.

.

Sunday, June 2, 2013

THE APPALOOSA (1965)

Horseplay and gunplay in Old Mexico

In THE APPALOOSA, a bandito kingpin (John Saxon) steals a rancher's (Marlon Brando) prize stud stallion. Brando gets it back and tries to vamoose ... with Saxon's unhappy runaway wife along for the ride. Needless to say, Saxon isn't happy with either loss, and the struggle between the two powerful men quickly escalates. Watch for an early "Ouch!" scene when Brando and Saxon arm wrestle, with the loser getting his forearm ground down onto the stinger of a deadly scorpion. Not a great film, but great fun watching Brando masquerade as a Mexican with coffee ground stain on his face. Saxon won a Golden Globe Best Supporting Actor nomination for his performance - and deservedly. (Trivia note: In his younger days, Saxon often appeared in parts which emphasized his "beefcake" appeal. In 1959's THE BIG FISHERMAN, for example, he was stripped to the waist and flogged in a scene which ranked 39th in the book "Lash! The Hundred Great Scenes of Men Being Whipped in the Movies." Sadly, Brando is gone, but Saxon is still going strong. Not long ago he appeared in an episode of CSI: Las Vegas, directed by Quentin Tarantino.)

No comments:

Post a Comment