Soundtrack
“Sean Connery is Shalako! Shalako means action!
Action means Bardot!”
“Connery is Shalako – He tamed the West!
Bardot is Irina – She tamed Shalako!”
Countess Irina Lazaar (Bardot):
“Shalako – it’s a strange name”.
Shalako (Connery):
“Yeah. It means “rain-bringer.” Zuni Indian”.
My eldest brother, Richard, asked me what I thought of Shalako (1968)?
Wikipedia says: “Shalako is a 1968 Western film directed by American Edward Dmytryk, starring Sean Connery and Brigitte Bardot. The British production was filmed in Alméria, Spain.
Though not regarded as a Western Classic, Shalako is really not a bad Western at all – and a damned interesting one due to its notable Cast – an overall international collaboration – Directed by Edward Dmytryk (American) – shot in Spain – from the book by Western author Louis L’Amour (American) – Starring Sean Connery (Scottish), Brigitte Bardot (French), Jack Hawkins (English), Steven Boyd (Irish), Eric Sykes (English) , Honor Blackman (English), Woody Strode (American), Valerie French (not French) and others …
Jack Hawkins (was already a well-respected veteran Star/actor) and Steven Boyd – would both be recognized by their Starring roles in Ben Hur (1959).
So … a coterie of fine acting talent and charismatic Movie Stars. Mostly European – strange for a Western – but not unrealistic to the times / Old West.
So, if Shalako has nothing else, it has Star Power – Not to be under-rated.
And though Shalako is made in the Spaghetti Western era – it doesn’t have the feel of a Spaghetti Western? You’d think it would … but …
(All this proves my Theory (#83) as to why Western Films will never die: Every Actor and every Director want to make or appear in a Western at some point.)
Connery and Bardot have some nice interplay in sharing the bulk of the screen time. Also there’s some decent action in what is a pretty well a straight up Western action tale with the Apaches (again) playing the heavies. Possibly a Western that may enjoy greater appreciation with time.
MFW Review?:
Shalako is an interesting Western – a curiosity. Worth a watch … but maybe just one.
Trivia:
– Other Steven Boyd Westerns: The Bravados (a Classic), Bandolero (not a Classic).
– Wikipedia: “Jack Hawkins, a three-pack-a-day smoker began experiencing voice problems in the late 1950s; unknown to the public he had undergone cobalt treatment in 1959 for what was then described as a secondary condition of the larynx, but which was probably cancer. In private, he used a mechanical larynx to aid his speech. In December 1965, he was diagnosed with throat cancer. His entire larynx was removed in January of the following year; thereafter his performances were dubbed, often (with Hawkins’s approval) by Robert Rietti or Charles Gray. Hawkins continued to smoke after losing his voice.
He died at St Stephen’s Hospital, Fulham Road, London, on 18 July 1973, following an operation to insert an artificial voicebox. He was 62.”
Posters:
The Book
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