stamp's is too modern for the genre, this only adds to the inherently offbeat nature of the film) and Stathis Giallelis (if only in a minor role – he is dispatched early on – having been the lead in Elia Kazan's America, America {1963}). Rounding out the protagonists are Malden, ever-reliable while not particularly taxed by his role of Pettet's dad (a doctor and thus a leading member of the settlers) and Ricardo Montalban, excellent as Stamp's own bandit-leader father (albeit only a surrogate) who had singled him out as his successor but now is inevitably drawn towards a face-off with him.

Typically, when he is prone to be civilized, the hero has to withstand backlash from both the whites for his 'animalistic' behavior (especially from Pettet's boyfriend, though the two men eventually make up and the latter is virtually made Stamp's lieutenant!) and his adoptive 'family' for turning on them (he killed a 'brother' who had tried to rape the heroine). With this in mind, the finale is properly tinged with tragic poignancy as son shoots father dead and is himself gunned down by an uncle! When Montalban threatens to decimate the entire community over what he takes to be Stamp's treason, the latter feels obligated to teach the settlers how to defend themselves: though booby traps are effectively laid along the stretch of beach where the battle is waged, the bandits' come-uppance is dealt a bit too quickly and overwhelmingly (with few losses among their own numbers!); incidentally, Pettet takes a nasty fall (clearly unintended) during her rush to comfort the dying Stamp which the director opted to retain for the finished version!

In the end, the chief assets here emerge to be pictorial and aural – courtesy of Stanley Cortez' sprawling cinematography and Manos Hadjidakis' flavorful score respectively – and these go a long way towards smoothing over the obvious narrative deficiencies (in the form of clichéd characterization and situations). A curious footnote: the contemporaneous FADE IN, a made-for-TV effort about the movie-making business that starred Burt Reynolds and which would eventually be credited to the fictitious Alan Smithee, reportedly features behind-the-scenes footage from the set of BLUE!

This is an excellent movie.

Blue (Terrence Stamp) is an American rescued (actually kidnapped as a child) by the leader, Ortega (Ricardo Montalban), of a Mexican band of criminals. He is separated from the gang in a failed raid, meets the beautiful and lovely Joanne Morton (Joanna Pettet), and falls in love with her. His former gang and his stepfather want him back, and at any cost to him and anyone who stands in the way or by his side.

The movie Blue is based in an excellent screenplay by Ronald M. Cohen, that provides a good story and interesting dialogue for the film's main actors, many of whom were very familiar because of their extensive TV exposure at the time. Karl Malden, Joanna Pettet, and Ricardo Montalban were all very recognizable characters to TV audiences in the 1960's.

I don't know if there is any explanation, but Karl Malden appeared in a number of western movies from 1960 to 1970; including the Nevada Smith, How the West was Won, Cheyenne Autumn, The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin, Blue, and Wild Rovers. He did not appear in westerns before or after this decade (1960 to 1970). His performance in Blue is excellent. He plays the resolute character with strong convictions that he does so well.

Joanna Pettet was an underrated and under-performing actress. Directors never seemed to take this actor to her potential. She does a wonderful job in this movie, playing both a vulnerable woman and a strong lover. I found myself worrying more about Blue (Terrence Stamp) because of Joanne Morton (Joanna Pettet) character's love for Blue.

Blue (Terence Stamp) is the intense young man possessing an extremely dangerous skillset (he is a gunfighter and a killer). He is confused by his conflicting loyalties (his sudden love for a woman he has just met that opposes his gang affiliation).

My only negative comment on this film is Terrence Stamp's strong British accent that seems out of place for an American kidnapped by Mexicans.

Although it has been castigated by the critics, this movie still has a lot going for it and is definitely worth seeing. Given a big budget for its time, it has outstanding photography, beautiful scenic vistas, a very good music score and great stunt work by the legendary Yakima Cannutt. It also has Terence Stamp, who is always worth watching, no matter what he does (if we skip Priscilla, Queen of the Desert). Yes, it is not hard to tell that he is an Englishman playing an American raised by Mexicans, but his lines are few and far between, and who cares anyway? If we can have Englishmen and Australians playing Roman gladiators without critical comment, let's give this one a break. I admit that, although the plot line intended to contrast a violent past with the power of love, a complete lack of tenderness in the love scenes was laughable. But overall, this movie beats most of John Wayne's westerns by a mile.