Chato's Land
Encyclopedia
Chato's Land is a 1972 American western
film directed by Michael Winner
, starring Charles Bronson
and Jack Palance
. It falls more closely into the revisionist Western
genre, which was at its height at the time. The original screenplay was written by Gerry Wilson
.
, kills the local sheriff, in self-defense, a former Confederate
officer gathers a posse
to hunt him down. It includes a number of local ranchers and townspeople, as well as a Mexican who is used as a scout and tracker.
The posse pursues Chato into the wilderness, deliberately led into Apache country by him. Chato sabotages their water supply and puts several of their horses to flight.
In retaliation, some members of the posse brutally assault Chato's woman, raping her and murdering his friend. Disagreements flare while Chato picks them off one by one. It gradually begins to dawn on the remainder of the posse that they are the ones being hunted.
panned the film calling it a "...long, idiotic revenge Western...It was directed by Michael Winner in some lovely landscapes near Almeria
, Spain
. Just about everybody gets shot or knifed, and one man dies after Chato lassos him with a live rattlesnake."
TV Guide
, echoing Canby, wrote, "A great cast is primarily wasted in this gory, below-average, and overlong film. The script could have been written for a silent film to fit with Bronson's traditional man-of-few-words image (in fact, more grunts and squint than words)...As usual Bronson must rely upon the conviction that there are viewers who find silence eloquent."
A more recent Film4
review was more positive observing that Chato's Land "...though no masterpiece, is an effective and frequently disturbing piece of filmmaking...A tough, cynical western with well-paced direction and a fine performance from Charles Bronson and the cast of vagabonds out to get him. A quality film from Michael Winner.."
, which was contemporary to this storyline, but perhaps that is giving the filmmakers too much credit. Granted, there is the theme of the white men intruding on a land where they are frequently under fire, and ending up humiliated as a result, but when this was made it was not entirely clear that America would be on the losing side as the conflict may have been winding down, but was by no means over."
Film4, is more assertive in their review, "The cruelty of the posse is well conveyed by an able (and supremely ugly) group of actors headed up by Jack Palance and Simon Oakland. Some of their acts, such as the brutal rape of Chato's squaw and the burning of an Indian village, have an unpleasant edge which Winner does not shy away from. Parallels with the contemporary situation in Vietnam can't have been lost on the original audience.
(Intrada Special Collection Vol. 58).
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
film directed by Michael Winner
Michael Winner
Michael Robert Winner is a British film director and producer, active in both Europe and the United States, also known as a food critic for the Sunday Times.-Early life and early career :...
, starring Charles Bronson
Charles Bronson
Charles Bronson , born Charles Dennis Buchinsky was an American actor, best-known for such films as Once Upon a Time in the West, The Magnificent Seven, The Dirty Dozen, The Great Escape, Rider on the Rain, The Mechanic, and the popular Death Wish series...
and Jack Palance
Jack Palance
Jack Palance , was an American actor. During half a century of film and television appearances, Palance was nominated for three Academy Awards, all as Best Actor in a Supporting Role, winning in 1991 for his role in City Slickers.-Early life:Palance, one of five children, was born Volodymyr...
. It falls more closely into the revisionist Western
Revisionist Western
The Revisionist Western, Modern Western or Anti-Western traces to the mid 1960s and early 1970s as a sub-genre of the Western movie....
genre, which was at its height at the time. The original screenplay was written by Gerry Wilson
Gerry Wilson
Gerry Wilson is a screenwriter and script doctor.Wilson's original screenplays include Chato's Land, Lawman and the adapted screenplay of John Gardner's book A Complete State of Death. Since 1989 he has written teleplays for Scandinavian television.Originally from Ontario, Wilson now lives in...
.
Plot
When Chato, who is half ApacheApache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
, kills the local sheriff, in self-defense, a former Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
officer gathers a posse
Posse comitatus (common law)
Posse comitatus or sheriff's posse is the common-law or statute law authority of a county sheriff or other law officer to conscript any able-bodied males to assist him in keeping the peace or to pursue and arrest a felon, similar to the concept of the "hue and cry"...
to hunt him down. It includes a number of local ranchers and townspeople, as well as a Mexican who is used as a scout and tracker.
