The Appaloosa (1966) User Reviews (57)

THE APPALOOSA (Sidney J. Furie, 1966) **1/2

[Bunuel1976 · 6/10 · 28 December 2007]

Yet another film from Brando's lean years; now, I only have THE UGLY American (1963; also included in Universal's "The Marlon Brando Franchise Collection") to watch from this period – but, all in all, it's an underrated phase for the celebrated method actor. Incidentally, it was nice to see such long-term Universal regulars as composer Frank Skinner (SON OF FRANKENSTEIN [1939]), editor Ted Kent (BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN [1935]) and make-up man Bud Westmore (ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN [1948]) still involved in high profile productions such as this one after all those years. Anyway, Brando made only three Westerns in his career – the others being the self-directed ONE EYED JACKS (1961) and Arthur Penn's THE MISSOURI BREAKS (1976) – but they're among the more intriguing, if pretentious, from their respective eras; having said that, the film under review is easily the least rewarding of the three.

The simple plot finds aspiring rancher Brando falling foul of small-time Mexican tyrant John Saxon over the former's appaloosa stallion (later on, Saxon's girl, Anjanette Comer – who does what she can with a basically underwritten role – becomes the object of contention between the two); beaten up by Saxon's men and his prize horse stolen, Brando follows in pursuit – ignoring the advise of friend Rafael Campos and a goat herder (Frank Silvera), he encounters on the way. Reaching the town where Saxon lives with his band of cut-throats, Brando tries to pass himself off as a local (by affecting a silly Mexican accent whose inspiration seems to have been Speedy Gonzales!); it doesn't take long for Saxon to discover his ruse and, when he does, challenges the star to a game of arm-wrestling (with a sting in its tail)! Brando loses and is beaten up again, after which Comer – fed up with her own way of life – takes him to Silvera's place to recover; catching up with the latter, Saxon's men kill him because he won't reveal the rancher's whereabouts but they're eliminated soon after by Brando himself. Finally, a showdown between the two parties takes place in the mountains.

Thematically, THE APPALOOSA - which celebrated film critic Pauline Kael had dismissed as "a dog of a movie about a horse" and whose title was, understandably changed to SOUTHWEST TO SONORA for its British theatrical release – doesn't really cover any new ground despite Brando and director Furie's attempts to respectively infuse meaning into every gesture and shot. The latter was known for his flashy camera stylistics, and he really goes overboard here (placing characters in the extreme foreground when the main action is occurring in the remaining part of the frame – including the very last shot – or choosing bizarre angles – such as a tilted shot during the arm-wrestling bout from the POV of a scorpion!); with this in mind, I had become even more interested in checking this one out after learning how Italian B-movie exponent Enzo G. Castellari drew on it for his impressive latter-day Spaghetti Western KEOMA (1976) on the Audio Commentary of that film's R1 Anchor Bay DVD. All of this – plus Saxon's enjoyably hammy, Golden Globe-nominated performance (with an exaggerated Mexican accent to match) – keeps one watching, even when the pace flags or the plot turns dreary.

Brando is said to have agreed to do this principally because he needed the cash to pay in alimony for his two ex-wives and that he quickly lost interest in the project (to the consternation of his producer and director); consequently, his contribution is atypically understated – thus allowing co-star Saxon to walk away with the film! Nevertheless, the confrontation scenes between their two characters constitute definite highlights (and the climax is nicely handled – kudos, in fact, to Russell Metty's cinematography throughout); otherwise, Silvera and popular Mexican actor/director Emilio Fernandez (perhaps still best-known for playing General Mapache in Sam Peckinpah's THE WILD BUNCH [1969] and here appearing as Saxon's right-hand man) are notable among the supporting cast.

Under-rated Brando with great J. Saxon!

