A trio of cowboys, Vern (Cameron Mitchell), Wes (Jack Nicholson) and Otis (Tom Filer), stop to rest for the night at the remote hideout of a gang of outlaws led by Blind Dick (Harry Dean Stanton). In the morning, they find themselves surrounded by a vigilante hanging party and are forced to become fugitives due to a case of mistaken identity.
Made back to back with "The Shooting", this is the second Monte Hellman, Jack Nicholson and Roger Corman collaboration of 1966. With Nicholson writing, starring and producing, fans of his films ought to make a point of seeing this, one of his earlier creative ventures.
The point of making a second western back to back was to save money. Corman, always trying to cut costs, figured it would be less money to have the same set for two films, especially if the actors and crew largely overlapped. Hellman has said this plan may not have worked as well as intended. He concedes they saved money on travel expenses, but the film cost itself hardly changed. Of course, when you're dealing with $75,000 for a movie (almost an unthinkably low sum), how much wiggle room can there be? This film expresses a rather bleak, minimalist quality that does not sentimentalize the Wild West. On the other hand, the violence is portrayed less graphically than in the films of Sam Peckinpah like "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid" (1973). Was Peckinpah inspired by Hellman? Perhaps, considering that Rudy Wurlitzer had written Hellman's "Two Lane Blacktop" just prior to working with Peckinpah.
