ma-cortes Gritty and well written Western tale with jarring burst of violence . Good western with nifty non-stop action in the old 20th Century Fox tradition set in Texas with towering actors , unstopped action and spectacular scenarios ; dealing with three Army buddies search for 2000 stolen rifles . 1867 , after the Civil War , a weapon shipping has been stolen to army and as responsible appears captain Haven (Stuart Whitman) , he is assigned to go to Mexico as incognito to avoid arms to be sold Apaches , being accompanied by a misfit outfit . He along with a furious racist agree to lead a hazardous expedition through Apace territory . As the group is formed by an ex-Confederate officer called Lassiter (Richard Boone) , a bitter ex-Rebel army major whose wife and children have been killed by the Apaches , the African-American sergeant Franklyn (Jim Brown) and a Mexican prisoner named Rodríguez (Anthony Franciosa) condemned to death row . As two Army officers, an alcoholic ex-Confederate soldier and a womanizing Mexican travel to Mexico , the object is to find another ex-Confederate who is about to sell hundreds of robbed guns to the Indians . They are ¨Comancheros¨ is a word that refers to those who favored or advantaged of Comanche Indians by selling weapons and alcohol . The Indians are out on a rampage of killing , vengeance against the white intruders and with the aim for getting weapons . As four men stalking the Apache nation on a mission that could drench the whole Southwest in blood and flames . From Texas they go to Chihuahua where a megalomaniac Southern ex-general named Pardee (Edmond O'Brien) living at a mansion in Louisiana style and commanding an army of bushwhackers attempts to re-initiate a war by Indian upheaval led by Bloodshirt (Rodolfo Acosta) . At the end there takes places a peculiar apocalypse plenty of explosion , dynamite , powder , fire and rifles . This actioner Western contains thrills , adventures , rider pursuits , wonderful outdoors , impressive attacks and loads of crossfire . It is a very fine picture that could become another western worthy of any anthology . This is an unusually brutal tale of a hard-bitten sergeant assembling a detail of misfit cavalrymen to hold-off rampaging Indians and rebels . Well developed film with gloomy energy , crafty characters , sober lighting , abundant night scenes , elegant camera movements and especial dramatic pace , including a dialectic about racism . The picture relies heavily on the relationship among the misfit group , though gets enjoyable nuances and charm enough and along the way confront Indians rebels and themselves . In this film "Rio Conchos" also titled ¨Guns of Rio Conchos¨ the spectator enjoys because it has a lot of issues that make it agreeable . Even the female character played by attractive Wende Wagner as India Sally, reveals a woman who knows that she wishes and makes it irresistible . Stuart Whitman and an expert all-star-cast shine in this gripping story about a dangerous mission carried out by a motley bunch and director takes a fine penned screenplay by Clair Huffaker creating a cavalry-Indians tale that is far from ordinary , exploring the anguish and desperation of a varied group . Features convincing playing from the always reliable Richard Boone as a violent and hard-hitting racist and memorable Anthony Franciosa as womanizer Mexican . Jim Brown is good in his film debut and he gave up his football career, at its peak, to try acting . Colorful cinematography in truly De Luxe Colour by Joseph MacDonald . Offbeat musical score in suspenseful and thrilling style by the great Jerry Goldsmith . The motion picture was professionally directed by Gordon Douglas , at his best . He's an expert on adventures cinema as ¨Black arrow¨ , ¨Fortunes of Captain Blood¨ , both starred by Louis Hayward and Western , as he proved in the films starred by Clint Walker such as ¨Fort Dobbs¨, ¨Yellowstone Kelly¨ , ¨Gold of seven Saints¨ , Gregory Peck as ¨Only the valiant¨ in similar plot to ¨Chuka¨ , Richard Boone as ¨Rio Conchos¨ considered the best , and on bandits legendary as ¨Doolins of Oklahoma¨ , ¨Great Missouri raid¨, among others