[shepardjessica-1 · 6/10 · 11 October 2004]

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!

pedestrian western

[golfermj · 5/10 · 24 February 2007]

when you consider that this movie was released in 1966,in the midst of the Sergio Leone-Clint Eastwood western trilogy and the same year as the groundbreaking-action classic"The Professionals","The appaloosa" is a dated film.Sergio Leone and Richard Brooks were exceptionally good film makers and could tell a good story.Sidney J.Furie made top notch spy thrillers with Michael Caine in the Harry Palmer films,but Furie seemed to out of his league making a western."The Appaloosa"is a slow moving ponderous film with little excitement.the novel by Robert Macleod is superior. the first two or three chapters of the book take place at "the battle of adobe walls"-a real life incident that took place in 1874 in which a small group of buffalo hunters held off a large band of Indians.this entire sequence was not included in the film due to Marlon Brando refusing to be in a movie where his character was killing Indians.in addition,Brando did not like Indians being portrayed as nothing but savage killers.or at least, this is what i have read.one positive addition that the film has that the novel does not have is the arm wrestling contest between Brando and John Saxon -with an added-creepy danger to the contest.also in the film's favor- both Brando and Saxon are good.Brando is low key and brooding while Saxon hams it up-also Anjanette Comer is very lovely.the film deletes the Indian wife of Brando's character and the role of the town sheriff in the novel is reduced to one quick short mini scene.the novel is a rugged western with good action.the movie is not.they should have been more faithful to the book-it would have made a better movie.still, the movie is worth a look and has a fine music score and some nice photography in addition to some solid performances, but it lacks excitement.

One of Brando's finest!

[DeeDee-10 · 17 December 1998]

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.

"If you holler once I'm gonna blow your arms off."

[rhinocerosfive-1 · 6/10 · 11 March 2008]

The titular animal is missing for most of the movie, ostensibly stolen by John Saxon but more likely consumed by Marlon Brando, who gives early evidence of the result of his oral fetish. All those bananas he stuffed down his throat in ONE-EYED JACKS and MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY have caught up with him on this set, where there is clearly a lot less effort made to let out his costumes before each take. Fortunately, he preferred in his Westerns to dress more or less as he had in JULIUS CAESAR, with various serapes and ponchos arranged toga-style for a sweeping, heroic effect that accents his shoulders and minimizes his belly.

Sidney J. Furie manages to stay out of his own way, which is more than can be said for much of his work at this stage of his career. His fashionable mid-60s obsession with close-ups this time heightens tension without dating the movie's look too much - no more, anyway, than Sergio Leone's angles and editing date his own. However, like many a mid-period Brando director, Furie fails to cajole more than an occasional snort of derision from his Clydesdale-sized star. Warhorse Roland Kibbee and pre-Oscar James Bridges contribute some choice dialog but seem to have differed over the pace - Kibbee's scripts tend to drag a little for my taste, as he cut his teeth on 50s costume epics, while Bridges' zoom right along; as a result, APPALOOSA is alternately sluggish and spastic. Still, it is peppered with perversities enough to retain interest, including gunpoint penance, flyblown pulque, and a scorpion-spiced arm wrestling contest.

Brando's chief contribution is a pretty good Mexican accent, which doesn't fool any Mexicans but seems to keep him entertained. Its usefulness to the plot is questionable, and it looks rather as if it was adopted simply to amuse the easily distracted 300 pound gorilla at the center of the production. Whatever. Brando at his most lethargic is still more watchable than Tom Cruise jumping on furniture. He is ably supported by a game, sunburned Saxon, an unusually sober Emilio Fernandez, and an apparently stoned Anjanette Comer, who masticates a series of limes as if they contain the cure for the Curse of the Exotic Ingenue. (Perhaps they did, as she neither married Brando nor committed suicide after co-starring with, or simply meeting, him.)

Colorful Western set in bright outdoors and including a particular acting by Marlon Brando

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 29 December 2012]

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 .

A horse is a horse...unless it's owned by Marlon Brando and stolen by John Saxon

[JasparLamarCrabb · 6/10 · 12 April 2009]

A much maligned western that is actually a really good, very tightly made suspense film featuring a terrific Marlon Brando performance as well as an unexpectedly great turn by John Saxon. Brando drifts into a border-town and crosses paths with Mexican hot head Saxon. Saxon steals Brando's beloved horse (the appaloosa of the title) and a game of cat and mouse ensues during which Brando acquires Saxon's desperate wife (the oddly cast Anjanette Comer). Brando is exceptional and Saxon is really great as the villain. However, Comer is very under-utilized --- unfortunately she has a pretty thankless role and has little chemistry with Brando. Directed with a lot of flair by Sidney J. Furie and featuring excellent cinematography by Russell Metty.

