Joe Bass l'implacabile

A rugged trapper (Burt Lancaster) is forced by a band of Kiowas to trade his valuable furs for an educated runaway slave (Ossie Davis). To get the furs back, they follow the Indians and, then, a band of scalphunters, led by a boisterous bald guy (Telly Savalas). Shelley Winters is also on hand.

What's notable about "The Scalphunters" (1968), besides the cast, is that the entire story takes place in the Southwest wilderness. There are no towns, buildings or teepees in sight. But there's some gorgeous location photography.

While there are entertaining comedic bits, don't expect anything outrageous like "Blazing Saddles" (1974). This is more in the mode of contemporaneous Westerns like "Bandoleros" (1968), "The War Wagon" (1967) and "The Undefeated" (1969). It's not as great as the first or as good as the second, but it's about on par with the latter.

The film runs 1 hour and 42 minutes and was shot in Arizona (Quartzsite, Parker & Harquahala Mountains) and Mexico (Barranca del Cobre, Chihuahua, Durango & Sierra de Organos).

GRADE: B-

Light Western comedy about the particular relationship between a fur trapper and a highly polish slave , including a colour-coded cultural confrontation . It's an entertaining story with a touch of peculiarity , some great characters , a colorful cinematography , an amazing music and is funny enough . Solid western with interesting events , violent fights , emotions , humor , thrills and spectacular outdoors . Forced to trade his valuable furs for a well-educated escaped slave (Ossie Davis) , a rugged trapper (Burt Lancaster) vows to recover the pelts from the Indians and later the renegades that killed them . As the pair forms an uneasy alliance , as when the pelts are in turn and result to be appropriated , they set off in pursuit a band of cutthroats led by a cynic bandit (Telly Savalas) . The trapper will stop at nothing to take back what's his .

An amusing enough liberal comedy western that has its fun moments , entertainment , action and some violence . Enjoyable as well as amiable screenplay by William Norton , it is exciting enough and glosses both the interdependence among protagonists and their racial antagonism . This plot about a peculiar conflict between a rough , illiterate trapper and a cultured slave is well worked through a chronic circular premise . Very good acting by the great Burt Lancaster as a fur trapper who sets out in pursuit the robbers . Sympathetic Ossie Davis as Joseph Lee , a slave who helps Lancaster to fight enemies and retrieve the pelts . Perfect Telly Savalas as leader of a gang of Scalphunters who has appropriated the furs . Secondary cast is frankly nice such as Shelley Winters as Kate , Dabney Coleman as Jed , Dan Vadis as Yuma , Armando Silvestre as Two Crows and the Lancaster's best friend , Nick Cravat , as Yancy . Splendid cinematography in Panavision and glimmer Technicolor by Duke Callagham and Richard Moore as is reflected on spectacular outdoors filmed in sighting , gorgeous natural landscapes. As it was shot on location in wonderful natural parks from Durango , Mexico . Lively and rousing musical score by the maestro Elmer Bernstein composing one of his best soundtrack .

Professionally produced by a great production company formed by Arnold Laven , Jules Levy and Arthur Gardner . The first Levy-Gardner-Laven movie was 1952's "Without Warning"'; in the decades since, they have produced and directed dozens of additional features and especially Westerns . They are experts on Western genre as cinema as television as they produced and directed several TV series including "The Rifleman," "Law of the Plainsman," , "The Big Valley" . The motion picture was well directed by the recently deceased Sidney Pollack with a thankfully light hand . Sydney was an excellent director , producer and secondary actor with several hits on all kind of genres as ¨The Interpreter¨ , ¨The firm¨ , ¨Out of Africa¨ , ¨Tootsie¨, ¨Yakuza¨ and directed two magnificent Westerns , ¨Jeremiah Johnson¨ and this ¨Scalphunters¨ . Rating : Good , better than average and worthwhile watching . The flick will appeal to Burt Lancaster fans and Western buffs .

I guess we have to look at these films from a generation view point in what the great Shirley Mclain has recently stated in that they should start to make films for the over 50s age groups.

The film of today certainly seem to be targeted for a ' a different generation" as often I have to switch the box over to see if there is something wrong with the stereo settings as all I can hear is music and a very muffled speech.

I find the older films, as in this case, to be irreplaceable and standing in support of the old saying "they don't make 'em like that anymore" With taking anything away from the modern ladies of the screen, were can you find another Shelly, warm, funny, voluptuous with a distinctive class she retained to the end. Ossie Davis, irreplaceable and a gutsy person to play his part with the obvious dedication with which he did.(no wonder he won over hearts and minds) I doubt if the is a black actor with such dedication to that role today as Ossie was then.

Burt and Telly. as usual, delivered first rate parts in what proved to be good all round entertainment value. Amazingly enough my 13 year old son sat through it and thoroughly enjoyed it. Which cant be a bad achievement from our generation of old timers.

The acting is brilliant, the picture is fast, thrilling and very comical. But this western, one of the best in the sixties, is not only fun stuff. "The Scalphunters" is a very morally movie, taking a stand against racism and white men's arrogance. Also we have a well constructed and sophisticated story about the fact that circumstances of dominance can change very quickly. So I guess Sydney Pollack and writer William Norton have read the plays of Bertolt Brecht very accurately and have understood the political message of it. See it and you will like it.

I gave ******** out of 10 stars.

In the late 1960's and the early 1970's the United States was deeply embroiled in Viet Nam with all it's ramifications. It was so far from "the best of times" that it was difficult to laugh at much. Also this was the period where the Western film fell out of style. It was unfortunate timing for several excellent movies, "The Scalphunters" among them. If this movie were released tomorrow it would become an unqualified hit.

Burt Lancaster is at his cynical best, poking fun at everything the Hollywood Western and Burt Lancaster ever imagined themselves to be. Ossie Davis performs the nearly impossible task of playing a highly intelligent black slave on the lam without loosing perspective on the comic genius of the script. Tully Savallas plays the odious (And we suspect odorous) oaf with style and dignity (if that's possible) and Shelley Winters does the same for his female counterpart. And the Indians, the long-suffering, patient, bemused Indians dutifully dying and then returning to fight again just as often as the miraculous movie 6-shooters can get off 20 rounds or so.

In command of all this chaos is the unmistakably sure and steady hand of Sidny Pollick with his comic genius to rely on and a smart, literate script to form the framework. Perhaps this movie should be titled "'The Crimson Pirate' meets 'Toostie'".

If you've got a sense of humor and are able to suspend you disbelief for a couple of hours or so, "The Scalphunters" will give you a good evenings entertainment. If you enjoy it, try "There was a Crooked Man" with Henry Fonda and Kurt Douglas.