Catlow (1971)
Catlow (1971)
This one is as much ‘comedy’ as Western with Yul Brynner (looking every bit his 51 years and then some) in the title role an outlaw who’s only partially being pursued by his old friend the Marshal Ben Cowan played by Richard Crenna though he’s more enthusiastically chased by a vengeful killer played by Leonard Nimoy. It was directed by Sam Wanamaker; its screenplay by Scott Finch and J.J. Griffith was based on the novel by Louis L’Amour (Hondo (1953)). Daliah Lavi plays Catlow’s hot tempered Mexican girlfriend Rosita; she eventually becomes his foe as well. Jo Ann Pflug plays a love interest for Crenna’s character and old Jeff Corey appears as one of the outlaw’s gang (with enough gray hair for his and Brynner’s head as well). Otherwise it’s pretty much a Western by the numbers: a cattle drive double crosses beautiful vistas chaotic gun (and fist) fights Indians shooting arrows with deadly accuracy and a mule train of gold to be stolen. There’s not much rhyme or reason to the plot but it appears that all involved had fun making it.