Brando does it again

[scheelj · 6/10 · 14 April 2012]

See it – "Next time you point a gun at me you better pull the trigger. Cuz' I'm gonna blow you into so many pieces your friends will get tired of looking for you." Can't you just picture Marlon Brando saying that to a bad guy? This is a great south-of-border revenge western. It is a very clever film, and actually has kind of a spaghetti western feel to it. My favorite scene is the arm wrestle that involves scorpions. If you've seen it you know what I'm talking about. Also, a bit of trivia…the milky beverage everyone drinks is called pulque. It's a Mexican beer that's made by fermenting agave juice. And I would know. I checked…online. 3 out of 5 action rating

almost great

[parachute-4 · 7/10 · 7 December 2007]

A well-made film with many of the right character ingredients. Brando plays the Eastwood-type lead so well that you start to wonder if he may well have made an even better "Man with no Name" than Clint, had the role come his way. John Saxon works hard to make his "evil Mexican" work, and does reasonably well. However, the potential to develop the psychotic aspects of the character, which is strongly indicated in the early part of the film, isn't given sufficient attention by the director in succeeding reels. It needs to be made more clear that Chuy is crazy as well as bad.

Saxon's character definitely deserves a very sticky end and by half-way through the film, we really need to see this guy get it. However, just being picked off from a distance with a rifle is somewhat disappointing for the audience, and even Brando and the girl seem a little let down. Sergio Leone would no doubt have laid on something considerably more sanguine and theatrical.

Banditto specialist Emilio Fernandez and Alex Montoya give really excellent villainy support and are both duly dispatched by Brando in the usual way. Anjanjette Comer is a little miscast in the difficult role of Chuy Medina's unwilling chattel. I really think she needed, and the audience expects for her, to be able to terminate a few pistoleros on her own account, instead of just being a passive "damsel in distress", and leaving all the rough stuff to Marlon.

The director makes good use of close-ups of faces, eyes, and heaters, but tends not to develop some of the scenes sufficiently. The exception to this would be the scorpion-assisted arm-wrestle, which was very effective. Come to think of it, the whole film tended to go off the boil after this scene leading to a conclusion which was not really a stylistic match to the rest of the film. Would have worked better for me if Brando's character had returned home (a) with the horse but without the girlfriend, (b) with the girl but minus the horse, or (c) with both, but dying from wounds received in the big gun-down. Option (b) probably the best. That way he would have to spend the rest of his life raising a dozen kids and shooing bugs out of the cornfield instead of becoming an asshole rancher and making money.

Not too bad but could have been much better. As it stands, the film tends to be neither fish nor feather, residing stylistically somewhere between the traditional western, the interpretations of Leone and the continental directors and the classic "mayhem in Mexico" works of Sam Peckinpah.

Emilio Fernandez went on to play the memorable bad-ass, "Generalissimo Mapache" in Peckinpah's "The Wild Bunch", for which his role in "The Appaloosa " was no doubt a good preparation.

R. B.

Ready For My Close Up, Mr. Furie.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 16 December 2011]

Chuy Medina (Saxon) and his thugs steal the Appaloosa belonging to Brando. Brando chases them across the border into Mexico and after many tribulations brings back both the horse and Anjanette Comer.

Somebody in movies like this is always racing across the border to escape justice or wreak revenge or retrieve a stolen horse or something. Mexico is "the other". It's usually "bad" in the way that California is a pipe dream of paradise. Both honor and treachery rule in Mexico. It's a Hobbesian universe. "No arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death: and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short." Brando's compadre advises him, "Trust no one in Mexico, Matteo." Brando can trust Anjanette Comer, though. She's truthful and entirely candid. Not that she looks anything like a Mexican woman though. She's groomed like a Hollywood actress playing a Mexican woman.

That's the responsibility of Bud Westmore, who was in charge of make ups. He must have been asleep at the wheel. A hard-working rancher's wife is given a close up of her fingers fondling a crucifix, and her fingers are immaculate and her nails perfectly trimmed and polished. She could perform surgery without gloves.

Westmore has also thoughtfully seen to it that the principal actors, the ones not wearing raggedy beards, have cheeks and chins as smoothly shaven as Anjanette Comer's, even if they've been recovering from scorpion venom. That would be Brando. He's been stung by a scorpion from Durango after losing an arm-wrestling contest with Saxon. (John Wayne could never have played this role because John Wayne couldn't possibly lose an arm-wrestling contest.) Actually, Durango is noted for its scorpions. They're not even called escorpio, at least not according to my Durango informant. They have a special name, alacran, and the people of Durango are generally known as Alacran de Durango.

