Potentially, this project held out the promise for writer/director, Richard Brooks, to add to the list of critical successes from earlier in his career. This was especially the case as his last venture into the western, the 'Professionals', nine years earlier, was acclaimed as having revitalised the genre, earning him Academy Award nominations as both director and writer.
Yet, the main flaw of this feature is in the weak structure of the overall narrative - an area in which Brooks would normally excel. This is surprising, given the rich vein of material he was exploring. Based on the real-life 700 mile endurance race organised by the 'Denver Post' newspaper in 1908, the storyline held great potential to grip an audience, but suffers in various respects. The first of these concerns a common pitfall of ensemble casts in that by attempting to flesh out each character in turn, the risk is run that none is fleshed out sufficiently.
This is even true of Gene Hackman's central protagonist, a former member of Teddy Roosevelt's 'Rough Riders' who famously charged San Juan Hill in 1898. A committed animal lover, Sam Clayton - whose first name ironically was that of the actual winning horse of the 1908 race - has been hired by the newspaper baron organising the race to turn up at the appointed meeting-point with the tycoon's champion Arabian thoroughbred. As the film opens we witness his coming to the rescue of an abandoned young foal whose mother has been left for dead. Thus, his care for defenceless animals, provides the reason for his dismissal for having missed his employer's deadline.
The role of the newspaper tycoon is played in the opening scenes by Paul Stewart, whose stroke while filming, suddenly led to the casting of Dabney Coleman as the tycoon's son, to complete the picture. This downturn in Clayton's fortunes sparks his sudden entry into the endurance race, and highlights the second allied weakness of this feature. This comprises the lack of logical character arcs where some protagonists undergo completely inexplicable emotional or psychological changes. An illustration of this is how the young, headstrong wannabe, played capably by Jan-Michael Vincent in one of his rare better performances, suddenly becomes a willing gofer for Clayton and his friends.
Yet, this is nothing compared to the incomprehensible transformation undertaken by Hackman's lead character. The opening scenes clearly establish how Clayton abhors unnecessary animal suffering, and his initial reactions to the other competitors clearly challenges the integrity of a race where a winning horse endures far more physical hardship but the rider takes all the glory. Therefore, his decision to not just take part but to drive his own horse to the point of being dead on its feet - an act for which he had earlier handed out a brutal thrashing to Vincent's character - defies any logic.
A third flaw with the plot is the clumsy incorporation of the sub-plot centred on Candice Bergen's character, Miss Jones, and her hidden motive for participating in the race. Not only does this sub-plot detract from the real adventure of the race, but it also leads to an incongruous, almost comical, motorbike versus equine chase. Moreover, the soundtrack accompanying the chase scene, including an up-tempo rendition of the 'Camptown Races' adds to the feel that this interlude appears completely disjointed with the increasing drama of the toll the race has taken on both men and horses. It is also astonishing that given former prostitute Miss Jones' deceit, which places her fellow competitors' lives at unnecessary risk, she is for all intents and purposes, all too easily forgiven.
These amateurish plot devices offer little, and all that they achieve is to leave the finale of the race appear tacked on without any real build-up of tension. Rumours abounded that the script for the feature was unfinished when production started, which would help account for these deficiencies. Even the title of the feature appears disjointed, referring to a piece of amateur dentistry performed on the token Mexican character, rather than having relevance to the gruelling challenge lying at the heart of the plot.
In terms of the acting, Hackman, in a role turned down by Charles Bronson, gives a creditable performance with what little he is given in a genre which would not serve him well till his collaboration with Eastwood in the early nineties. In addition, both James Coburn, as Clayton's gambling former Rough Rider companion, Luke Matthews, and Ian Bannon, as the competing English aristocrat, ably support, though their characters remain one-dimensional. As for Bergen, she provides one of her better performances, made easier by her having grown up around horses. However, stealing the show in a supporting role, which should have earned an Academy Award nomination, is Ben Johnson as the anonymous 'Mister', a veteran 'Jack-of-all-trades' seeking to make a name for himself before succumbing to the terminal heart disease he has been diagnosed with.
