She Came to the Valley

The making of this film was a big deal to the local residents of the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. Based on the book of the same name by Cleo Dawson it caused quite a local stir when it came out. I remember going to see it and being greatly disappointed. My immediate reaction was that there must have been some sort of scam in which writers or producers or directors conspired to milk investment money out of over eager locals. I also suspected that the only place it was ever released in a theater was in South Texas. Another local interest movie was based on the singer Selena and was made up the coast in Corpus Christi. Obviously that movie had quite a different impact!

Skip the movie. It's a really poor adaptation of a darn good book. Read it.

A very poorly-made film....not even up to straight-to-video standards. In spite of that, the actors do their darndest to put the story across. Sometimes they try too hard, I'm afraid, and I wince at the overacting. Scott Glenn, however, stays above the fray. He really does a fine job with his character. And the story drew me in as the film progressed, and I began to overlook the obvious flaws. By the time the film was finished, I realized it was just an old-fashioned western...and there isn't anything wrong with that, is there? Still, hard to believe this film was made in 1977. It has a very 1957 feel to it. It should only be sold or rented for 1957 prices, too.

I first saw this thing several years ago on cable at 3 in the morning. One viewing of this dud will show you why it was on at 3 in the morning. Director Albert Band specialized in cheap Italian westerns in the '60s, and this has the look, feel and sound of one. Only the fact that it was shot in English in Texas, instead of in Italian in Spain, distinguishes it from the stinkers that Band put out back then. His filmmaking skill haven't improved, either. What this film actually looks like is a home movie on a slightly bigger-than-average budget (for a home movie, that is). For some reason Band was able to attract a pretty decent cast, but he doesn't do anything with them. Scott Glenn looks embarrassed, as well he should be, you get the feeling from his "performance" that he wishes he were somewhere else. Freddy Fender, while a good singer, overacts outrageously as Pancho Villa. Ronee Blakeley, another country singer, is a bit better as a pioneer woman caught up in the swirling atmosphere of the Texas/Mexico border during the Mexican Revolution early in this century. It's a good premise, but Band isn't good enough of a director, and the budget is much too low, to do anything interesting with it. A couple of haphazard gun fights and a few flimsy huts set on fire, are just about it for the "action" in the picture. There's a lot of talk, most of which has been said in countless westerns before it and a lot of which makes no sense at all, the photography is poor, the sound is awful, and it apparently was edited with hedge clippers. If you're a fan of Blakeley, Fender or Glenn, don't waste your time on this dud. If you're a western fan, don't waste your time on this dud. If you have seen every movie ever made in the history of mankind except this one, don't waste your time on this dud. Poor in all departments. Avoid it like the plague.

This film begins with a man by the name of "Pat Westall" (Dean Stockwell) who has a dream about buying some land out in a desolate part of Texas in Webb County and moving his wife "Willy Westall" (Ronee Blakely) and young child there to start a farm. Unfortunately, just prior to actually traveling there Pat suffers from an accident which leaves him badly hobbled and delays their departure for some time. When they get there they do the best that they can but after a couple of years they decide to move to the Rio Grande Valley with the encouragement of a friend by the name of "Bill Lester" (Scott Glenn). What they don't realize is that there is quite of bit of political turbulence in that area revolving around two separate groups of people. The first involves German attempts to cause unrest with America while the other group is led by none other than-"Pancho Villa" (Freddy Fender). Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this film essentially suffered from a certain lack of cohesion and character development which impacted the plot from start-to-finish. Likewise, none of the actors seemed quite able to dominate the screen in any way which is sometimes necessary for a film of this type. Be that as it may, while this wasn't a bad Western by any means, it definitely had room for improvement and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.