This was directed by Sidney J. Furie, who must be phobic for traditional movie shots. There are no more long shots than are absolutely essential to an understanding of the plot. Medium shots are invariably broken by objects in the foreground -- pillars, posts, pitchers, and in one scene all five of Marlon Brando's fingers block most of the camera's view. The close up are really CLOSE ups. A typical reverse angle shot, involving, say, two people conversing at a table will alternate chokers in which we see a person's features from his eyebrows to his lower lip. More than once, we see only a single eyeball. But there are plenty of teeth that are not just white but blindingly so, like arc lights, cleaned, polished, buffed, and in those dark, scarred faces they glow with an inner luminescence.

Other director's tics: When people drink or eat, whatever they are drinking or eating tends to dribbled down their chins onto their clothing or gets clotted in their facial hair. A very artistic shot of Anjanette Comer's incandescent incisors squishing on a wedge of lime after a shot of tequila. And when someone walks, we don't see them walk. We see their jangling spurred boots moving step by step through the dust or snow.

I don't know how much it cost to hire Marlon Brando for this Mexican adventure but he didn't put an equivalent amount of effort into the role. There was a time (and there would be a time again later) when he invested his roles with intelligence and energy, but by 1966 he seemed to be sleepwalking, tired, bored, resigned -- just another actor. Comer is miscast. She seems city bred. John Saxon does surprisingly well by the role of the local strong man. And Alex Montoya is given a novel touch of humanity -- shot full of holes by Brando, he looks agonized and cries, "Senor!", before collapsing.

Nice location photography and a potentially interesting story, mostly ruined by superheated direction and a flat performance by the star.

Brando in B-western

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 5 July 2015]

Matt Fletcher (Marlon Brando) is returning home with his beautiful Appaloosa horse intending to start a horse ranch with it. Powerful bandit Chuy Medina (John Saxon) steals his horse. Matt decides to pursue his gang into wild hostile Mexico. Chuy's brutalized girlfriend Trini helps him.

The villains are mustachio Mexican bandits. Yet John Saxon plays the lead Mexican and he does it with a fake accent. This is a spaghetti B-western except it has Brando. It's not well made and slow moving. The story meanders and lacks excitement. It does have Brando. He's the only interesting thing in this movie.

Great movie! Totally unexpected. Brando's spaghetti western.

[errolforster · 9/10 · 5 June 2005]

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

Brando Good In Minor Western

[CitizenCaine · 6/10 · 24 January 2009]

The 1960's saw a new kind of western on its horizon. Throughout the decade, the "man with no name" type films overtook the simpler "good guys vs. the bad guys" westerns. Morally ambiguous protagonists became the order of the day. Sidney J. Furie's The Appaloosa was one of those films. Marlon Brando stars as Matt Fletcher, a morally ambiguous roughneck returning to his home in the southwest after the Civil War. He gets sucked into a quarrel between Anjanette Comer and John Saxon (in a terrific performance). Eventually the loss of Brando's horse motivates him to take action against Saxon and his pistoleros. There is lots of flashy camera work, including Sergio Leone-style close-ups as well as great cinematography of the landscapes. The pace is slow and deliberate, but the film does build to a resolution; however, it's not completely satisfying. Some standouts are Comer's beauty, the dialog, the colorful supporting characters, and of course Brando. He gives a relatively good performance of a troubled character just trying to return to a quiet life but then realizing he's being drawn into a deadly game with Chuy Medina (Saxon) and Trini (Comer). **1/2 of 4 stars.

It's just okay

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 7 November 2011]

For decades, Marlon Brando has been considered one of the foremost actors of the age. There was a real aura about him and his later performances were real events--as securing his services for films had become very expensive and fraught with difficulties. Brando had become VERY difficult to direct and he regularly refused to learn his scripts or prepare--preferring to work as little as possible and use cue cards (this is according to directors like Francis Ford Coppola and Arthur Penn). Yet, despite this, he still was adored by critics. As for me, I just never understood all the hubbub about his acting. However, recently I decided to watch a few more of his films--and give him a second chance. As my wife pointed out, after seeing about 10 of his films recently, his performances seemed to either be very, very subdued or rather 'out there' and over-the-top.

