A somewhat odd spaghetti Western. I am not familiar with this Monte Hellman, but at first I thought he was trying to be Sergio Leone. Later, I thought he was trying to outdo Leone. I am not sure if the setting is supposed to be southeast Texas, even though there are towns named China and Liberty there, but the countryside there is wooded, and even a bit swampy. Excellent photography of the arid Spanish landscapes. The sound was awful, though, with score and background noise often drowning out dialog. Fabio Testi was the wooden anti-hero, with a serious Italian accent. Warren Oates was the only really well-developed character. Jenny Agutter was oh, so beautiful. But she was alternately reserved and wanton, so it was hard to figure out her character. (You really have to see the uncut version. It is available if you search hard enough for it.) There were a few anachronisms and plot holes but not terribly so. A pet peeve of mine is people suffering grievous wounds, like gunshots and stabbings, and seemingly having no ill effects after three days. I know it moves the narrative along, but sheesh. Anyway it was OK, and just a bit better due to Agutter.

A lot of misinformation in some of the other reviews. The character who began to make the, "As long as I've got a face," remark--which was never finished-- was the the younger brother of Oates' character. The last name of Fabio Testi's character, who was nothing but respectful in his comments to Jenny Agutter's Catherine, was Drumm, not Jones. I do agree the score was not good, and I suspect Hellman had little control over that. He wasn't in a position of power after the brilliant "Two Lane Blacktop" flopped. It was coal, not oil, that Matthew (Oates) was counting on to make him rich. And Drumm did not "constantly drink cocaine laced whiskey." He had one bottle of it given to him by the owner of the circus. If I recall this was before the second lovemaking scene in the hotel, and cocaine, for those who don't know, makes one very amorous. I think it was meant as a joke. All that said, I have to agree this not a great Hellman film, and his approach was probably too contemplative for most fans of spaghetti Westerns. Even though the final shootout is more typical of the genre. I love the chief bad guy saying. "This didn't go so well," just before he attempts to surrender and Oates shoots him. It's a measure of Oates' skill as an actor that he manages to gain our sympathy for Matthew, even after admitting having killed a whole family, "right down to the dogs, the cats, and the chickens," for the railroad. I was surprised by Katherine's decision to stay with Matthew (though she really had little choice), and that final scene must have looked amazing in the original Technovision 235:1 frame. I think it symbolized that Oates was finally cutting his ties with his past completely. I think he was sincere when he told Catherine, "No one will hurt you again," meaning he wouldn't. Fabio Testi's accent was thick, but I give Hellman credit for not dubbing him, and for adding a back story about Drumm coming to the USA after his grandparents' death to explain it.And, yes, I think the West was full of people with nearly indecipherable accents. I've lived in the West for near to 20 years, and still can't understand some of the old timers.

Compared to the pared-down, bleak economy of Two-Lane Blacktop or The Shooting, this film comes over as a flabby, conventional affair. There is not nearly enough attraction between the two romantic leads; the plot wanders and the direction frequently lags; even Warren Oates is not at his quirky best here. The characters are not observed, they are merely filmed.By way of compensation, some of the cinematography is actually quite interesting. The director of photography was Guiseppe Rotunno who worked on many of Fellini's films, and in many of the exterior shots he and Hellman achieve a singular chiaroscuro effect; the foreground characters are often in deep shadow while an intense, golden morning or evening light illuminates a stunning backdrop of cliffs or mountains.Many of the interior shots are also carefully lit, again with strong use of shadow; but the main characters just aren't interesting enough to engage the attention. The sudden intensity of Sam Peckinpah's brief appearance points up the shortcomings of the rest of the film; the way Jenny Agutter focuses on him makes you realise how little chemistry there is between her and Fabio Testi.Hard to recommend, especially with the truly dismal quality of the available prints.

I saw this at the 1978 Telluride Film Festival with Monte Hellman in attendance. We were a bit worse for chemicals at that time, but the film made an indelible impression on my pals and me. To this day we still talk about it and quote some of the most outrageous lines put into a film up until that time.Since then I've been trying to find the version I saw, but have only encountered pablum-style crap with all the good stuff edited out and horrific washed-out video transfers.So I need to ask, are my memories of these lines from the film accurate or did whatever was in me at the time make them up? Testi to Agutter: "As long as I have a face, you'll have a place to sit." And, Warren Oates to the world in general: "If they didn't have c*nts there'd be a bounty on them." A great, OTT film for its time. Where is Monte Hellman when we need him?