The posse pursues Chato into the wilderness, deliberately led into Apache country by him. Chato sabotages their water supply and puts several of their horses to flight.
In retaliation, some members of the posse brutally assault Chato's woman, raping her and murdering his friend. Disagreements flare while Chato picks them off one by one. It gradually begins to dawn on the remainder of the posse that they are the ones being hunted.
Cast
- Charles BronsonCharles BronsonCharles Bronson , born Charles Dennis Buchinsky was an American actor, best-known for such films as Once Upon a Time in the West, The Magnificent Seven, The Dirty Dozen, The Great Escape, Rider on the Rain, The Mechanic, and the popular Death Wish series...
as Pardon Chato - Jack PalanceJack PalanceJack Palance , was an American actor. During half a century of film and television appearances, Palance was nominated for three Academy Awards, all as Best Actor in a Supporting Role, winning in 1991 for his role in City Slickers.-Early life:Palance, one of five children, was born Volodymyr...
as Capt. Quincey Whitmore - James WhitmoreJames WhitmoreJames Allen Whitmore, Jr. was an American film and stage actor.-Early life:Born in White Plains, New York, to Florence Belle and James Allen Whitmore, Sr., a park commission official, Whitmore attended Amherst Central High School in Snyder, New York, before graduating from The Choate School in...
as Joshua Everette - Simon OaklandSimon OaklandSimon Oakland was an American actor of stage, screen, and television.-Early life and career:Oakland was born in Brooklyn, New York City. He began his performing arts career as a musician . He began his acting career in the late 1940s...
as Jubal Hooker - Richard BasehartRichard BasehartJohn Richard Basehart was an American actor. He starred in the 1960s television science fiction drama Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, in the role of Admiral Harriman Nelson.-Career:...
as Nye Buell - Ralph WaiteRalph WaiteRalph Waite is an American actor, whose most notable role was playing John Walton Sr. on the 1970s CBS TV series The Waltons, which he also occasionally directed...
as Elias Hooker - Richard JordanRichard JordanRichard Jordan was an American stage, screen and film actor. A long-time member of the New York Shakespeare Festival, he performed in many Off Broadway and Broadway plays...
as Earl Hooker - Victor FrenchVictor FrenchVictor Edwin French was an American actor and director.-Early career:Born in Santa Barbara, California,...
as Martin Hall - Sonia Rangan as Chato's wife
- William WatsonWilliam Watson (actor)William Watson was an American actor.-Career:Born in U.S. He has appeared in many western television series and a few movies: In the Heat of the Night , Lawman , Chato's Land , Executive Action , Wholly Moses! .....
as Harvey Lansing - Roddy McMillanRoddy McMillanRoddy McMillan was a Scottish actor and playwright, possibly most famous for his comedy role as Para Handy for BBC Scotland television. He also played the lead role in Edward Boyd's private eye series, The View from Daniel Pike.The Glasgow-born McMillan's earliest theatre work began in the...
as Gavin Malechie - Paul YoungPaul Young (actor)Paul Young is a Scottish television actor and presenter. He is the son of the actor John Young. Educated at George Heriot's School in Edinburgh....
as Brady Logan - Lee PattersonLee PattersonLee Patterson was a Canadian film and television actor.After attending Ontario College of Art, Patterson moved to England, where he specialized in playing virile American types in British films...
as George Dunn - Peter DyneleyPeter DyneleyPeter Dyneley was a British actor, born in Hastings, East Sussex, England.Although appearing in many smaller roles in both film and television, he is best remembered for his performance as the voice of Jeff Tracy in the Gerry Anderson 1960s TV series Thunderbirds and the subsequent movies...
as Ezra Meade - Hugh McDermottHugh McDermott (actor)Hugh McDermott was a British actor who made a number of film and television appearances between 1936 and 1972. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1908 and made his screen debut in Well Done, Henry and followed it up with an appearance as HM Stanley in David Livingstone...