"The Appaloosa" begins with a Mexican bandit (John Saxon) and his men stealing Brando's prize horse. And, for the rest of the film, Brando tracks down the guy to retrieve his animal. How all this transpired was a bit odd--but that really is the plot--along with a subplot involving a woman who hated Saxon and wanted to leave him.

The film comes off very much like a Spaghetti Western version of the plot for "Winchester '73"--though not as good as the original film. There are a few neat elements in the film but also some very silly ones (such as the scorpion scene and the use of too many spurs' sound effects). Overall, the film isn't bad and Brando underplays the part a bit. He wasn't bad--but his character did seem curiously muted considering the role.

For the Love of a Horse

[Michael_Elliott · 19 April 2016]

The Appaloosa (1966)

** (out of 4)

Rather bizarre Western has Matt (Marlon Brando) having his horse stolen by Chuy (John Saxon) so he sets out to get him back. The two men had previous run-ins over a woman (Anjanette Comer) who will come into play as the story plays out.

THE APPALOOSA is a film that Marlon Brando didn't really want to make but the paycheck was good so he took the role. When production started he realized that he really didn't want to do the film so the shooting was somewhat of a disaster with the legend battling director Sidney J. Furie. The end result is a fairly forgettable film that tries to be something different than your typical Western.

The biggest problem with this movie is the story. In all honesty even by Western standards the story here is quite weak and would barely fill up one of those 50 minute "B" films from the 30s. We basically have the two men running into each other a couple time and the film tries to be psychological and it fails pretty bad. There are really bizarre and weird camera set-ups that are meant to be deep or to bring you into the mental state of the characters but it just doesn't work. Whatever vision director Furie was trying to bring just doesn't come across and we're left with a pretty boring movie.

The always entertaining Saxon manages to be the best thing here. With his thick Mexican accent and the paint on his face, Saxon manages to make for a fun villain but it's too bad more wasn't done with the character. I thought Corner was also good in her wasted role and especially early on when she fears for her safety after trying to break free from Chuy. As for Brando, I don't think he's bad here but it's certainly not into what he's doing. He ends up mumbling more than anything else and just doesn't bring any energy or passion to the part.

Slow Western for patient viewers

[gridoon · 6/10 · 2 January 2002]

This ritualistic Western must be one of Marlon Brando's least-seen films, and no wonder. The plain story moves very slowly, and Brando himself never fully slips into his role (and the Western environment). The film's few highlights include a tense armwrestling match, in which the defeated man will be stung by a deadly scorpion, and the final showdown between Brando and John Saxon (who's quite good). (**1/2)

Spaghetti Wannabe

[JoeytheBrit · 6/10 · 31 March 2010]

Marlon Brando's career was almost as comatose as his performance when he made this spaghetti western wannabe. Don Corleone was still six years ahead of him and the bloated epic Mutiny on the Bounty, his last sizeable hit, four years in the past. Age was catching up with him, too: at the age of forty-one he was starting to fill out. Perhaps, by embracing a genre that was huge in the mid-sixties, he believed he could kick-start a career that looked as if it was fizzling out. If that was the case, he was sadly mistaken.

The story concerns a reformed criminal's (Brando) efforts to recover the eponymous appaloosa stallion stolen from him at the outset of the film. The thief is Chuy (pronounced Chewie, like Han Solo's sidekick) Medina (John Saxon), a local crime lord who attempted to buy the horse from him to save face after his 'wife' stole it in an attempt to escape her husband. The appaloosa, of course, is a symbol. Matt (Brando), after a life of crime, plans to start a horse ranch from the horse's seed, so its theft is both an emasculation (and its circumstances an equally damaging humiliation) and a theft of his chance of redemption. For Medina, the horse represents the power he can now wield over those who had held back his people for so long. The struggle for Trini (Anjanette Comer) is a parallel struggle and, strangely enough, it adds a dimension to Saxon's character rather than Brando's. Although Saxon's accent is of the Speedy Gonzales school of diction, there is a brooding darkness to him that is hinted at rather than explored, which is a shame because, for all its symbolism, this movie doesn't have a whole lot going for it.

