La rançon de la peur

The Plunderers is directed by Joseph Pevney and written by Bob Barbash. It stars Jeff Chandler, John Saxon, Dolores Hart, Marsha Hunt and Jay C. Flippen. Music is by Leonard Rosenman and cinematography by Eugene Polito.

Trail City, and 4 delinquent cowboys ride into town with attitude and carefree abandon. The Trail City residents - spineless, all except one man. One man who considers himself only half a man on account of his disability. That man is Civil War veteran Captain Sam...

War didn't just destroy his arm.

The few critical appraisals and reviews that exist for The Plunderers are keen to associate the picture with other notable pictures released previously, which in this instance is something of a curse when they happen to be well revered classics. Yet this is no knock off, it has its own identity. The four young delinquents here are not dashing dandy types, the makers make every effort to put their failings as human beings up at the front of the portrayals. These are young men, out of their depth, even spineless, but of course the town doesn't know this as they are too busy cowering in the shadows.

The messages are obvious in the play, but Pevney doesn't use his sledgehammer to enforce those parts of the narrative. It's perhaps no surprise how things pan out with Chandler's embittered war veteran, as he wrestles with both his conscience and his disability, but Pevney has a good knack for slow burning the atmosphere to bring rewards for film's finale. Chandler, in his last Western, is suitably broody, Hunt and Hart are beauties to behold, while of the bad boys it's Saxon as a diabolical Mexican - with scary eyebrows - and the only one who is old enough to shave, who strikes the highest villain chords.

Elsewhere there's a great musical score provided by double Academy Award Winner Rosenman, very much akin to something that the moody Twilight Zone episodes would use. It also at times has the feel of the score Alan Silvestri would rustle up for Predator some 27 years later. Polito's photography is crisp, where in conjunction with Pevney's camera angles and lighting techniques keeps the claustrophobia factor high in this one location setting.

Crackerjack! A dandy of a black and white Oater waiting to be discovered by more Western fans. It's a keeper for sure. 8/10

I am surprised this isn't a better known western. It's a moody and sparse western that follows 4 young men who turn up in a little town and take it over.

It's an interesting story as I imagine that there were quite a few towns with aging populations that were vulnerable to being taken over by gangs looking for an easy life.

The acting is generally good although I was particularly taken with the lead actor Jeff Chandler who seemed a little stiff (he sadly died a year or two after this film). The gang are pretty good portraying a quiet menace. Only one went on to have a long movie career, John Saxon as Rondo. The back up cast are all solid and the stunning Dolores Hart adds some welcome glamour.

Although this isn't an action packed film thanks to a nice script it manages to hold your attention throughout. There is a great air of tension built up as the gang terrorize the town. The ending is maybe a little predictable but still nicely done.

The Plunderers is worth catching for lovers of the western genre.

Typical Western of tough guys bullying a town, yet the acting and dialogue make it very entertaining. John Saxon steals the film even though he sometimes overplays his Mexican accent. Veteran character actor Flippen is also a standout. Pretty good overall.

As a player Jeff Chandler had several westerns to his credit most notably Broken Arrow where he got an Academy Award nomination. His last film in the western genre is The Plunderers where he's cast as a crippled Civil War veteran who is forced to lead his town of Trail's End in taking a stand against four juvenile toughs.

Some people are born leaders and like it or not in tough situations the job falls to them. John Saxon, Dee Pollock, Ray Stricklyn and Roger Torrey all come to town and start essentially pushing people around. They beat up bartender James Westerfield and later shoot down sheriff Jay C. Flippen who is a tired old man who should have retired from that job long ago. Flippen is symbolic himself of this post Civil War Texas town.

Chandler is a former cavalry leader in the Civil War and he's like Lucas McCain in The Rifleman, the one in the town the people look up to in a moment of crisis. He's as tired as any of the rest of them and just wishes they would ride away, but when that doesn't happen despite his physical limitations Chandler steps to the plate.

There is a lot of criticism of The Plunderers with some saying this is just a modern juvenile delinquent story set in the west. That maybe so, but what was Billy the Kid for instance if not a most murderous juvenile delinquent. This film is a harbinger of the Young Guns films or the Lee Marvin classic, The Spikes Gang. The only difference is that the punks aren't glamorized here. I swear all that was needed was for Sal Mineo to be cast as one of the punks.

The Plunderers was done for Allied Artists which we know was formerly Mongram Pictures. Back in their day they did their share of B westerns and the sets were used most notably for The Cisco Kid movies. The Plunderers is a great deal above the quality of those horse operas and it's one of Jeff Chandler's better latter day films.

This topic has been made at least one billion times in Hollywood history, western or crime genre. One man against several evil ones, so nothing new here. But the directing, castig, acting, every second of this pure awesome movie contributes to keep you glued, stuck to this story, a masterpiece of psychological character study, as NO NAME ON THE BULLET is for instance; though the story was not exactly the same. Jeff Chandler was purely outstanding and makes his death a couple of years later even more painful to accept, to digest. I will never get tired of this movie. Never.