An evocative and elegiac western from that turning point year- 1970. Its narrative is about unemployment, aging and progress in the West. Some of the flair imagery recorded by David M Walsh's camera is amazing - dozens of wild palomino and white horses running at speed in a valley; the set-piece when Marvin's Monte Walsh character has to show conviction and boost his self-image by 'breaking in' a wild white stallion in a town centre setting - the silverhaired Marvin sports a blue-and-white striped shirt; elegant furnishings and decorations in the interior settings in saloons and bordellos including the golden amber nectar reflections in a brandy bottle or the chirping of caged yellow canary birds. The dramatic music composed by Yorkshireman, John Barry is marvellous as is the theme tune -'The Good Times are Coming' sung by '60s hippie US pop singer Mama Cass. Jeanne Moreau adds Gallic style as the aging prostitute Martine Bernard.
Review of Monte Walsh
