They tore his body. They buried his pride. But they forgot his old uniform, his Sharps rifle, and his Buffalo gun.
Find Tanner, El Segundo, and the 16 others. And tell them Valdez is coming.

Starring: Burt Lancaster, Jon Cypher, Susan Clark, Frank Silvera, Richard Jordan, Barton Heyman, Hector Elizondo, Phil Brown, Ralph Brown, Werner Hasselmann, Lex Monson

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ - great

"You know something? I would have liked to get $100 for that Indian woman." - Bob Valdez

Why watch this? It's beautiful to look at, and Burt Lancaster, stoic and capable, carries the day.

Plot Summary: Mexican Bob Valdez is a humble public servant, serving as constable in a small border town. When an altercation, involving rich rancher Frank Tanner, results in Valdez's killing of an innocent man, Valdez approaches the town's council for the victim's pregnant Native American widow. The council agrees to donate $100, if Valdez can get Tanner to donate the same amount. When Valdez rides to Tanner's presidio fortress, pleading for the donation, Tanner rudely refuses. He then commands his band of Mexican thugs to beat and lash Valdez to a wooden cross. Laughing, they send him walking through the blazing desert to certain death. What they don't realize is that Bob Valdez is a tough-as-nails ex-Calvary scout and Indian-fighter. He's also an impressive marksman who can drop a buffalo at over 1000 yards.

Dad's Preview: In my unofficial series called "White lead actors who portray brown men in Westerns" (Chato's Land (1972) and Hombre (1967)), Burt Lancaster and director Edwin Sherin bring the 1970 novel by Elmore Leonard to brutal life. In the '70s, Westerns like this were edgier - more sex, bad language, violence. At age nine, I first viewed this at a seedy El Paso drive-in, with my much-older sister. It is classified as a paella (as opposed to spaghetti) Western because even though it was shot in Spain, it's an American produced/directed movie. This oater has action, villains-galore, memorable quotes, and the Western ending that, I must say, is perfect in its uniqueness.

Norlan Productions, Ira Steiner Productions; United Artists