davidjanuzbrown I have read some reviews of "Rio Conchos", and some people think it is a remake of "The Comancheros", and trust me it is not. Do they have some things in common? Yes they do. 1: They were both done by 20th Century Fox. 2: They both had Stuart Whitman (Although Paul Regret in "The Commancheros" is a very different character than Capt. Haven here). 3: Both involved gun running to the Indians. 4: The girl rescues the main characters. There it was Pilar Graile (Ina Balin), here it is the Sally Apache Girl (Wende Wagner). That is where it ends. First off it is an inferior film. "The Commancheros" is a Western Classic with much better and likable characters such as Capt. Jake Cutter (John Wayne), "Crow" (Lee Marvin), Regret, Pilar, and her father the bad guy played by Nehemiah Persoff. The characters here are simply unlikable (Except perhaps Haven and Sally at the end of the film). The worst of all was Col. Theron 'Gray Fox' Pardee (The former Confederate Commander of Major Jim Lassiter (Richard Boone)). His goal was to use the Indians as an Army against the American People. As he stated" The reason the South lost was its misguided sense of honor." (By comparison Regret has a lot of honor (You first meet him, when he participates in a duel, and kills the other person when he moves). This is also very different than Graile who wanted "A Community of Thieves" (His words), which is certainly not to send Indians on a rampage to kill without mercy. Lassiter is not very likable either: He was angry and embittered over the loss to the North, and having his family killed by the Indians. He is almost like a rabid dog, just wanting to kill before he gets killed. He even tried to kill Sally until Haven stopped him. Two others along for the ride are Sgt. Franklyn (Jim Brown), who rarely speaks, but is almost as ruthless as Lassiter at killing Indians, and Juan Luis Rodriguez (Tony Franciosa), who is a real vile character who reminds me of AJ Maggott (Telly Savalas) from "The Dirty Dozen" an absolute psychopath who pretends to be charming, but is worse than a rattlesnake. Basically, there is not a likable character in the bunch OBrien (who I generally like) stands out as nothing more than a psychotic with visions of grandeur which again is different than Graile or Jeff Chandler's Luke Darcy from "The Jayhawkers! (Another film I reviewed). Next, it is fair to say this is not exactly a comedy which to a large extent "The Commancheros" is (Particularly the scenes involving "Crow"), and thus a lot of fun. Is this a bad film? No it is not, particularly the ending (Spoliers), where Lassiter and Franklyn take on the Indians and Pardee's men (Rodriguez is killed earlier by Lassiter, and Haven is wounded in the ankle by a spear so he cannot do much except free the others (After Sally frees him)). Its ending is extremely ambiguous where Pardee survives (But goes totally mad), and Haven and Sally get away. The question is will Haven make General (Lassiter said "You may make General yet."), or will he end up with Sally (Back then, having an Indian woman (or wife), around you will not exactly help you with that). Since she essentially chose him over her people (Probably because he saved her life), and since he is bringing her back with him (Instead of leaving her with her people (Who were unaware of what Sally did (helping Haven, Franklyn and Lassiter escape ( although only Haven of the three survive))), not to mention the look on his face towards her), you strongly suspect that he is choosing Sally over the military. 7/10 Stars.

Spikeopath Rio Conchos is directed by Gordon Douglas and adapted to screenplay by Joseph Landon from the Clair Huffaker novel. It stars Richard Boone, Stuart Whitman, Jim Brown, Tony Franciosa, Wende Wagner and Edmond O'Brien. Music is scored by Jerry Goldsmith and Joseph MacDonald is the cinematographer. Out of 20th Century Fox it's a CinemaScope production filmed in De Luxe Color, and primary location used for filming was Moab, Utah.One ex-Confederate officer out for revenge against the Apache, one Army Captain driven by a sense of duty, one Buffalo Soldier continuing to prove himself and one Mexican convict getting a second shot at freedom. Four men, one journey, a mission to find who is arming the Apache with repeating rifles. Danger, mistrust and hostility are their only companions.The plot may be routine, and certainly it owes a debt to The Comancheros (Huffaker involved there too), but this is a tough and dark Western propelled by fine acting, quality direction and photography to die for. Structured around a men on a mission basis, each one with their own particular issues, it's very much a character driven piece. It's the time spent in the company of these men that makes the film so riveting, it never gets dull, the character dynamics are such, that we never quite know what to expect from the next part of the journey. Director Douglas also doesn't shy from action, pitting our odd group against Mexican Bandits and Apache Indians along the way, and then delivering a high octane finale that has a few twists and turns to keep it away from being formulaic.Whitman and Brown acquit themselves well enough, as does Wagner as the sole female of the piece. But acting wise this film belongs to Boone and Franciosa. The former portrays a bitter vengeful heart with ease, with a lived in alcoholic face, his destiny you feel is mapped out from the off. The latter shines as the ebullient character of the group, shifty, sly and as untrustworthy as it gets, Franciosa's play off of Boone gives the film its central pulse beat. But arguably all players are trumped by MacDonald's photography and Douglas' use of the scenery. From pretty much the first frame the landscape is the big character here. Douglas wisely using many long shots to reveal miles of vistas, then knowing when to pull in close to envelope the characters to give off the feeling of mental claustrophobia. Exterior work here belies the budget afforded the film, and all told it's a far better movie than the bigger produced Comancheros. Goldsmith's score is also a plus point, striking the mood from the get go, his arrangements flow at one with the hazardous destiny of the four men.One of the better 60's Westerns, it's in desperate need of a remastering job being done on it. 8/10

doug-balch This is a pretty good movie.Here's what I liked:Solid Civil War theme, which I love in Westerns. Richard Boone plays a great character, a bitter Confederate veteran with a personal vendetta against the Apaches.Great location shooting in MexicoEntertaining, moves along nicely, no major plot holes.Soundtrack was very good.Here's what kept the movie from being better:It is essentially a remake of "The Commacheros", a better movie released three years previously. It also starred Stuart Whitman, but had John Wayne as the lead.While I like Richard Boone, he can't carry a movie as the lead. He's at his best playing a heavy, like he did in "The Tall T", "Big Jake" and "The Shootist". Loved him in "Hombre".I also like Stuart Whitman, but he's not good in this. His character is annoying.I didn't buy Tony Franciosa for a second as a Mexican cutthroat. Shouldn't he be chasing skirts in L.A. night clubs? I kept expecting Raquel Welch to jump out from behind a cactus in a bikini.The Apache girl's character was gratuitous and contrived. Her motivations didn't seem plausible to me, especially at the end.The Mexicans and the Indians were stereotypes. The Apaches were largely misrepresented, although there is a nice scene at the end where Bloodshirt recognizes Lassiter as similar to himself.I've never bought the "Confederacy reborn Mexico" theme. Edmund O'Brien's character didn't work for me.The ending was too abrupt.