Il grande gaucho

Jacques Tourneur makes very stylish Westerns, from CANYON PASSAGE before to WICHITA after, and WAY OF A GAUCHO is about the "original cowboys," the titular Spanish Argentine bandits who "Go with God" and are as patriotic as they come, and go: Making the famous "last refuge of a scoundrel" quote more pro than con, at least for one in particular who rides in the glory of the Old Days...

That we never really learn about so we can only follow the intrepid horse-clopping footsteps of Rory Calhoun's "condor eyed" Martin Penalosa as the best scenes have our anti-hero breaking the law, sent under Richard Boone's harsh military command and eventually finding his own way...

This is where things slowly collapse upon an overly grandiose soundtrack and a maze of plotlines marring what should've been a more simple, honest Western that Tourneur's good at. Painted with broad strokes, the surrounding countrysides feel like another world entirely, so there's a Fantasy element underneath the deep brown saddles and painted red scarves, as if Penalosa's more a lean Barbarian than maverick horseman, and with Tourneur, a Gothic undertone lurks as well...

But our man needed more of a goal, an urgency, than to ride along (with forced ingenue Gene Tierney when guitar-strumming Everette Sloane would've made a terrific sidekick) full of stubborn, woeful pride. This GAUCHO looks terrific though.

Exotic Technicolor western from 20th Century Fox and director Jacques Tourneur. In 1875 Argentina, the old ways of the pampas-roaming gauchos are being pushed aside for the more "civilized" ways of the city-dwellers and the European immigrants. Fiercely proud gaucho Martin (Rory Calhoun) reunites with his adoptive brother Don Miguel (Hugh Marlowe), only for Martin to learn that Miguel has adopted the modern ways. After a deadly knife fight, Martin is sentenced to army duty rather than imprisonment, putting him at the mercy of cruel Major Salinas (Richard Boone). Martin bristles under the yoke of conscription and soon goes AWOL into the wilderness, where he rescues damsel in distress Teresa (Gene Tierney). Romance blooms, but dangers lurk ever closer. Also featuring Everett Sloane, Enrique Chaico, Jorge Villoldo, Ronald Dumas, and Claudio Torres.

The excellent color cinematography and location shooting help elevate this above its occasionally uninspired screenplay. Leads Calhoun and Tierney, late replacements for Tyrone Power and Jean Peters, both look great. I watched this for Tierney, and while her role is on the small side, she handles it well. I usually like Richard Boone in everything I see him in, and this is no exception, bringing nuance to what could have been a one-note villain part.

Rory Calhoun is found guilty of murder. His sentence, a term in the army. This is 19th Century Argentina, however, so he prefers to turn bandit and court aristocratic Gene Tierney.

Sounds like a good idea to me, particularly the part about Miss Tierney. I was expecting one of those Shaky A westerns that Calhoun starred in, but that's not what I got. This was originally planned for Henry King to direct Tyrone Power Jr. in, so Fox went all in. After King and Power walked, Rory Calhoun took the lead role, and he does a surprisingly good job with it. If you think that Fox Technicolor is all overlit and bright colors like a Grable musical, you'll be surprised too. DP Harry Jackson, who shot a bunch of those Grable pix offers a color palette with lots of black in it, offering a richness rarely seen outside of British Technicolor. After shooting in Argentina wrapped, the crew was getting ready to head back to the US when Eva Peron died and they stayed to shoot her funeral.

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.