Wild Rovers
Encyclopedia
Wild Rovers is a 1971
American Western film directed by Blake Edwards
and starring William Holden
and Ryan O'Neal
.
Originally intended as a three-hour epic, it was heavily edited and changed by the studio without Edwards' knowledge, including a reversal of the ending from a negative one to a positive. Edwards disowned the finished film as released, and later satirised his battle with the studio in his comedy S.O.B.. Most of the deleted footage was restored for the film's 1986 home video release by MGM/UA. An official DVD-R release was issued on February 22, 2011, through the Warner Archive Collection
.
Ross has a dream of riding off to Mexico to retire from the hard work of the range, but he doesn't have much money saved up. Frank suggests they rob a bank and head for Mexico together.
While Ross thinks this over, he and Frank brawl with Hansen's men at a saloon. Buckman intends to withhold their pay to make restitution for the saloon's damages.
Desperate for money now, Ross agrees to the holdup. He takes banker Billings to town at gunpoint while Frank holds the banker's wife, Sada, hostage at home. Ross rides back with $36,000. Before making a getaway, he gives Billings $3,000 so that Buckman's other cowboys won't lose any pay they have coming.
Sada tells her husband to keep the money and not inform the sheriff. A posse is formed that includes Buckman's two sons, hot-tempered John and easy-going Paul, told by their father that no cowhand of his is going to get away with breaking the law.
Ross and Frank get as far as Arizona and go into town for supplies. Ross hires a prostitute while Frank plays poker. A card player dislikes Frank's gloating and shoots him in the leg. Ross comes to his partner's aid and a shootout commences.
Back home, Buckman and Hansen have a run-in that results in both their deaths. John and Paul hear about their father's fate from a Tucson sheriff and decide to fulfill his last request, catching the bank robbers.
Refusing to see a doctor, Frank's leg injury grows much worse. Ross has to pull him behind a horse on a stretcher. Frank dies from the wound just before John and Paul ambush them on the trail, where Ross is gunned down.
1971 in film
The year 1971 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 8 - Bob Dylan's hour long documentary film, Eat the Document, premieres at New York's Academy of Music...
American Western film directed by Blake Edwards
Blake Edwards
Blake Edwards was an American film director, screenwriter and producer.Edwards' career began in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon turned to writing radio scripts at Columbia Pictures...
and starring William Holden
William Holden
William Holden was an American actor. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1954 and the Emmy Award for Best Actor in 1974...
and Ryan O'Neal
Ryan O'Neal
Charles Patrick Ryan O'Neal , better known as Ryan O'Neal, is an American actor best known for his appearances in the ABC nighttime soap opera Peyton Place and for his roles in such films as Paper Moon , Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon , A Bridge Too Far , and Love Story , for which he received...
.
Originally intended as a three-hour epic, it was heavily edited and changed by the studio without Edwards' knowledge, including a reversal of the ending from a negative one to a positive. Edwards disowned the finished film as released, and later satirised his battle with the studio in his comedy S.O.B.. Most of the deleted footage was restored for the film's 1986 home video release by MGM/UA. An official DVD-R release was issued on February 22, 2011, through the Warner Archive Collection
Warner Archive Collection
The Warner Archive Collection is a manufactured-on-demand DVD series. It was started by Warner Home Video on March 23, 2009 with the intention of putting previously unreleased back catalog films on DVD for the first time ever. Using recordable DVDs, they custom burn discs for each order rather than...
.
Plot
An aging cowboy, Ross Bodine, and a younger one, Frank Post, work on cattleman Walt Buckman's ranch in Montana. A neighboring sheepman, Hansen, is in a long-running feud with Buckman.Ross has a dream of riding off to Mexico to retire from the hard work of the range, but he doesn't have much money saved up. Frank suggests they rob a bank and head for Mexico together.
While Ross thinks this over, he and Frank brawl with Hansen's men at a saloon. Buckman intends to withhold their pay to make restitution for the saloon's damages.
Desperate for money now, Ross agrees to the holdup. He takes banker Billings to town at gunpoint while Frank holds the banker's wife, Sada, hostage at home. Ross rides back with $36,000. Before making a getaway, he gives Billings $3,000 so that Buckman's other cowboys won't lose any pay they have coming.
Sada tells her husband to keep the money and not inform the sheriff. A posse is formed that includes Buckman's two sons, hot-tempered John and easy-going Paul, told by their father that no cowhand of his is going to get away with breaking the law.
Ross and Frank get as far as Arizona and go into town for supplies. Ross hires a prostitute while Frank plays poker. A card player dislikes Frank's gloating and shoots him in the leg. Ross comes to his partner's aid and a shootout commences.
Back home, Buckman and Hansen have a run-in that results in both their deaths. John and Paul hear about their father's fate from a Tucson sheriff and decide to fulfill his last request, catching the bank robbers.
Refusing to see a doctor, Frank's leg injury grows much worse. Ross has to pull him behind a horse on a stretcher. Frank dies from the wound just before John and Paul ambush them on the trail, where Ross is gunned down.
Cast
- William HoldenWilliam HoldenWilliam Holden was an American actor. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1954 and the Emmy Award for Best Actor in 1974...
as Ross Bodine - Ryan O'NealRyan O'NealCharles Patrick Ryan O'Neal , better known as Ryan O'Neal, is an American actor best known for his appearances in the ABC nighttime soap opera Peyton Place and for his roles in such films as Paper Moon , Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon , A Bridge Too Far , and Love Story , for which he received...
as Frank Post - Karl MaldenKarl MaldenKarl Malden was an American actor. In a career that spanned more than seven decades, he performed in such classic films as A Streetcar Named Desire, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, On the Waterfront and One-Eyed Jacks...
as Walt Buckman - Joe Don BakerJoe Don BakerJoe Don Baker is an American film actor, perhaps best known for his roles as a Mafia hitman in Charley Varrick, deputy sheriff Thomas Jefferson Geronimo III in Final Justice, real-life Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser in Walking Tall, brute force with a badge detective Mitchell in Mitchell, James...
as Paul - Tom SkerrittTom SkerrittThomas Roy "Tom" Skerritt is an American actor who has appeared in over 40 films and more than 200 television episodes since 1962.-Early life:...
as John - James OlsonJames OlsonJames Olson may refer to:*James Olson , American actor*James S. Olson, American professor of history at Sam Houston State University*James Olson, 17th president of the University of Missouri System*Jim Olson, Seattle architect...
as Billings - Lynn Carlin as Sada
- Victor FrenchVictor FrenchVictor Edwin French was an American actor and director.-Early career:Born in Santa Barbara, California,...
as Jackson - Rachel RobertsRachel RobertsRachel Roberts may refer to:*Rachel Roberts *Rachel Victoria Roberts, British actress sometimes credited as Rachel Roberts*Rachel Roberts *Rachel Roberts, author of the Avalon: Web of Magic series...
as Maybell