The lyrics to Farnon’s theme were surprisingly written by British Carry On star Jim Dale and while being rather ‘Tin Pan Alley’ they hopefully don’t detract from Farnon’s excellent score.
Sean Connery made one Western:
Shalako (1968)
Adapted from the novel by the great Western writer Louis L’Amour,
Shalako was part of the Spaghetti Western craze of that time.
Location shooting took place in Almería in southern Spain, particularly in the Tabernas Desert
which was frequently used in European Westerns during the decade.
Shalako wasn’t a great Western, but it had one outstanding feature:
It’s amazing Star Power, which included:
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 …
Reviews:
Reviews were generally mediocre. But I think this could be one of those movies that fares better with time.
Why? But because of Shalako‘s amazing Cast/Star Power.
Which is pretty well unmatched by most movies made these days,
Because of this I give it a 7 out of 10.
Part 2? I’m going to look at this interesting Cast a bit more.
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I saw this on TV when I was quite young and it always stuck in my mind. I’ve remained fond of it ever since for all its weaknesses and perhaps because of the apparent eccentricity of it all. It was adapted from a Louis L’Amour novel and I get the impression the movie aimed, with the scope of its casting at least, to be much more epic than its origins.
Definitely not a Classic. Unusual to be sure. I really had to check to see if the Movie followed L’Amour’s book because of Bardot being in there. And it did.
L’Amour was a great Western writer, of course, with an incredible insight into human character. Has provided great substance for several Movies. I’ll have to watch Shalako again sometime though to see how it holds up with me. Or not.
I’ve been trying to get some depth on how all this came together and I still haven’t figured out how Bardot got in there yet? But I suppose she could get into anything in those days.
Heck of a cast! Have to look that one up. Thanks JC