Review: Major Dundee
The stubborn, somewhat
egotistical cavalry officer of the title (Charlton Heston) must lead a ragtag
bunch of criminals, African-American soldiers, and drunkards (hello Slim
Pickens and Dub Taylor!) into battle with nasty apaches. James Coburn is
Dundee’s trusted one-armed Indian scout, Richard Harris (having a helluva time,
in one of his best-ever parts) is Heston’s antagonist; an Irish confederate
prisoner who has served under Heston before and is doing so again, but much
more bitterly. Michael Anderson Jr. is the token green soldier, and the film’s
narrator, with Jim Hutton’s bumbling Lieutenant, also a little useless in
battle. Warren Oates (well-cast) plays a weaselly deserter, R.G. Armstrong
excellent as a gun-totin’ preacher who gets on the nerves of Sgt. Chillum (Ben Johnson)
for intervening in a tense standoff with the African-American soldiers (led by
stoic Brock Peters).
Somewhat unwieldy but
entertaining 1965 Sam Peckinpah (“The
Wild Bunch”, “Straw Dogs”) film
is considered one of his lesser efforts, or at least one of his mistreated
masterpieces, due to studio interference. Action scenes are well done, however
the best thing is the cast, despite there being too many characters. The
well-cast Heston has one of his best-ever roles, Harris and Coburn continually
steal scenes, as do Slim Pickens (when doesn’t
he?), Warren Oates, and especially R.G. Armstrong in unfortunately tiny
roles. Others not served well by the script include Peters, Dub Taylor, and L.Q.
Jones. Aussie-born Michael Pate, meanwhile, is a bit hard to take as an Apache
baddie (though it’s not the only time he played one), and Senta Berger isn’t
much chop as the token female in a few scenes that really aren’t necessary or
terribly credible. I’d cut these scenes out, actually. Scripted by Harry Julian
Fink (“Dirty Harry”), Oscar Saul (“The Helen Morgan Story”), and
Peckinpah, from a story by Fink it’s entertaining and still worth a look, flawed
or not.
Rating: B-
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