Il grande gaucho

Twentieth-Century Fox put together this unusual little adventure story, filmed almost entirely on location on the Argentinian Pampas. It's the tale of a proud young Gaucho and his long struggle against injustice. Rory Calhoun never quite made it as a big star, but he carries this one ably enough, though I found his unrelenting surliness a little wearying. It is worth noting that he does his own stunt riding.

A young Richard Boone is excellent as (what else?) the villain. His character, Major Salinas, bullies Martin (Calhoun) when the latter is forced to join the Argentinian Army. Martin deserts and becomes Val Verde, the brigand king. Salinas quits the Army and becomes chief of police, and is thus able to continue his vendetta against the Gaucho. What puzzled me is, if Calhoun can change names so easily, how come Boone has to wear the same uniform in two different jobs?

Gene Tierney, Fox's specialist film noir love interest, appears in this one as Teresa, the respectable woman who falls for the Gaucho outlaw. Tierney is great, affecting a softer, more natural look than in her urban crime movies and (unusually for her) hitting the screen in colour.

Jacques Tourneur directs with proficiency, capturing both the glorious freedom of the Pampas and the imposing beauty of the Andes. It is just a pity that Philip Dunne's screenplay is so artificial and wordy. Is it really necessary to put in stuff like, "Our knives are thirsty, but we will not give them drink yet"?

Val Verde knows that the Gauchos, the semi-wild ethnic group of the Pampas, are heading for oblivion. He chooses to defy destiny and fight against hopeless odds. His elemental heroism, and the urbane malice of Salinas, make this little picture worth watching.

Tyrone Power was probably right to bow out of doing Way Of A Gaucho. This would have been a great part for him ten years earlier, but by 1952 Power was 38 years old would not have been all that convincing any more as one wild and woolly gaucho who prizes freedom above all things.

So 30 year old Rory Calhoun got the part and he looked even younger than that. Calhoun plays a young man who was taken in by a large estancia owner and raised as a stepson along with his real son Hugh Marlowe. The film opens with Marlowe returning from getting a European education in Spain and Marlowe has adopted European ways.

Civilization is coming to the Pampas, a fact that a lot of the gauchos resent, none more so than Calhoun. When he kills a man in a brawl, he's arrested, but Marlowe goes to bat for him and he gets army service with Richard Boone trying to make a soldier out of him. Naturally Calhoun doesn't take to that kind of discipline and he deserts and becomes the notorious bandit leader Valverde. Along the way he meets Gene Tierney and the two of them get something going.

20th Century Fox starting in the early Forties did a whole slew of films with a Latin American setting, the idea being to promote a Good Neighbor policy with Latin American countries who all declared war on the Axis powers after December 7. In fact Argentina was the only country not to declare war, at least until 1945. Because of that the Juan Peron government had few post war friends outside of Franco's Spain.

So with that in mind they no doubt welcomed 20th Century Fox to do a film with a real Latin American location. The cinematography of the Pampas is first rate and the American players who also included Everett Sloane as Calhoun's sidekick blend nicely in with the Argentine cast. The first lady of Argentina Eva Peron who was a film star before she married Juan took a personal interest in this project even though she was dying during the shooting of Way Of A Gaucho.

For its exotic location and good performances Way Of A Gaucho is definitely worth your time for a look.

Way of a Gaucho is directed by Jacques Tourneur and adapted to screenplay by Philip Dunne from the Herbert Childs novel. It stars Rory Calhoun, Gene Tierney, Richard Boone, Hugh Marlowe, Everett Sloane and Enrique Chaico. Music is by Sol Kaplan and cinematography by Harry Jackson.

1875 Argentina, and after killing a man, gaucho Martin Penalosa (Calhoun) is sentenced to serve army duty. Not one to be conformist, Martin deserts and becomes a leader of bandits.

A most pleasing Oater filmed predominantly out of Argentina and in Technicolor, story essentially revolves around Penalosa's refusal to accept progress, where his beloved Pampas is set to see its landscape changed. With him already having a non conformist attitude anyway, the impending railroad incursion onto the lands tips him still further beyond the law. But he has many other things to contemplate, not least the appearance in his life if the delectable Teresa Chavez (Tierney), and that he is a very wanted man, particularly by Major Salinas (Boone), who has taken umbrage at Penalosa's desertion from his army.

Charge him with a wilful misunderstanding of history.

With some high grade locations photographed superbly, and a rousing musical score that sticks in your head for hours afterwards, tech credits are impressive. Which then only leaves it to the cast and director to seal the deal for this to be a must see for genre enthusiasts. Thankfully all deliver the goods. The best portions of the pic - as per characterisations - comes via the Calhoun/Boone series of confrontations, both characters having a grudging respect for each other. Their moral compasses differ greatly, as does their goals in life, but it's two men who are chipped from the same granite stone and both brought vividly to life by two great character actors.

He's a fool, but very gaucho.

Tourneur's CV shows him to have been at times an outstanding director, and even though this pic is more a case of being a passable mark for him, there's nice framing touches on show to showcase his keen eye for detail. He also plays a good hand with the action, with plenty of exciting scenes involving the Gaucho's and their trusty steeds. He gets a more than competent turn out of a radiant Tierney, whilst Enrique Chaico is most memorable, his director letting him hold court as a very important religious character.

The moral of the story is nothing new, and in truth from a narrative viewpoint it could have been bolder with its telling of the last days of the Pampas - as the Gaucho's knew it - and one crude imposed projection shot dampens ever so slightly an otherwise great action sequence. But these are minor irritants in what is a very enjoyable and beautifully mounted South American themed Oater. 7/10

"Way of a Gaucho" is basically an American style western movie...but set in the pampas of Argentina. And, surprisingly, the studio chose to actually film it there on location. As a result, the scenery is lovely and shows up well in glorious Technicolor.

Rory Calhoun plays Martin, a gaucho who is intensely proud. This pride leads to his downfall, as he gets into a fight and he ends up killing a man. As a result, he's given a choice....join the army or get punished like any killer would be punished. However, Martin is undisciplined and soon he ends up running away and spends much of the rest of the film as a bandit with his own gang of gauchos. Is there ANY chance at redemption for this man? And, what about his lovely wife (Gene Tierney)?

This film is very talky and a bit slow in spite of the plot. Additionally, you have no idea WHO is the bad guy and who is good. It's never clear why the bandits fight with the army. Is the army corrupt or abusing its power? After all, the film seems to imply the soldiers are somehow bad. Regardless, it's an okay movie with lovely scenery....and isn't a bad time-passer. I must warn you, however, the ending is a bit vague and wasn't entirely satisfying.

A different kind of western, on Argentine's Pampas, an ill-tempered Gaucho Martin (Rory Calhoun) killed on a knife's fight a man who insulted is "brother" (Hugh Marlowe) his was sentenced to serve the Army, there he meets a tough Major Salinas (Pat Boone) the clash between them is matter of time, due the nature of both, he deserts and becomes an outlaw as Valverde, he gathered a bunch of all sort of the men, including his former inmates at prison, meanwhile he falling in love by the beauty Teresa (Gene Tierney), Major Salinas wounded on right hand was a crippled on fight on Martin's escape pursued him on the edge of the Pampas, however the sudden pregnancy of Teresa will change their destiny, it seems odd at first look, therefore has something magic on this unusual western, mainly by the priceless direction of the master Jacques Tourneur and the beautiful Argentine's landscape, compelling story with religious oriented!!!

Resume:

First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.5