Tenente Kelly

Alvarez Kelly is directed by Edward Dmytryk and stars William Holden & Richard Widmark. It's written by Elliott Arnold & Franklin Coen (Dan Taradash uncredited for tidying it up), the locations for the shoot are Baton Rouge & Clinton, Louisiana, with Joseph MacDonald on photography (Panavision). Story is apparently based on a true US Civil War incident in 1864, it sees Alvarez Kelly (Holden) kidnapped by Confederate's led by Tom Rossiter (Widmark) and forced to drive a herd of Union owned cattle to the hungry Reb troops in Richmond.

Slow moving and blighted by a tepid script, Alvarez Kelly relies on its stars and photography to keep it out the trough. Evidently the makers were going for a social conscious piece based around an historical incident. All that is achieved is an overly talky piece, with periods of inane conversations; that is only briefly lit up by its action packed finale. And even then it can be argued that the "battle for the bridge" and the subsequent "stampede" isn't worth waiting 90 minutes for. The acting is solid, where Holden plays a role he could do in his sleep, and Widmark, sporting an eye patch, convinces as a rough and ready Colonel. Most pleasing is MacDonald's photography, not just for capturing the essence of the barren South in Baton Rouge, but also his choice of lenses for the top notch costuming (take a bow Seth Banks) afforded the ladies of the piece (Janice Rule & Victoria Shaw). There's a lovely print for this film, where in High Definition the colours positively ping from the screen.

Dmytryk (Broken Lance/Warlock), Holden (The Horse Soldiers/The Wild Bunch) & Widmark (The Last Wagon/Cheyenne Autumn) owe Western fans nothing, but this is one from the three guys that's easily forgotten once the end credit rolls. 5/10

1864: during the American Civil War a herd of cattle owned by rancher Alvarez Kelly becomes the centre of attention. While Kelly is selling it to the Union Army, Colonel Rossiter of the Rebels is planning to steal it, and he needs an expert cattleman to do it.

Slow moving at times and even talky, Alvarez Kelly is a vastly underrated western that depicts the futility of war, but not in outward fashion. It's still a large scale western, unusual, well-mounted and hugely diverting largely due to the well-etched characters, particularly in William Holden and Richard Widmark; their confrontations is one of the highlights of this Edward Dymtryck directed film and compensates somewhat for the lack of action, though the finale features a vigorous stampede and blowing up of bridges (what's with William Holden and bridges). I have seen this film on BBC2 in my youth and I have found it a nice western. Love the title song.

"Alvarez Kelly", made in 1966, supposedly tells the story of a cattle herd that was headed for Union lines during the latter months of the Civil War but was stolen by Confederate raiders, and ended up in Richmond, or so the movie says. That brings the quote listed in my summary to bear. While this may have been a fictitious event in the American Civil War, the movie does give a decent look at life during those turbulent years when one side was simply using might to slowly beat down the other side.

William Holden plays the owner of the cattle herd who has arranged, for a price, to deliver a prime beef herd to Union lines during the latter year of the War, 1864. As Kelly, he'll do anything that can be done, as long as there is a handsome fee at the end of the task. Richard Widmark plays the leader of the Confederate raiders who is just as determined to get the herd delivered, but not to Yankees, but instead to starving Confederate soldiers and citizens. His Southern accent is a bit contrived, but bearable. Widmark is able to convince Holden to change the route of the herd; however, the Union army is going to have to be contended with, as they know this herd was intended for them.

An easy film to watch, just don't put much historical truth with it.

It's 1864. The south is losing and starving for beef. Her armies have been driven back to Richmond. Mexican cattleman Alvarez Kelly (William Holden) is delivering a herd of cattle to the Union under Major Albert Stedman (Patrick O'Neal)'s directions. The two men do not get along. They come upon southern lady Charity Warwick who invites them for dinner. She's working with Confederate raiders led by Colonel Tom Rossiter (Richard Widmark) and they kidnap Kelly. The Confederates want him to lead a cattle drive into Richmond.

William Holden's macho defiance does the opposite of its intention. It's suppose to show how real these characters are but it just shows how fake it actually is. They aren't black and white but in a real situation, Rossiter would be a lot more harsher. Instead of yacking it up behind enemy lines, he would hog-tie and drag Kelly as quickly as possible back to Richmond. Once there, Kelly would never be allowed to mingle with society. I actually got excited when Rossiter shoots Kelly's finger off. That's more fitting of the situation. It's a half step up from standardized characterizations. I would like for them to take the full step. Also Stedman should have arrested Warwick. He's willing to shoot a Mexican for stealing a bottle of wine but the white lady gets away free and clear. I guess nothing has changed over the years. It would be more compelling if he arrested her and freed her slaves. I actually like the slaves being uncooperative but it would be interesting to see them if their master gets arrested. This is a great premise for a war movie adapted from a real battle. It deserves to be a tougher, grittier war movie. I like the cattle drive but unless cows are suddenly bulletproof, that situation would never be real. Nevertheless, it's a fun unusual war movie.

See it - William Holden plays his trademark role as a smooth-talking womanizer caught in a war he doesn't want to be a part of. He's a rich cattle driver in the Civil War looking to sell his horses to the highest bidder. Richard Widmark plays the eyepatch-wearing Confederate villain. Some might say these two actors can't carry a movie by themselves, but together they are fantastic. The script in this movie is surprisingly sharp and smart. This is rare for a western. The dialogue is very witty and actually pretty funny at times. The movie has also aged very well, meaning that it is still relevant and doesn't have that "old" feel to it. For example, the things that are supposed to be funny are funny, etc. The only problem with this movie is that there's not much action until the end. This is easily forgivable because of the good story. After seeing the movie, I immediately compared it to Horse Soldiers, which Holden co-starred in with the Duke. Worth seeing once. 2 out of 5 action rating