virek213
By the late 1960s, the Western film genre was less focused on the settling and exploration of the American West, and more on the expansion of civilization that led to its demise and that of a certain group of men who made the settling of the West possible and who refused to change. Sometimes that vision could be rendered in a quasi-operatic way, as it was by director Sergio Leone with ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST; and of course, the death of the West was rendered with extremely violent ferocity by Sam Peckinpsh in THE WILD BUNCH. But there were other films that rendered it in more elegiac terms, such as BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID, WILL PENNY, and a much less violent Peckinpah film, THE BALLAD OF CABLE HOGUE. Another film that showed the changing and dying of the Old West in those aforementioned elegiac terms was the 1970 western MONTE WALSH.Set during turn of the 20th century, and based on the novel by Jack Schaefer, whose novel "Shane" was the basis for the classic 1953 western of the same name, MONTE WALSH stars Lee Marvin in the title role of an aging cowboy who, along with his longtime friend (Jack Palance), has been spending the winter on a cattle drive But more and more, Marvin and Palance are seeing the landscape become divided by barbed wire fences and the coming of the railroad; and opportunities for steady and gainful employment are becoming few and far between. The two men get onto the payroll of a prominent rancher (Jim Davis), and they enjoy whatever they can of what remains of the old way of being cowboys and free-range drifters; but even they know that nobody stays a cowboy forever. Indeed, Palance has designs on being a hardware store owner and marrying a widow (Allyn Ann McLerie); while Marvin carries on a relationship with a French woman (Jeanne Moreau, in her U.S. film debut). Among the ranch hands that Marvin and Palance ride with is an impulsive wanna-be cowpoke (Mitchell Ryan, making his film debut), who is intent on breaking a wild stallion, and failing at every turn. But when Davis has to lay off some of his hands because the work is drying up quite rapidly, Ryan is one of those he lets go; pretty soon Ryan takes to a life of crime, something that Marvin himself can't abide. And then when David murders Palance in Palance's hardware store during an attempted robbery, Marvin, however reluctantly, has to go after his former fellow employee to basically avenge his best friend's death. By the end, he is finally unemployed and more content to ride out into obsolescence, a trait echoed when he refuses to become part of some Wild West troupe, telling the promoter "I ain't spittin' on my whole life".William Fraker, one of Hollywood's great cinematographers (he had done the cinematography on two classic 1968 films, ROSEMARY'S BABY and BULLITT), made his debut in the director's chair with this impressive end-of-an-era sagebrush saga, capturing the wide open landscapes of the West (shot on locations in southern Arizona), and illustrating as well as anyone how rough a life it had to have been for the people of that era. Up until the 1960s, Hollywood had largely glamorized or rather blindly celebrated the settling of the West as part of America's Manifest Destiny. But the historical truth of the matter was that it was a hard way to live, and only the strongest really survived for whatever time there was to them before what we know as "civilization" encroached on the landscape. Marvin and Palance, both of whom had been known for playing real heavies and villains, here are world-weary men of the saddle just trying to do what they can, and both are excellent in their roles. They try and settle down, but Palance doesn't live long enough to be able to do too much of that, and for Marvin it is too humiliating to do so, even with Moreau (and indeed, he does not). Marvin ends up alone and on his own in the melancholic coda.Featuring solid support from genre veterans like Matt Clark, Bo Hopkins, Charles Tyner, Michael Conrad, Richard Farnsworth, and Billy Green Bush, MONTE WALSH, though highly acclaimed and highly successful at the box office upon its release in October 1970, has largely been forgotten by most audiences who are not already fans of the Western genre, as indeed basically the entire genre itself has been in the 21st century. But it doesn't have to be like this, not when there is a rich storytelling tradition in the genre still to be mined. MONTE WALSH was proof of that, and remains a classic of the genre to this very day.
Martin Bradley
A 'realist' western which means it's about the death of the 'Old West' and its cowboys are no longer young men. Its title character is played by Lee Marvin, (he was 46 when it was made), and his partner is Jack Palance, (who was 51), and the woman Monte loves is a French whore, (a lovely understated Jeanne Moreau). There is very little in the way of conventional action or plot, (a gunfight in the rain, a town almost wrecked by an untamed horse). This is an observational western chronicling a lifestyle that no longer seems relevant. It's gorgeously shot in widescreen by David M Walsh, making great use, not just of the landscape, but of the elements and is beautifully directed by the underrated William A Fraker. I think it's something of a small classic.
wes-connors
Gray-haired cowboy Lee Marvin (as Monte Walsh) and sidekick Jack Palance (as Chet Rollins) arrive in the western town of "Harmony", looking for honest work. After "a long winter," Mr. Marvin spends some quality time under the sheets with mistress Jeanne Moreau (as Martine Bernard). Marvin has a hard time getting his cigarette rolled, but manages to fire up Ms. Moreau. He and Mr. Palance meet ill-tempered Mitchell Ryan (as Shorty Austin), a younger rancher pal; "introduced" to feature films herein, Mr. Ryan was familiar to daytime TV viewers as the missing "Burke Devlin" from "Dark Shadows"."Nobody gets to be a cowboy forever," Palance observes. First-time director, and capable cinematographer, William A. Fraker takes "Monte Walsh" on a sometimes too leisurely pace; the film takes its sweet time, but pleases if you've got the patience. The theme is the disappearance of the old west (and, of course, the Western genre). That it's a post peak period western is ironically obvious as "Mama" Cass Elliott sings John Barry's theme "The Good Times Are Coming" (a minor "Easy Listening" hit). Mr. Fraker, Marvin, Ryan, and Palance are at career peaks. If this is any indication, westerns didn't need to fade away as much as they needed to grow old gracefully.********* Monte Walsh (10/2/70) William A. Fraker ~ Lee Marvin, Jack Palance, Jeanne Moreau, Mitchell Ryan