Judging by this effort, director Sidney J. Furie, whose career peeked around this period (when he was only 33) is something of a style sponge. Either that or he's just a plain old copycat, because he couldn't be more obviously trying to emulate Leone if he had Clint Eastwood walk on in his poncho. For every straightforward shot, he feels completely to supply us with a shot of the action filmed from behind the brim of one of those outlandishly large hats that Mexican cowboys wear, or from behind Brando's fingers, or from behind a horse's arse, so we get four-fifths of the screen filled with hat/fingers/arse and one-fifth action. Plus, of course, we get the obligatory close-ups of sweaty, sneering faces possessing bad tombstone teeth and giant pores. Nothing wrong with paying homage, Sid, but you've gotta add a little originality and imagination at the same time. And a little pace would be a bonus. Otherwise, your career is going to go… well, you know where your career is going to go.

Pluses: some nice photography (when not obstructed by Brando's arse, horse's fingers etc), a good performance by Saxon – even with the silly accent, and a bang-on arm-wrestling contest in which the loser's hand will be pushed onto a rather angry scorpion. And Comer looks nice, although she isn't really given that much to do. Although, given that she is the sole reason that Matt finds himself in the situation he does, you can't help wondering whether he would have been so nice to her if she hadn't looked so hot. But then perhaps, in a way so obscure it is almost invisible, that ties in with the general theme of the film.

Not the best use of Brando's considerable acting talents

[grantss · 6/10 · 28 January 2016]

A Marlon Brando western. Not the best use of Brando's considerable talents. Plot is so-so: not really original nor profound. Direction is OK.

Brando gives a solid performance. You wouldn't think that western's would be his ideal type of move, but he gives a very convincing performance.

Supporting performances are less satisfactory, varying from OK to cringeworthy.

Overall, an average western, and really only worth watching for the presence of the great Marlon Brando.

Disappointed

[[e-mail] · 6/10 · 1 October 2006]

Not only low budget (or seems so) but each character is like a caricature of himself. The makeup work is severely lacking. Brando's hair at the movie's start is the worst wig I ever saw in my life. That's the point where I lost respect for this cinematic effort, the rest was like a bad comedy. Even Brando couldn't save this film, he must have been paid a lot, as there was no artistic relevance to substantiate his participation. The storyline is feasible and that may be the movie's only saving grace. Ms. Comer brightens up an otherwise dull setting, she is a pleasure to look at. Sorry to say, but I don't believe this movie will ever be a classic.

An Unconventional But Above-Average Horse Opera

[zardoz-13 · 7/10 · 8 February 2013]

Some day film historians may celebrate the legacy of Canadian director Sidney J. Furie. During the 1960s and 1970s, Furie helmed a number of prominent films that have been largely forgotten. He made the memorable espionage thriller "The Ipcress File" with Michael Caine as an anonymous, bespectacled spy who works for King and Country only because his larcenous skills are valuable in the field than behind bars. Later, Furie directed a genuine counter-culture character piece "Little Fauss and Big Halsey," a hare and a turtle opus about two drifters on the dirt bike motorcycle race circuit. Other interesting films Furie directed were "The Naked Runner" with Frank Sinatra; "Lady Sings the Blues" with Diana Ross as troubled blues singer Billie Holliday; the narcotics trafficking epic "Hit" with Billy Dee Williams; and his unsung Vietnam yarn "The Boys in Company C." The stories surrounding "The Appaloosa" make it sound like the worst film that anybody could have worked on since Marlon Brando had fallen out of favor after the debacle on "Mutiny on the Bounty." The tales about tension on the set are enough to make anybody cringe. Brando refused to cooperate with Furie. During an interview with John Saxon, one of the least appreciated Hollywood character actors during the 1960s, he told me he contributed the line about being blown into so many pieces that nobody would ever find him. The most memorable scene occurs when Brando's protagonist and Saxon's villain are arm wrestling with scorpions lashed down to the table where their hands would wind up if they lost the competition. Saxon told me at the Memphis Film Festival he had heard about Mexican authorities using scorpions to winnow out the prison population in a nearby town when he was acting in the John Huston western "The Unforgiven" with Audrey Hepburn and Burt Lancaster in Mexico.

