Charro!

Definately his best film. This film proves that Elvis could act. It's quite refreshing to see a film like this after some of those PATHETIC films like Paradise, Hawaiian Style, or Clambake. I give this movie five stars. Even if you're not an Elvis fan, I reccomend this movie. It's not your typical Elvis movie, and Elvis only sings in the opening credit. With the late Ina Balin and the late Victor French as the bad guy, this movie has a strong supporting cast.

OK, I love Elvis movies a LOT, but he made some serious clunkers all in the name of the almighty dollar and contracts Col. Parker made him sign. Why Elvis couldn't break away and do more films like this, we'll never know. We'll also never know 'what could have been', had Elvis escaped the movie musical grind sooner. This is a pretty good western, I have to say, and I have seen a LOT of westerns and I am a huge fan of the genre. It's pretty cool that he only sings the title song over the opening credits of Charro! and doesn't break into song in the middle of a scene like in his usual Hollywood formula musicals.

He was offered the Kris Kristofferson part in 'A Star Is Born', and I think he would have been GREAT in that. For whatever reason, he turned it down. He was more into making concert films at that time, plus he was deeply involved in his prescription drug addiction and had put on a lot of weight, so maybe those were big issues that kept him from doing more good film roles.

Elvis, I thank you for making Charro! I wish there had been more films like this in your Hollywood resume.

I don't know what makes me enjoy this movie more, being an Elvis fan or being a fan of western movies (my favorite is El Dorado).

This movie shows some pretty good acting, an impressive soundtrack, beautiful cinematography, some wild action and an Elvis, that is pretty rough and tough. Warren hadn't made a movie for ten years before "Charro" and I think he shouldn't have been producer, writer AND director. He did his weakest job as the writer, his directing is a lot better, but I wonder what Peckinpah might have done out of this story. In fact the two-former-friends-now-enemies plot is typical for Peckinpah. The story reflects a lot of Elvis' own career, most obvious: the bad guy in "Charro" USES the Elvis character to make money, which is exactly what Elvis' real life manager did, too, in fact that guy (who called himself Colonel, although he wasn't) was highly unscrupulous and Elvis too weak (sorry fellow fans but let's face the truth!) to have his own way. This often underrated movie is highly recommendable to anyone who likes western movies. Let me add that this movie is NOT a musical; in one scene Elvis is opening a door to look into a saloon where a band is playing, in one of his awful musical comedies, the man would jump onto the stage and perform some tune, but here he turns around and closes the door.

So I bought a new box set of Elvis movies. In it was "Charro." I thought it looked refreshing to see Elvis play a more serious role instead of the usual musical. I did some research and found this generally to be poorly received. Well I watched the film anyway. . .

I honestly was expecting this to be utter garbage. The first five minutes went by. I thought it was pretty good so far - I was wondering when it would start to suck. 20 minutes go by. I was being drawn into the plot and finding the action riveting and exciting, with a nice musical score, too (Still isn't bad yet).

Then I get to the climax - - - Original and intense. What was so bad about it? The acting was solid, it had a good script, and I found it a very pleasurable experience. Is it just the general bias towards any Elvis film after the '50s or is it because it's not some hoity toity British trash? I say, if you're a fan of westerns and/or Elvis. You should certainly give this movie a chance.

*** / **** stars.

Charro is not an inventive movie by any means but it is quite entertaining. It's a standard western about a man defending a town from outlaws without any unexpected twists. This movie only includes one Elvis song which might be good for some and disappointing for others. As for Elvis himself he's a perfectly serviceable actor and has a pretty good screen presence. He might not have the range but the has the charisma necessary to carry a movie. The movies he makes from what I've seen so far are better than I thought they would be and so I will probably watch more of them in the future.