An Eye for an Eye

Pretty-Good B-Western that Helped Fill the Void in the Genre when the Western was "Out of Favor", for the Most Part, in the Time Period.

Except for Spaghetti-Western Imports and an Occasional Outing from Hollywood, the Western was Suffering from the Previous Decades "Overkill" on the Big and Small Screen.

The Genre also was Not Completely in Line with Trending Social-Issues that were Evolving and Expanding Beyond Black-Hat vs White-Hat Scenarios.

So the Production Team on this Outlier was Directed by Michael Moore, a Steadfast and Prolific "Second-Unit" Director that had a Long and Sold Resume on some "Block-Buster" Films.

The Cast, Featuring Robert Lansing, a Respectable B-Actor who Filled "Manly" Rolls on TV and in B-Movies.

Patrick Wayne, second-son of John, was an On-Screen Presence with Broad Shoulders and a Toothy, Handsome Smile and Tried the Acting-Game with some Success.

The Supporting Cast was Stellar with Slim Pickens in a Rare Vile Villainous Outlaw Role, and He Chews the Scenes along with Strother Martin as a Typical Gutter-Trash, Immoral Snake.

Gloria Talbott, a Familiar Face in Many Sci-Fi Movies is the Love-Starved Spinster and Paul Fix is the Magistrate.

The Revenge-Chase is On, by Bounty-Hunter Lansing after Picken's Gang Murders and Rapes His Wife and Kills His Child and Burns-Down Their House.

The Off-Beat Script Adds Physical Handicaps that sends the Movie in a Bizarre Direction.

Worth a Watch.

Robert Lansing (who looks like cross between Lee Majors and Steve McQueen) plays Talion, a retired bounty hunter who finds himself back in action hunting Slim Pickens, a sleazy outlaw who along with his two partners, murdered his family and burned down his home.

Teaming up with a cocky (wet behind the ears) fellow bounty hunter Patrick Wayne, the two find themselves badly injured in their first attempt to kill Pickens, leaving Wayne blinded and Talion unable to shoot.

Lansing and Pickens are good, while young Pat Wayne is okay, though a bit miscast. Character actor Paul Fix is quite dignified in a supporting role as the film's voice of reason and the always oily Strother Martin is great and gives the film's best performance as a money grubbing backstabber.

A thoroughly average production, An Eye For An Eye is helped considerably by excellent locations and some stunning outdoor photography, some of the best I've seen. Every scene looks like it belongs on a postcard!

Eye for an Eye (1966) I would recommend this only for fans of Robert Lansing (which I am). From the very first strains of the guitar and whistling over the opening credits (which was absolutely awful) I seriously wondered how low the budget was.

Two crippled bounty hunters (one blinded and one with a crippled hand) team up to seek revenge. Sounds like good fuel for a satisfying plot but somehow the spirit keeps getting lost.

Strother Martin (love Strother) is up to his usual eccentric character performance. Same with the antagonist, Slim Pickens. Lansing is laconic as usual. A very young Clint Howard plays an overly ebullient child. Not that the character was oddly too loud but that Clint himself never uses his 'indoor' voice. Even at that early age.

But despite the mostly adequate performances the plodding pace and discouraging themes push me toward 'thumbs down'. No saving overall payoff for the 92 minute investment.

This summary is influenced somewhat because this reviewer has been a Robert Lansing fan as long as can be remembered. Every single time Lansing has acted in a production (TV, play, or movie), his performance has made me forget about the actor practicing a craft and to become engrossed in the role and the particular story. That is what makes a truly fine actor, in my opinion, and it is sad that Lansing had been unrecognized by the entertainment industry in general and not given more roles to portray during his career.

The story of Talion (aka An Eye For An Eye) is offbeat from the average western story, as it focuses on personal relationships between humans more than the shoot-'em-up aspects of the Old West. There is action in the gunfighting, a bit of history in Ben's background, the creativity used to surmount physical shortcomings in order to achieve a set goal, a view of family life in the hardscrabble wilderness of the 1800s, the dignity with which an aging ranch owner strives to raise his children to be honest, confidant,and respectable adults, and even some romance in the longing the early settlers must have experienced when living in a relatively lawless location and era, often far away from neighbors, family, and the diversions of city or even town life. And, it contains a lesson in morality and conscience in that the story shows even a mature adult can learn to see life from a different perspective, regardless of the events of the past.

The general production values were appropriate if not lavish, but with what appeared to be the use of genuine antiques for household props. The cinematography was outstanding, lending a real feel to what life on an isolated ranch must have been like. The ending was unusual as well, and not predictable. This is not a large production or epic western (such as THE BIG COUNTRY which was peppered with big name stars), but a lonely and tender but still a little gritty family-appropriate production.

Serve a batch of buttered popcorn, a bowl of chocolate and nuts to munch on, and your favorite beverage over ice. Curl up on the couch and turn the lights down low to enjoy this simple story of the Old West.

If you are very lucky you'll be able to catch this western as it showed up on YouTube and I could see it for the first time since it was in theaters. An Eye For Eye is a taught and lean with a fine cast of second string players. That's no reflection on their quality just their star power.

In the great MGM epic Ben-Hur one of the subplots involved Sam Jaffe who was the House of Hur steward spending many years in jail and being beaten so bad he lost the use of his legs. So he made a partnership of sorts with Ady Barber playing a big strong man whose tongue had been cut out. Each supplied the other with what he was missing. As Jaffe said in the film 'we make a considerable man'.

Both Robert Lansing and Patrick Wayne have to supply some needs for the other in An Eye For An Eye. During an encounter with gunslinger outlaw Slim Pickens, both being bounty hunters kill two of Slim's running buddies but are left injured. Lansing's gun hand is crippled and Wayne's blinded.

Probably in time they could recover, but do they have that kind of time because Pickens is out to get them. They devise an imaginary clock like gambit to use when they have to face Pickens inevitably.

The leads are fine, but the two you will remember are first Slim Pickens who started out in westerns and got first notice as a goofy sidekick to Rex Allen. Slim expanded his range considerably and while most probably remember him for Dr. Strangelove and Blazing Saddles, he could play it mean. Western fans will also recall him in both One Eyed Jacks and Rough Night In Jericho as a villain. But he was never nastier on the screen than in this film.

Strother Martin is also in this playing a nasty toad like character who'll sell anybody out for a few dollars. He's done that before most notably as one of Lee Marvin's sidekicks in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, but he brings that character to its lowest depths in An Eye For An Eye.

Not much in big budget production values, but western fans, this one's a must.