"The Appaloosa" unfolds with our shabby looking hero in a tattered Confederate Army tunic riding back into his hometown of Ojo Prieto on the border. He confesses his sins to a Catholic Church priest. "I've done a lot of killin'. I've killed a lot of men and sinned with a lot of women. But the men I—I killed needed killin'. And the women wanted sinnin'. And—and I never was one much to argue." Absolved of his sins, Matt Fletcher (Marlon Brando of "The Missouri Breaks") is prepared to begin life anew as a horse rancher. Raised by poor Mexican peasants, Matt decides to share his new wealth with a small farmer, Paco (Rafael Campos of "Blackboard Jungle") who has a wife and several children. They live near the border, and grasshoppers have devastated Paco's corn crop. Mateo—as they call Matt--paints pictures of a rosy future as he tells Paco how the eponymous horse will sire spotted ponies for their ranch. No sooner has Brando bragged about his dreams than an evil Mexican vaquero, Chuy (John Saxon), and his pistoleros purloin his prized stallion. Our hero was drunk at the time he raved about the fabulous ranch they were going to own. When he tries to shoot at the thieves, he cannot hit them because his aim is wobbly. Chuy rides back across the stream, ropes our inebriated protagonist and drags him through the river, laughing the entire time. Later, after he has shaved off his beard, Matt tries to disguise himself as a Mexican and recover his appaloosa. "Coffee grounds do not make a Mexican," Paco's wife Ana (Miriam Colon of "Scarface") tells him. The idea of masquerading as a Mexican by staining one's face brown sounds absurd. Nevertheless, despite Ana's warnings, Matt assures her that getting his horse back will be "as easy as cutting butter." "It is your throat that will be cut, Mateo," Ana replies without hope. Paco voices similar sentiments. "Chuy is not just one man. Chuy is an army."

About thirty minutes into "The Appaloosa," Furie has established Matt Fletcher as the hero, Chuy Medina as the villain, and Trini as Chuy's rebellious girlfriend. Trini dishonored Chuy in the eyes of his pistoleros when she not only complained about Matt violating her, but also when she stole Matt's horse. Chuy offers Matt the sum of $500 to buy his horse so he can make it look like Trini was merely riding the horse rather than stealing it to escape from Chuy. Everything that Matt has dreamed about is wrapped up in the horse, so he must bring it back to Mexico. Almost an hour into story, Matt infiltrates Chuy's hacienda and tries to force Trini to help him recover his horse. Unfortunately, Chuy already knows about Matt's presence from the pulque drinking scene in the cantina with Squint Eye. Later, an ancient goat herder, Ramos (Frank Silvera of "Hombre"), warns Matt about Cocatlan. When Matt tries to reclaim his appaloosa, Chuy and his gunslingers are waiting for him. They usher him into a room where they thread scorpions on a string and arm wrestle. Predictably, our hero loses. Lazaro and company dump Matt's body in an abandoned house. Trini escapes from Chuy and takes Matt to Ramos. The goat herder places Matt in a grave he had made for himself. Mind you, the ending is upbeat and our hero gets his horse back.

"The Appaloosa" is about as close as Hollywood got to replicating a Spaghetti western. Hands down, John Saxon delivers the best performance of his career as Chuy. Furie has veteran cinematographer Russell Metty shoot this western in an highly unconventional style. The foreground is filled with objects that block out the composition so that people are squeezed into corners of the shots. The lighting is extremely atmospheric. The scene in the cantina with Squint Eye exemplifies brilliantly Furie's signature style of lensing. Brando puts his hand over his face while he studies the other occupants in the room. Altogether, despite its authentic look and atmosphere, "The Appaloosa" amounts to an above-average, but not very memorable horse opera.

This is far from a western classic though it has some western classic elements.

[kevin_robbins · 7/10 · 23 February 2022]

The Appaloosa (1966) is a movie I recently watched for the first time in a long time on Tubi. The storyline follows a man that returns to some friends and agrees to help them turn their home into a ranch that thrives and they can be proud of. On his way to see them some Mexican bandits try to steal his horse unsuccessfully. Unfortunately for him, one drunken night the Mexican bandits come to the house and steal his horse anyway. The man puts his life and the future of the family at risk when he hunts down the bandits to get his horse back.

This movie is directed by Sidney J. Furie (Iron Eagle) and stars Marlon Brando (Fugitive Kind), Anjanette Comer (The Baby), John Saxon (A Nightmare on Elm Street), Emilio Fernández (The Wild Bunch), Miriam Colon (Scarface) and Frank Silvera (Hombre).

The storyline for this movie is pretty straightforward but fun to watch unfold. Brando is awesome and he's eccentric but not so eccentric he seems awkward, just more unpredictable, which worked in this genre. There's an arm wrestling scene in this that's fantastic and cinematic gold. The horse stealing sequence at the end is very good and intense, especially the pin down scene where Brando has to make some tough decisions. The entire final shootout is pretty good.

