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Alvarez Kelly

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6.2/10 • 52

1966-10-061h 46m

WesternWar

A herd of cattle against a herd of cannon!

In 1864, during the American Civil War, Mexican cattleman Alvarez Kelly supplies the Union with cattle until unexpected circumstances force him to change his customers.

Directors
Edward Dmytryk
Writters
Franklin Coen, Daniel Taradash, Elliott Arnold
Editors
Franklin Coen, Harold F. Kress

Top Billed Cast

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  1. William Holden

    William Holden

    Alvarez Kelly

  2. Richard Widmark

    Richard Widmark

    Col. Tom Rossiter

  3. Janice Rule

    Janice Rule

    Liz Pickering

  4. Patrick O'Neal

    Patrick O'Neal

    Maj. Albert Stedman

  5. Victoria Shaw

    Victoria Shaw

    Charity Warwick

  6. Roger C. Carmel

    Roger C. Carmel

    Capt. Angus Ferguson

  7. Richard Rust

    Richard Rust

    Sgt. Hatcher

  8. Arthur Franz

    Arthur Franz

    Capt. Towers

  9. Don 'Red' Barry

    Don 'Red' Barry

    Lt. Farrow

Reviews2

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John Chard Avatar

John Chard

Feb 9, 2017

5/10

In every war...in every age...the forgotten weapon is food.... Alvarez Kelly is directed by Edward Dmytryk and stars William Holden & Richard Widmark. It's written by Elliott Arnold & Franklin Coen (Dan Taradash uncredited for tidying it up), the locations for the shoot are Baton Rouge & Clinton, Louisiana, with Joseph MacDonald on photography (Panavision). Story is apparently based on a true US Civil War incident in 1864, it sees Alvarez Kelly (Holden) kidnapped by Confederate's led by Tom Rossiter (Widmark) and forced to drive a herd of Union owned cattle to the hungry Reb troops in Richmond. Slow moving and blighted by a tepid script, Alvarez Kelly relies on its stars and photography to keep it out the trough. Evidently the makers were going for a social conscious piece based around an historical incident. All that is achieved is an overly talky piece, with periods of inane conversations; that is only briefly lit up by its action packed finale. And even then it can be argued that the "battle for the bridge" and the subsequent "stampede" isn't worth waiting 90 minutes for. The acting is solid, where Holden plays a role he could do in his sleep, and Widmark, sporting an eye patch, convinces as a rough and ready Colonel. Most pleasing is MacDonald's photography, not just for capturing the essence of the barren South in Baton Rouge, but also his choice of lenses for the top notch costuming (take a bow Seth Banks) afforded the ladies of the piece (Janice Rule & Victoria Shaw). There's a lovely print for this film, where in High Definition the colours positively ping from the screen. Dmytryk (Broken Lance/Warlock), Holden (The Horse Soldiers/The Wild Bunch) & Widmark (The Last Wagon/Cheyenne Autumn) owe Western fans nothing, but this is one from the three guys that's easily forgotten once the end credit rolls. 5/10

Media

  • Alvarez Kelly poster
  • Alvarez Kelly poster
  • Alvarez Kelly poster
  • Alvarez Kelly poster
  • Alvarez Kelly poster
  • Alvarez Kelly poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
colonelcattleconfederateamerican civil warcattleman