It amazes me how many people think this is a medocre western. In my humble opinion, it is in the Top 10 ever made. What makes it work is the attention to detail. Marlon Brando's Matt is not a perfectly neat character with shiny teeth, rather he is very poor and looks it. The only reason he has to live is his prize appaloosa horse which was stolen from him by bandio Chuy ( John Saxon), to give to a woman he was interested in named Trini ( Anjanette Comer). It is important to note he did not love Trini ( he considered her a possession). Trini talked about one day in the future when Chuy got tired of her he would pass her around to his men. In order to get.the horse back he goes to Mexico and even darkens his face with coffee to blend in ( again a nice touch). Does he get his horse back? Spoilers ahead: Of course. But what he had to go through ( including a battle of scorpions with Chuy) and a near death experience make it worthwhile to see how he does it. He also ends up with Trini who decides to go to across the border with him. Even though she will be economically poor it beats the life she had before. But anything is better and she knew it. As Brando says to one of Chuy's henchmen " You treat your woman like you treat your horse, you tie her up because you know she will run away." Excellent movie 10/10 stars.