If the poor continuity of the film reflects badly on the writer-director, Brooks does show glimpses of his talent with some well-crafted dialogue. Firstly, there are marvellous asides, such as Matthews' quip to Clayton: 'You start trouble and I start bleedin', and Johnson's old timer's pithy observation: 'I've never saw a man who could hold his liquor like a bottle.' Perhaps, best crafted scene is the one containing Clayton's honest account of serving in the Rough Riders in Cuba alongside Teddy Roosevelt. In an exchange with Candice Bergen his character spouts the jingoistic patriotic retelling of the courageous storming of San Juan Hill, before drawing his horse back up alongside to confess: 'We didn't charge up there...We crawled up there on our scared bellies.' He proceeds to movingly recount the loss of his Cuban wife in the same military encounter. Hackman himself in an interview years later revealed that this was one of his favourite scenes in all his movies.
Another saving grace for the feature is the splendid cinematography of Harry Stradling Jr, which so brilliantly captures the majestic landscapes the race encompasses, especially that of the stark desert of the White Sands Monument in New Mexico. In addition, the film experiments with slow-motion to great effect, highlighting the sound of the horses' exertions as one rider overtakes another. If only the sheer endurance required for man and animal had received much more such treatment, the film would have been majestic. By contrast, the upbeat soundtrack by Alex North is out of harmony with the general tenor of the film, and is way too standard fare within this genre to be singled out for an Oscar nomination as it was.
The fluctuations in quality which plague the feature are not helped by the film's declarative tag line describing it as a classic western in the tradition of 'Shane' and 'High Noon'. Unfortunately, for the aforementioned weaknesses, it doesn't share the obvious merits of those classics. Of the many gaffes apparent, this reviewer just has to single out the hilarious long-shot in which the audience witness Coburn's character and horse plunge from a cliff to evade what is almost clearly a man dressed in a bear suit. Overall, a muddled project, which lacks any cohesive rationale or plot.
Yet, the main flaw of this feature is in the weak structure of the overall narrative - an area in which Brooks would normally excel. This is surprising, given the rich vein of material he was exploring. Based on the real-life 700 mile endurance race organised by the 'Denver Post' newspaper in 1908, the storyline held great potential to grip an audience, but suffers in various respects. The first of these concerns a common pitfall of ensemble casts in that by attempting to flesh out each character in turn, the risk is run that none is fleshed out sufficiently.
This is even true of Gene Hackman's central protagonist, a former member of Teddy Roosevelt's 'Rough Riders' who famously charged San Juan Hill in 1898. A committed animal lover, Sam Clayton - whose first name ironically was that of the actual winning horse of the 1908 race - has been hired by the newspaper baron organising the race to turn up at the appointed meeting-point with the tycoon's champion Arabian thoroughbred. As the film opens we witness his coming to the rescue of an abandoned young foal whose mother has been left for dead. Thus, his care for defenceless animals, provides the reason for his dismissal for having missed his employer's deadline.
The role of the newspaper tycoon is played in the opening scenes by Paul Stewart, whose stroke while filming, suddenly led to the casting of Dabney Coleman as the tycoon's son, to complete the picture. This downturn in Clayton's fortunes sparks his sudden entry into the endurance race, and highlights the second allied weakness of this feature. This comprises the lack of logical character arcs where some protagonists undergo completely inexplicable emotional or psychological changes. An illustration of this is how the young, headstrong wannabe, played capably by Jan-Michael Vincent in one of his rare better performances, suddenly becomes a willing gofer for Clayton and his friends.
