Sangue em Sonora

I caught this on television and loved it. It's Brando's spaghetti western. Lots of fantastic landscapes. close-ups and acting. Not very violent, but extremely effective. Great soundtrack, would be awesome in surround, but mono track was terrific. John Saxon was a great bad guy ( a Mexican, no less) and character actors are authentic. Well worth seeing. Sidney J. Furie shows real skill as a director even though he was only thirty three at the time. There's elements of John Ford, Howard Hawkes and Sergio Leone. Sometimes it was hard to buy Brando in this role, it's more an Eastwood type of role, but he's such a great actor that he becomes convincing. John Saxon playing a Mexican bandit is a terrific performance, even though it's a white guy playing a Mexican. Hollywood at it's best.

E.Forster Toronto, Canada

"The Appaloosa" is a superior low-key western with a great performance by Marlon Brando and very good ones by John Saxon and Anjanette Comer. Brando plays a white man raised by Mexicans who returns from the Civil War tired of killing and ready to build a ranch around one Appaloosa stallion. Brando has the misfortune of becoming a tool for Comer to escape the clutches of Saxon. Saxon retaliates by stealing Brando's stallion, and Brando follows Saxon into Mexico to reclaim it. Director Sidney J. Furie ("The Ipcress File," "Iron Eagle") extensively uses extreme close-ups of faces, in the same manner as Sergio Leone, but not for the same purpose. Furie uses these close-ups to establish intimacy between the characters and the audience. This works beautifully in "The Appaloosa," particularly so since the story is so unremarkable and low-key and Brando's character is by no means a superman. Most of the violence is of the "G" rated variety, with the notable exception of a hand-wrestling contest played with the addition of scorpions.

While the ending of "The Appaloosa" is as abrupt and unremarkable as everything that precedes, intimate moments in the movie linger long after. As examples:

o Brando's confessional o The little girl telling Brando he smells like a goat o The goat herder telling Brando about Saxon's gunmen killing his pet goat o Comer telling Brando her fate if he doesn't help her escape Saxon o The hand-wrestling contest

There are many more unremarkable but somehow memorable moments in the sublime "Appaloosa." It is too insignificant to be great, but it most certainly very good. I give "The Appaloosa" an "8".

I rate this mid-60's Brando Western a 6, but it really wasn't accepted at the time. Marlon is incredible as always, Anjanette Comer is a stone fox, great supporting cast, and John Saxon as Chuy Medina is a worthy adversary to taunt Brando. Beautiful Southwest and Mexican terrain in this Sidney J. Furie flick that is well worth the trip. Similar to Joe Kidd (also with Saxon).

Best performance = Marlon Brando. Westerns of this type were on their way out by 1966, but with Brando it still makes the grade. Rafael Campos is believable as always in the most authentic way. This one is easy to find so give it a shot!

Interesting but slowly paced Western follows Brando's attempts to recover an Appaloosa horse stolen from him by Mexican villains . Being based on a novel by Robert MacLeod and screenplay by also filmmakers , James Bridges and Roland Kibbee . Set in 1870s , Southwest to Sonora where rules the lawless , lustful and violence arrives a man who returns from war and tries to recover a horse (the appaloosa of the titles) stolen from him by a Mexican bandit called Chuy (John Saxon who received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor) and hoodlums (Emilio Fernandez) . As a Mexican-American named Matt Fletcher and outlaws to live on the edge of violence . When the bandits steal his horse , he sets out in pursuit the thieves . Meanwhile Matt falls in love for the Chuy's girlfriend named Trini (Anjanette Comer) .

This strange Western contains drama , action , colorful outdoors , shootouts but is paced in slow-moving and often tiring . Violent and moving at the ending in which Fletcher/Brando single-handedly, contends the whole nasty band . Good interpretation by the mythical Marlon Brando , he carries out a method-acting , brooding approach to the main role , though according to co-star John Saxon, Marlon Brando's relationship with director Sidney J. Furie got to the point where Brando, when getting ready to do a close-up, would be reading a book , he would only lower the book when Furie yelled "Action" ; when he yelled "Cut", Brando would raise the book again . Also according to producer Alan Miller, appalled at his star's lack of interest in the film and his lackluster performance, pinned a bit of doggerel about Marlon Brando . Glimmer and luxurious cinematography in Techniscope by the classical cameraman Russell Metty filmed on location in St. George, Utah, Lake Los Angeles, and Wrightwood, California . Sensitive and evocative musical score by maestro Frank Skinner .

This slight motion picture was professionally directed by Sidney J Furie , a veteran and prolific director , still today making films . British Furie has directed all kind of genres , though mostly action . In 1999, Sidney J. Furie's espionage thriller The Ipcress File (1965) was included at number 59 on the BFI's list of the 100 greatest British films of the 20th century. Stanley Kubrick was a big fan of The Boys in Company C (1978) and cited Sidney J. Furie's war movie as the direct inspiration for Full Metal Jacket (1987). In 2009, director Martin Scorsese placed Sidney J. Furie's The Entity (1982) on his list of the 11 Scariest Horror Films of All Time. He also directed Superman IV: quest of peace (1987) , originally had a budget of $36 million dollars , just before filming was to begin, Cannon Pictures, which was starting to suffer financial problems, slashed the budget and was a flop . ¨The Appaloosa¨ resulted to be an acceptable Western that had moderated success at the box office . Rating : 6 , passable . The picture will appeal to Marlon Brando fans and Western buffs .

I'd seen this film years ago, and rented the video last night. Brando was at the zenith of his career:

strong, vital, and fit. His understated, controled acting along with his easy interaction with the other actors made this film a delight to watch. Especially moving was his relationship with Paco (Rafael Campos)-a close bond which was a major force in the film as revealed by the amazing speech relating Mateo's (Brando) growing up in the household of Paco and his family. The scenery was magnificent. A fine western, with qualities that would cross over into any genre.