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Catlow is directed by Sam Wanamaker, and stars Richard
Crenna (Rambo Series), Yul Brynner (The Ten Commandments
(1956)), and Leonard Nimoy (Star Trek – The Original Series.)
The film’s musical score is composed by Roy Budd, and the
film is based on the novel of the same name by Louis L’Amour.
***
Catlow is a Western, featuring a marshal (Crenna) determined
to bring Catlow (Brynner), a cattle rustler he was once
acquainted with in the Civil War, to justice, after turning
to a life of crime. His past feelings of friendship and
camaraderie, and legalities prevent him from killing his
old acquaintance in cold blood, so he stands determined
to take him in for a fair trial. Unfortunately, not everyone
wants to take the criminal in alive. A ruthless bounty hunter
(Nimoy) is hot on his trail as well. Now Catlow is wanted
by at least two men – one who wants him alive, and one who
wants him dead. And with Catlow’s deadly gun skills and
a massive posse of criminals, it won’t be easy for anyone
hunting him to succeed. ***
Catlow is a fairly obscure Western that never rode
off into classic status. Two weeks ago, I didn’t even know
the film existed. And despite its relatively-obscure status,
it’s not a bad film. This is no classic, but it’s a movie
any fan of Westerns should see once. ***
The best thing about this movie is its three leading
men – Richard Crenna (Colonel Trautman from the Rambo movies)
as the marshal, Yul Brynner (Ramses in the 1956 version
of The Ten Commandments) as the title outlaw, and Leonard
Nimoy (Spock from the original Star Trek series) as a bounty
hunter out to kill the title character. These actors are
clearly having fun with their roles, and playing them very
well. A supporting cast of unknowns actually plays all their
parts quite well, too. My only real complaint cast-wise
is that, while Nimoy got top billing along with Crenna and
Brynner, he just isn’t in the film that much. If you’re
watching this movie to see Nimoy do something other than
be Spock, you’ll get that here – but not for a whole lot
of time. Curiously, Nimoy stated in later years that making
this movie was one of the best acting experiences he’d ever
had, since it let him break away from Spock, the role that
more-or-less typecast him (like so many other Star Trek
stars.) ***
The movie has a lot going for it – in addition to the
aforementioned stars, there’s a riveting musical score that
suits the Western setting perfectly, some interesting scenery
and cinematography, and good writing and dir ection that
usually keeps the movie moving along at a good pace. ***
Unfortunately, the movie isn’t perfect, and if you
watch it for the first time, you’ll see firsthand why it
isn’t a classic. The first (and most major) flaw is the
pacing and length. At around 100 minutes, this isn’t exactly
a short film, but it feels longer than it really is. At
times the action does to tend to grind to a halt. This is
most noticeable by an attempt at a romantic subplot between
Crenna’s character and a female relative of a young Mexican
soldier he rescues. Some scenes feel like they are only
in the movie as fillers, just to show something happening
(which doesn’t always contribute to the plot in the long
run.) Long story short, the movie could have been about
20 minutes shorter – and a better product as a result. Also,
the ending is laughably bad. ***
But no matter how much I can complain about Catlow,
it IS a good film. I seriously doubt any fan of Westerns
will be disappointed by the performances and the story told
here. It’s an entertaining film, and while I certainly won’t
be adding it to my list of favorite movies anytime soon,
I give it a solid recommendation to any fan of Westerns
or these actors. ---
Image and Sound:
Ugh. This film was not remastered in the least and just
“slapped on” a disc. It seems like Warner was more determined
to release the movie on Region 1 DVD and cash in than to
take the time and do any sort of restoration. The film is
laden with faded, often excessive grain, and plenty of damage
and dirt on the film. To add insult to injury, the transfer
is terribly inconsistent – one shot can be filled with excessive
grain and damage, and the next can look almost pristine.
The audio track gets the job done, but you can tell it too
didn’t get any sort of restoration. I’m shocked that Warner
Bros., a company who has given us films with some of the
finest restorations of all time, would have committed this
unrefined transfer to a disc. This feels like one of those
“first wave” of DVDs that came out ten years ago.
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