Rio Conchos

This really was the last good conventional western action film, just before Sergio Leone and Sam Peckinpah opened the gate to a new genre. It is a very violent film, if you watch it closely, though not as graphic as what came a couple of years later. It is worth watching for the scenery, action, and most of all, a tremendous cast.

The great Jimmy Brown, Richard Boone, Tony Fransiosa, and ....Stuart Whitman. Wait...Stuart Whitman?!...no...he stinks. hes got no charisma, no screen presence. hes dull, flat...He stunk in everything. But I heard hes one of the richest men in California, so he wouldnt mind my saying so.

Actually, Stuart Whitman, the dullest of the major characters, is not needed at all. The screenwriters should have had the guts to transform the character into Jim Browns role...even make him a black officer. That could have been historically accurate, and even have set up a whole dynamic of tense racial relationships, especially when confronting Boones ex-Confederate racist character. Alas, nobody had the guts in 1964, but it would have been interesting, and the film would be even more highly regarded today.

The film ends abruptly and strangely, but it fits. Pay attention to Wendy Wagner as the Apache chick, shes hot, hot hot! I would have liked to have seen more of her.

Remember, if anybody wants to win trivia contests, "The Dirty Dozen" was not Jim Browns first film. "Rio Conchos" is!