Charley-One-Eye

Obviously inspired by THE DEFIANT ONES, this western is totally in the good fashion of its period: late sixties and early seventies; civil rights, sex freedom, war in Vietnam, reject of the valors, pacifism, feminism. So, this was not that surprising, but it remains daring, bold, and worth watching. There are many ways to understand, read this film. Don Chaffey was also a very strange director: he made thrillers, fantasy movies involving Ray Harryhausen's special effects, and this offbeat western. Another UK director made the same: Jim O'Connoly. I know western waas not a genuine British genre, but that doesn't explain everything either. I would have never expected finding Roy Thinnes and Richard Rountree together in such a film. Shaft - for Roundtree (SHAFT series) - and David Vincent for Thinnes (THE INVADERS)- together....

The title is the name of a chicken encountered by army deserter Richard Roundtree and American Indian Roy Thinnes in this eccentric reprise of 'The Defiant Ones'.

Establishing right from the outset a suitably raw mood with a scene depicting two dogs snarling and bearing their teeth prior to the main bout between Roundtree & Thinnes shot in hot Spanish sunlight by Kenneth Talbot, and with a minimalist soundtrack of insects buzzing and the wind rustling with a score employing a civil war tin whistle, a blues piano and a harmonica.

While Nigel Davenport provides ripe villainy as a ruthless bounty hunter in a top hat with a taste for the lash.

An African-American deserter (Richard Roundtree , known for Shaft) and and his crippled American Indian hostage (Roy Thinnes , known for The invaders) form a strained comradeship and partnership in the interests of surviving against enemy attacks . A bit later on , they take on the advancing threats of some Mexican bandits (Aldo Sambrell , Rafael Albaicín) and later on , there appears a ruthless bounty hunter (well personified by Nigel Davenport) who attempts to reckoning on the escaped soldier . Somebody told the black man he wasn't a slave anymore , somebody told the red man this land was his, somebody lied , somebody is going to pay.

The flick has undeniable tendencies to symbolic events that overkill the nimble developing of the story . The film is slowly paced and spite of setting on exteriors , it feels itself some claustrophobic . The plot is plain and simple with a few roles , a strange duo faces off neighboring bandits and a racist , brutal bounty hunter . Director copes well this thrilling Western helped by the Spanish desert from Almeria where in the 60s and 70 were shot lots of Pasta/Chorizo Westerns . The picture draws magnificent acting from Richard Roundtree as the black , Union Army deserter and Roy Thinnes as the Indian outcast , both of whom encounter common ground in oppression eventually incarnated by Nigel Davenport as a cruel bounty hunter . Furthermore , brief appearances from Spanish actors as Aldo Sambrell and Rafael Albaicín , both of them usual to Spaghetti/Paella Westerns . This one results to be a British Western film along with ¨Hunting party¨ by Don Medford , ¨Catlow¨ by Sam Wanamaker , ¨Eagles's wing¨ by Anthony Harvey , ¨Shalako¨ by Edward Dymitryck , most of them starred by great players and shot in Almeria .

The motion picture was well directed by Don Chaffey , though results to be a little bit boring . Don began directing in 1951 , often working on films aimed at children , as he directed various kiddies films as ¨Magic of Lassie¨ , ¨Greyfriars Bobby¨, ¨The horse without head¨, ¨3 lives of Thomasina¨ , ¨Pete's dragon¨ , ¨Ride a wild Pony¨. He branched out into television in the mid-'50s, turning out many of the best episodes of such classic series as ¨Danger Man¨ (1960), ¨The prisoner¨ (1967) and ¨The avengers¨ (1961). Although he worked in many film genres , such as Romance/drama : ¨The gift of love¨ , ¨Four wishes¨, Prehistorical : ¨Creatures of the world forgot¨ , ¨One million years B.C.¨ , Thriller : ¨Casino¨, Comedy : ¨Dentist in chair¨ , ¨A matter of Who¨, his best work is generally acknowledged to be the crackerjack fantasy ¨Jasón and the Argonauts¨ (1963). On the other hand, he was also responsible for the lugubrious, box-office disaster ¨The viking queen¨ (1967), one of the few productions from Hammer Films that lost money. In the late 1970s Chaffey traveled to the US and worked primarily there, often in made-for-TV movies .

This film begins during the Civil War with an unnamed "Black Soldier" (played by Richard Roundtree) being caught in bed with his commanding officer's wife. Needless to say, this infuriates the white officer who immediately goes for his pistol but is shot and killed for his efforts. Realizing that he will surely hang for this, the black soldier immediately deserts and runs as fast as he can for the Mexican border. The scene then shifts to an "Indian" (played by Roy Thinnes) sitting alone in the Mexican desert when he is suddenly attacked by the black soldier and taken prisoner. It is then revealed that, because the Indian is partially crippled and of mixed blood, he has been kicked out of his tribe and forced to make it on his own. So, despite the black soldier's cruel treatment of him, the Indian takes things in stride without complaining. Be that as it may, they eventually come upon an abandoned mission and--because it offers shelter from the sun and has source of water--decide to stay there for a while. But what neither of them realize is that there is a bounty on the black soldier's head, and this will soon create all kinds of problems for all concerned. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was an interesting film which exposed some ugly truths about racism and the miserable conditions it creates for those affected by it. Unfortunately, the film seemed to focus too much on the ill-treatment of the Indian and this got rather dull and tedious after a while. That being said, while not necessarily a bad film by any means, I didn't particularly care for it all that much and I have rated it accordingly.

The production values of this film are spectacularly poor. Especially at the beginning. In spite of that it's a fairly gripping drama that leaves the viewer with plenty of food for thought. Well worth watching. Don't let the first 10 minutes put you off.