Chato

Chato's Land was a pleasant surprise, due to its mixed reception and that the type of film that it falls under is not always my thing I was not expecting an awful lot. But seeing as the cast was a good one on paper I thought, why not? Chato's Land is not going to be for everybody, it's very gritty and violent(some of it being not for the faint-hearted, the most memorable of it actually being very brutal) and Michael Winner's films are the kind that will entertain some and not be others' cup of tea.

The film is a touch overlong and gets a bit draggy in spots, while the ending is rather abrupt and rushed- sure it was intended to be ambiguous but for me there was the feeling of uncertainty of how to end it- and the day-for-night lighting/shooting is awfully obvious. Jerry Fiedler's music score compliments the film well and dynamically orchestrated but could have had a more sweeping punch and with less of a TV series and workmanlike pace. However Chato's Land was a pretty good film, apart from the day-for-night it's reasonably well made with splendidly gritty scenery and handsome photography that suits the atmosphere. Chato's Land is also very intelligently scripted with some remarkably literate dialogue, the direction from Michael Winner is above competent at least pacing and technically-wise and the story mostly is well-paced and compelling.

In terms of action, that in Chato's Land is sparse but when it does appear it really does pack a punch. For an action/Western film, what was really impressive about Chato's Land was the way the characters are written. The characters here are very interesting and with plenty of layers, Captain Whitmore is a very multi-faceted character and perhaps the most multi-faceted role of Jack Palance's career. The great performances help(apart from for my tastes the hammy one of Richard Jordan), Charles Bronson has rarely looked better and brings a real commanding charisma every time he appears, very telling even when not saying very much. James Whitmore, Richard Basehart, Simon Oakland and Ralph Waite give solid support but best of all is Jack Palance, who is superb in one of his better and more layered performances.

Overall, far from perfect and not for everybody's tastebuds but a pretty good film. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Chato's Land is directed by Michael Winner and written by Gerry Wilson. It stars Charles Bronson, Jack Palance, James Whitmore, Simon Oakland, Richard Baseheart, Ralph Waite and Richard Jordan. Shot on location in Andalucia, Spain, with photography by Robert Paynter, it's musically scored by Jerry Fielding. Plot finds Bronson as half Apache, Pardon Chato, who is forced to kill the local sheriff in self defence and finds himself being hunted by a town posse led by Captain Quicey Whitmore (Palance). However, as the posse trail him into the wilderness it becomes apparent that the tables have been turned, with Chato given further cause to inflict harm upon his pursuers.

The first of six collaborations between Charles Bronson and Michael Winner, Chato's Land finds the pair setting the marker for what would define their work. With the Western genre going thru a resurgence, Chato's Land is very in-keeping with the type of Western that was being released in the early 70's: namely violent, uncompromising and certainly gritty. These things, as history now shows, were tailor made for Winner, who perfectly utilises Bronson's silent and brooding assets to great effect.

Often suspected to be an allegory of the United States' involvement in Vietnam, it's thematically correct in that respect. But the timing of the film would suggest this to not be the case. Chato's Land is more than just a revenge Western; a film about white men out of their usual terrain being pursued by a man of a different ethnicity, it wants to, and does quite well, be a picture dealing in racism, violence and the folly of hypocritical justice. But even tho Wilson's script brings these issues to light, they are not fully formed, with Winner at times dragging the film to a stand-still. However, the group dynamic is a good one, with the inevitable character differences creating a tinderbox waiting to ignite, while Winner doesn't skimp over the violence, puncturing the narrative with savage thrusts.

