Santee

Few people remember that SANTEE was one of the very first feature films (and almost definitely the first Western) shot on videotape. Noted character actor Ed Platt, famous for his role as "The Chief" in the TV series GET SMART, reportedly invested his own money in this film, intending to champion the concept of shooting movies economically on videotape.

The process used portable Philips (aka Norelco) video cameras and primitive Ampex 2" videotape recorders, which they powered via batteries while shooting on-location the desert and in and around California and Nevada. A 1973 issue of AMERICAN

CINEMATOGRAPHER covered the work done by director of photography Don Morgan and his crew, and went in-depth on the differences between shooting on film and shooting on video. Sadly, SANTEE was a flop in theaters, and Ed Platt lost his money and died less than a year after the movie was released.

Three decades later, innovative filmmakers like Robert Rodriguez and George Lucas are using digital video gear to shoot movies. Ed Platt was definitely ahead of his time on SANTEE; sadly, he never lived to see the technology get to the point where it would work.

A bounty hunter (Glenn Ford) takes in the son (Michael Burns) of a man he killed.

I have never been a huge fan of the western genre. Some are incredible, but most seem to be rather blah. One could say that about any genre, I suppose. I mean, heck, I love horror and I would be the first to admit that most of it is garbage. But it is garbage that still generally entertains me. The western, for the most part, is not something I understand.

This one is alright. Adopting a kid (who is really more of a young adult) in the west is a good story, and Glenn Ford is a decent actor. As far as the genre goes, this is very much middle ground.

Glenn Ford who was associated with some of the best westerns ever made has his last starring role in the genre in Santee. Although he would do more westerns up to almost the end of his career, he would no longer be the leading man/action hero in any of them.

Ford was 57 when he made Santee and even in this one he's transitioning to be a father figure, much the same way John Wayne was in films like Big Jake, Rio Lobo, and The Cowboys.

Unfortunately Santee takes it's plot from a combination of Henry Fonda's The Tin Star and Robert Mitchum's Young Billy Young. Ford is a former lawman, turned bounty hunter who decides that marshaling doesn't give him quite the latitude he needs to deal with bad guys. It also doesn't pay as well. But having his son shot down by John Larch and his gang was enough to turn him bitter.

He's also forced to kill Robert J. Wilkie another outlaw who has a son in Michael Burns. But he takes Burns into his home. Truth be told there wasn't much attachment there anyway, Burns hardly knew him.

Jay Silverheels has the best part in the film as Ford's loquacious ranch foreman. I do believe he had more dialog here than in over 200 episodes of The Lone Ranger. Dana Wynter has a few scenes as Ford's wife and makes them count.

But Santee is just a tired rehash of a pair of better films. Glenn Ford fans will like it though.

Santee is directed by Gary Nelson and written by Brand Bell. It stars Glenn Ford, Michael Burns, Dana Wynter and Jay Silverheels. Music is scored by Don Rand and photography is by Donald Morgan. Plot finds Ford as seasoned bounty hunter Santee, who after killing the outlaw father of young Jody Deaks (Burns), takes him under his wing at his Three Arrows Ranch. With both of them nursing loses in their lives, they both come to be great for each other, but just as harmony is abundant at the ranch, news comes that the outlaw gang responsible for Santee's pain is back in town.

No country for empty pockets and a flat stomach.

Primarily shot on location in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santee is notable for a couple of things. Firstly it was the last time that Western legend Ford would play a lead role in the genre, secondly is that it was filmed on video tape. Some debate exists as to if it was the first film to be shot that way, but certainly the research suggests it was definitely the first Western. Santee is a strange film in many ways, for sure as a film it's not a great lead role send off for Ford, but he is actually very good in it. The story is a good one from Bell, full of emotional worth and maintaining interest throughout, while there's plenty of action and blood shed within the plot. The dialogue, too, often has some intelligence about it. But it's so poorly put together it becomes a frustrating watching experience.

The video tape filming doesn't work, the colour is often dull and the night interiors are lifeless. While a couple of close ups appear to suddenly become pan and scan! Other problem comes with there being no truly great villain to underpin the destinies of Santee and Jody Deaks. The Banner (John Larch) gang exist, get a couple of small scenes, but that's about it until the bloody finale. The cast around Ford are OK, Wynter doesn't quite look right for a ranch gal lover, but makes a mark as a loyal wife and surrogate mother. Burns has the youthful naivety just right, but isn't helped by the screenplay having him become a killing man too quickly, and Silverheels turns in a good one as the wise ranch hand at Three Arrows. The film is very 70s in look and feel, something that can take you out of the period setting, more so with Rand's foot tapping music accompaniment. Bonus, though, on the music front, is the feature song in the picture, "Jody," that is song by Paul Revere and The Raiders, it's a beautiful ballad and carries with it the requisite emotional heft.

An enjoyable Western with one or two tricks up its sleeve, but the problems are evident and stop it from being a must see for anyone other than Western and Glenn Ford purists. 6/10

The best features of this film are the scenery and Jay Silverheels in a part where he can show some emotions, compared with his stonefaced Tonto. In fact it's Ford who is bland for much of the film, despite the tragic loss of his son which is meant to have shaped his character; only in the very last scene does he convey real emotion - without saying a word.

The plot is unconvincing several times over. At the beginning one would have thought four tough guys could have stood and fought rather than flee from Santee, renowned bounty-hunter he may be. After a brief wish for revenge, the orphaned Jody seems to too readily accept Santee as a surrogate father, and in the version of the film I saw I never noticed any evidence that he had become a gunman competent enough to accompany Santee against six more tough guys.

A disappointment.