as Bartender - Raúl Castro as Mexican scout (as Raul Castro)
- Verna Harvey as Shelby Hooker
Critical response
When released Vincent CanbyVincent Canby
Vincent Canby was an American film critic who became the chief film critic for The New York Times in 1969 and reviewed more than 1000 films during his tenure there.-Life and career:...
panned the film calling it a "...long, idiotic revenge Western...It was directed by Michael Winner in some lovely landscapes near Almeria
Almería
Almería is a city in Andalusia, Spain, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the province of the same name.-Toponym:Tradition says that the name Almería stems from the Arabic المرية Al-Mariyya: "The Mirror", comparing it to "The Mirror of the Sea"...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. Just about everybody gets shot or knifed, and one man dies after Chato lassos him with a live rattlesnake."
TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
, echoing Canby, wrote, "A great cast is primarily wasted in this gory, below-average, and overlong film. The script could have been written for a silent film to fit with Bronson's traditional man-of-few-words image (in fact, more grunts and squint than words)...As usual Bronson must rely upon the conviction that there are viewers who find silence eloquent."
A more recent Film4
Film4
Film4 is a free digital television channel available in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, owned and operated by Channel 4, that screens films.-Programming:...
review was more positive observing that Chato's Land "...though no masterpiece, is an effective and frequently disturbing piece of filmmaking...A tough, cynical western with well-paced direction and a fine performance from Charles Bronson and the cast of vagabonds out to get him. A quality film from Michael Winner.."
1970s political overtones
Film critic Graeme Clark discussed an often discussed contemporary political theme of the film when it was released in the early 1970s, writing, "There are those who view this film as an allegory of the United States' presence in VietnamVietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, which was contemporary to this storyline, but perhaps that is giving the filmmakers too much credit. Granted, there is the theme of the white men intruding on a land where they are frequently under fire, and ending up humiliated as a result, but when this was made it was not entirely clear that America would be on the losing side as the conflict may have been winding down, but was by no means over."
Film4, is more assertive in their review, "The cruelty of the posse is well conveyed by an able (and supremely ugly) group of actors headed up by Jack Palance and Simon Oakland. Some of their acts, such as the brutal rape of Chato's squaw and the burning of an Indian village, have an unpleasant edge which Winner does not shy away from. Parallels with the contemporary situation in Vietnam can't have been lost on the original audience.
Media Releases
It was released on Region One DVD in 2001 and on Region Two in 2004.Soundtrack
A CD of the film's soundtrack was released on January 15, 2008 by Intrada RecordsIntrada Records
Intrada Records is an American record company based in Oakland, California. Intrada Records is an American record company based in Oakland, California. Intrada Records is an American record company based in Oakland, California...
(Intrada Special Collection Vol. 58).
Track listing
- 1. Titles - 4:41
- 2. Peeping Tom In The Bushes - 0:44
- 3. Mind Your Ma; Whiskey And Hot Sun - 1:29
- 4. Coop Falls - 1:24
- 5. Pain In The Water Bags; Burning Rancheros - 1 & 2 4:47
- 6. Peeping Tom On The Ridge; First Stampede - 3:04
- 7. Indian Convention - 1:35
- 8. The Snake Bite - 1:21
- 9. Chato Comes Home - 1:52
- 10. Indian Rodeo; Chato Bags Horse - 2:21
- 11. Junior Blows The Whistle - 0:42
- 12. Fire And Stampede; Joan Of Arc At Stake - 3:54
- 13. Mr. & Mrs. Chato Split; Massas In The Cold Cold Ground - 1:26
- 14. Hot Pants - 2:46
- 15. Rainbow On The Range - 0:58
- 16. Ride Like Hell - 0:50
- 17. Big Stare Job; Here-There-Everywhere - 2:19
- 18. Attack In Gorge - 1:53
- 19. One Big Pain In The Neck - 2:35
- 20. Lansing Scalped - 1:46
- 21. Elias Gets The Snake; Malechie Gets Shot; Finis - 5:06
External links
- Chato's Land film trailer at Rotten TomatoesRotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
- Chato's Land at The Spaghetti Western Database