Yet, this is nothing compared to the incomprehensible transformation undertaken by Hackman's lead character. The opening scenes clearly establish how Clayton abhors unnecessary animal suffering, and his initial reactions to the other competitors clearly challenges the integrity of a race where a winning horse endures far more physical hardship but the rider takes all the glory. Therefore, his decision to not just take part but to drive his own horse to the point of being dead on its feet - an act for which he had earlier handed out a brutal thrashing to Vincent's character - defies any logic.
A third flaw with the plot is the clumsy incorporation of the sub-plot centred on Candice Bergen's character, Miss Jones, and her hidden motive for participating in the race. Not only does this sub-plot detract from the real adventure of the race, but it also leads to an incongruous, almost comical, motorbike versus equine chase. Moreover, the soundtrack accompanying the chase scene, including an up-tempo rendition of the 'Camptown Races' adds to the feel that this interlude appears completely disjointed with the increasing drama of the toll the race has taken on both men and horses. It is also astonishing that given former prostitute Miss Jones' deceit, which places her fellow competitors' lives at unnecessary risk, she is for all intents and purposes, all too easily forgiven.
These amateurish plot devices offer little, and all that they achieve is to leave the finale of the race appear tacked on without any real build-up of tension. Rumours abounded that the script for the feature was unfinished when production started, which would help account for these deficiencies. Even the title of the feature appears disjointed, referring to a piece of amateur dentistry performed on the token Mexican character, rather than having relevance to the gruelling challenge lying at the heart of the plot.
In terms of the acting, Hackman, in a role turned down by Charles Bronson, gives a creditable performance with what little he is given in a genre which would not serve him well till his collaboration with Eastwood in the early nineties. In addition, both James Coburn, as Clayton's gambling former Rough Rider companion, Luke Matthews, and Ian Bannon, as the competing English aristocrat, ably support, though their characters remain one-dimensional. As for Bergen, she provides one of her better performances, made easier by her having grown up around horses. However, stealing the show in a supporting role, which should have earned an Academy Award nomination, is Ben Johnson as the anonymous 'Mister', a veteran 'Jack-of-all-trades' seeking to make a name for himself before succumbing to the terminal heart disease he has been diagnosed with.
If the poor continuity of the film reflects badly on the writer-director, Brooks does show glimpses of his talent with some well-crafted dialogue. Firstly, there are marvellous asides, such as Matthews' quip to Clayton: 'You start trouble and I start bleedin', and Johnson's old timer's pithy observation: 'I've never saw a man who could hold his liquor like a bottle.' Perhaps, best crafted scene is the one containing Clayton's honest account of serving in the Rough Riders in Cuba alongside Teddy Roosevelt. In an exchange with Candice Bergen his character spouts the jingoistic patriotic retelling of the courageous storming of San Juan Hill, before drawing his horse back up alongside to confess: 'We didn't charge up there...We crawled up there on our scared bellies.' He proceeds to movingly recount the loss of his Cuban wife in the same military encounter. Hackman himself in an interview years later revealed that this was one of his favourite scenes in all his movies.
Another saving grace for the feature is the splendid cinematography of Harry Stradling Jr, which so brilliantly captures the majestic landscapes the race encompasses, especially that of the stark desert of the White Sands Monument in New Mexico. In addition, the film experiments with slow-motion to great effect, highlighting the sound of the horses' exertions as one rider overtakes another. If only the sheer endurance required for man and animal had received much more such treatment, the film would have been majestic. By contrast, the upbeat soundtrack by Alex North is out of harmony with the general tenor of the film, and is way too standard fare within this genre to be singled out for an Oscar nomination as it was.
The fluctuations in quality which plague the feature are not helped by the film's declarative tag line describing it as a classic western in the tradition of 'Shane' and 'High Noon'. Unfortunately, for the aforementioned weaknesses, it doesn't share the obvious merits of those classics. Of the many gaffes apparent, this reviewer just has to single out the hilarious long-shot in which the audience witness Coburn's character and horse plunge from a cliff to evade what is almost clearly a man dressed in a bear suit. Overall, a muddled project, which lacks any cohesive rationale or plot.