Overall this is far from a western classic though it has some western classic elements. I would score this a 7/10 and recommend seeing it once.

The Appaloosa of Our Eye

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 2 December 2006]

The Appaloosa is a film that was made at a time when Marlon Brando's career was in the doldrums. Either films were not money makers though critically good like Reflections in a Golden Eye or they were outright duds like this one.

It's not a horrible western, just not a terribly good one. Even Brando's One Eyed Jacks with a whole lot of posing was more interesting than this one.

Brando plays a Confederate veteran come home to his Texas border town and the Mexican family that took him in as an orphan. He's got himself a nice Appaloosa horse that he hopes to breed as the start of a horse ranch.

He also manages to come between bandit John Saxon and his woman Anajette Comer. Saxon gets his back up over it all so he steals the Appaloosa, leaving Brando to cross the Rio Grande into Mexico and track him down.

All this over a horse, seems hardly worth the effort, we're not exactly talking about Trigger here.

Brando and Saxon have a great old contest in trying to top each other in overacting. I leave it to your own judgment, but personally I think Saxon won the prize.

Not Brando at his finest by any means.

Cracking Good Brando

[Bob-45 · 8/10 · 24 February 2005]

"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".

"OK kid, where do I go and how do I get there?"

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 13 November 2016]

One doesn't think of Marlon Brando as a Western movie actor, but he had his share, just as Jimmy Stewart and Fred MacMurray had theirs. Brando also directed "One Eyed Jacks" in which he starred, though my personal favorite would be "The Missouri Breaks", even if he didn't make it to the end of that picture. "The Appaloosa" came in between those two in a stretch that lasted well over a decade.

This is a serviceable Western with Brando's character Mateo seeking revenge on the Mexican outlaw that shamed him with a rope drag through the mud and stole his horse, the appaloosa of the title. Surprisingly, John Saxon makes for an effective bandido with his well coiffed mustache, surrounded by henchmen who do his bidding without question. Anjanette Comer portrays Chuy Medina's (Saxon) less than willing woman, using whatever screen time she has planning a break from the bad guy with or without the help of Mateo.

Probably the most interesting scene here is one that's pretty unique and just as creative. With Mateo a virtual prisoner, Medina offers him his freedom if he can beat the Mexican outlaw at an arm wrestling contest. This would have been bizarre enough given the dynamic of the story, but it's given added appeal by the placement of scorpions on the challenge surface, with the loser facing a poisonous sting of disappointment when his arm hits the table.

The description of the film on the cable channel where I saw it listed Brando as former buffalo hunter Matt Fletcher; where all that came from I have no idea. Don't confuse this film with 2008's "Appaloosa" with Ed Harris and Viggo Mortenson, the latter one is not a remake. Given the title of this story, I had to marvel at the fact that the actual horse for which it's named doesn't have a lot to do or have a very prominent role in the picture. But he did have his moment when the appaloosa nodded his approval after the dust cleared and Mateo out shot the Mexican bully on the hillside. Come to think of it, Brando's character pulled off two lucky shots that day.

The horse was the most convincing actor

[Herowithgreeneyesandblue · 5/10 · 5 October 2010]

I'm being nice and giving it an even five stars just because the women and scenery are so beautiful. In Chicago there used to be a movie theater that ran Mexican produced westerns every weekend. They came out of a sardine can for the most part, when you got really lucky they had a special three banger like, "The Horsethief", "The Man Who Stole Horses" and finally, "That Man Stole My Horse!" Granted they were different movies but...

Appaloosa seems to be an American adaptation of of of these movies but it's anybodies guess which one. These movies are fun though, I guess thats why they made so many of them. This one however should have been put in a tuna can. Marlon Brando is bored out of his mind. He perks up when he visits a married couple who are his friends. He flirts with the woman, lovely Mexican MILF Miriam Colon, but he's clearly more interested in her husband Emilio Fernandez.

I can't pick on John Saxon, he's not the greatest actor but he earns his paycheck every time like the pro he is.

Anjanette Comer is gorgeous but not in a steamy Mexican kind of way. She was perfect in The Loved One. Born to do campy sexy roles in short dresses. She's miscast here.

Unless you can't get enough of your favorite actor, watch something else.