Bronson was 50 years old when making the film, his physicality here is very impressive. The role of Chato is hardly a stretch for him, in fact it's very much a perfect fit. He's basically asked to be a phantom in the landscape, but he casts an imposing presence each time he's called on to deliver some Chato justice. In pursuit are a mixed bunch of actors, with Palance, Whitmore and Baseheart the obvious professional standouts, while Simon Oakland leaves an indelible mark as grizzled father of the Hooker boys, Jubal. Fielding's (The Wild Bunch) score is efficient, but workmanlike, and Paynter's (Lawman) photography never really makes the landscape as imposing as it should be. Overall it's a mixed bag, but for fans of revenge type Westerns, and Palance, it's easy to recommend, but it still should have been more intelligent than it ultimately is. 7/10

Once again this movie review sight has given a superb movie a lousy rating, and once again I blame the morons that write these reviews. Clearly the coming of brain transplant surgery will be none to soon. This movie is what westerns are supposed to be like, gritty, tough, sweaty, with no holds barred and plenty of action and blood. The plot is simple but works well and does not treat you as if you're a dummy, everything that happens makes sense. Bronson definitely looks and acts like he is an Indian living off the land, he does a superb job and I defy anyone to think of another actor who could play this role. The ending while immensely satisfying also leaves you feeling quite empty as the hero may have won, but why did it have to happen in the first place. Hatred, discrimination and overconfidence were the root causes which drove the posse to chase this fugitive into country he called his own, and in the end they paid for it with their own blood. So I guess you could say this movie also makes you think a little as it does have a moral to the story, which most of the new movies do not.

A tale of western revenge, "Chato's Land" has a cast of many well known actors including Jack Palance, Richard Basehart, Simon Oakland, Ralph Waite, Victor French and James Whitmore as well as Bronson in the lead role as Pardon Chato.

Chato is a half-breed Apache who makes the mistake of visiting a town that is hostile towards Indians. Being set upon by the sadistic town Marshall, Chato kills the lawman in self defense and must run from a posse of the town's people led by Jack Palance as Quincy Whitmore. Palance is excellent as Whitmore, an ex-Confederate officer who still longs after the excitement that comes from waging war. Leading the town's men in pursuit of Chato, Whitmore is decked out in his Confederate officer's jacket and plummed hat. Along with Whitmore is Nye Buell (Basehart) dressed in top hat and frock coat offering his whiskey laden salty commentary along the way. Simon Oakland also does a fine job as Jubal Hooker, the vicious elder of the degenerate Hooker clan who takes control of the posse from Quincy and ultimately cause the death of several of the posse members.

This movie has some beautifully set scenery that captures the harshness of the desert land that Chato takes refuge in. Whitmore comments that the harsh land is something that a white man would just damn off to hell and forget, but to Chato who doesn't ask much or take much from the land, it is almost a living thing.

Michael Winner's "Chato's Land" of 1972 starring the great late Charles Bronson and the equally grand Jack Palance, who also passed away recently, is a tough-minded and violent English Western which should not be missed, and a must-see for every Bronson fan. Director Winner, who is most famous for his violent 1974 cult classic "Death Wish", is certainly one of the masters of uncompromising revenge cinema and "Chato's Land", Winners first collaboration with Bronson, is one of the movies which have rightly earned him this reputation.

When half-breed Apache Pardon Chato (Bronson) shoots a racist Sheriff in self defense in a Saloon, local men form a posse to catch him, in order to hang him as soon as possible. The posse is lead by former Confederate Captain Quincy Whitmore, who is more keen on the manhunt just for the good old times than out of hate towards Chato. The sadistic Hooker brothers who have also joined the posse, however, hate Indians of any kind, and they don't have the slightest scruples of doing anything to make the fugitive pay for defending himself. As the posse members get deeper and deeper into the desert of Indian territory, however, they have to find out that they might have underestimated their opponent. This is Chato's land, and in Chato's land the hunters can quickly become the hunted...

The acting in "Chato's Land" is great, Charles Bronson, who hardly says a word fits perfectly into his role. Jack Palance is superb in his role of Capt. Quincy Whitmore, and I couldn't imagine anybody else but Bronson and Palance to play the leading parts in this. Simon Oakland and Richard Johnson are also great in their ugly roles of Jubal Hooker and his psychopathic little brother Earl, and the cast furthermore contains Richard Basehart. The film is very well photographed in the Spanish Almería, certainly the best location for European Westerns.

"Chato's Land" is a brutal, tough-minded and great Western, which should not be missed by anybody who likes revenge movies. The performances are excellent, and the movie is stunning, raw and atmospheric from the beginning to the end. A must-see for Charles Bronson fans, Chato's Land is a great film. Highly recommended.