classicsoncall I couldn't help thinking that this was just an OK Cavalry Western, and by the looks of it, a lot of folks here on IMDb are of the same opinion. It certainly had potential with the stellar principals and fine support from some of the better movie Western character actors of the era. The one who stood out for me was Richard Harris as Confederate Captain Ben Tyreen, continuously holding his men in line whenever circumstances arose to challenge Major Amos Dundee's (Charlton Heston) command of the ragtag Cavalry bunch. Taking out his own man O.W. Hadley (Warren Oates) for desertion could have been a turning point in the story, but the principled Captain managed to defuse an insurrection, even with Hadley's brother (L.Q. Jones) as part of the mix.Primarily a director of TV Western episodes (The Rifleman, Zane Grey Theater, The Westerner) prior to getting his big break with a major studio release, perhaps it was the big budget and not knowing what to do with it that caused Sam Peckinpah some problems with this film. It was 1971's "Straw Dogs" that got me first in tune with what a director's impact on a picture could be, so I keep that in mind whenever a film calls for violence. That was certainly a different kind of movie than "Major Dundee", though it does show a progression in the way Peckinpah developed his craft and instinct for people in intense situations.In this film, things seem to meander along, even though the original goal was to rescue three young siblings from an Apache band led by Sierra Charriba (Michael Pate). Once that's accomplished in totally underwhelming fashion, Dundee's soldiers confront a garrison of French soldiers in Mexico and manage to take on the Apaches once again. But for all of the build-up concerning the warrior leader, he's dispatched rather unceremoniously by bugler Ryan (Michael Anderson, Jr.), while a final confrontation with the French forces sort of dissipates on it's own when additional Union forces arrive on the scene. A final confrontation that's teased throughout the story between Dundee and Tyreen is also a wasted opportunity. Tyreen is dispatched during the final assault, leaving Dundee with a hollow triumph that one could hardly call a victory.

Leofwine_draca MAJOR DUNDEE is one of Sam Peckinpah's earlier westerns, made before he developed his reputation for epic violence and slow-motion action. This one's basically Charlton Heston vs. Native Americans, as it follows the veteran Hollywood star as he assembles a team of ne'er-do-wells before sending them off to take care of a raiding party. Much of the narrative is about the journey towards the final pay-off, and a huge and sprawling cast serve to hold the viewer's interest; Richard Harris is particularly well cast as possibly the antithesis of Heston's character, both on and off the screen. There isn't a wealth of action but the film is quite watchable if no classic.

edwagreen While they knew what the score was, hard to fathom a group of Confederate prisoners would throw their lot in with Union soldiers to get revenge on the Apache Indians for destroying a village. This was the story that was kept in diary form of that adventure.As Dundee, Charlton Heston sounds like he is Moses at the beginning of the film, especially when he recites scriptures from the bible. Richard Harris plays his foe, a former friend and soldier with Dundee who went over to the Confederate side when war broke out.The film recounts their adventures whether it was with the French in Mexico and a confederate soldier deserting the regiment and Harris taking the obligation he had to take.Naturally, there is the love interest of Senta Berger.

Steffi_P The 1960s were surely the weirdest era in Hollywood history. Never was there a sharper division between up-and-coming youngsters and grizzled traditionalists. It was strange enough to see the new and the old side by side on theatre posters or list of award nominees, much stranger still to see the disparate influences mixing together in the one picture. The Western, by now an unfashionable genre in any case, was going through a revisionist anti-establishment phase, but the conventions of this most American of genres were dying hard.At first glance Major Dundee could be something out of the 50s. It's one of the last Westerns in which the Indians are unequivocally the bad guys, and the whole thing is packaged like one of the old classics, with a handsome lead man, an obligatory (but somewhat limp) love angle, blazing Technicolor, and even an upbeat theme song with a rather corny Ned Washington lyric. The flick was penned by TV writer Harry Julian Fink and B-movie hack Oscar Saul, so not the most prestigious duo but consider that this was one of the biggest breaks either ever had. It seems that on some level they are trying to be a bit more revisionist and edgy, most likely with input from director Sam Peckinpah, who had some hand in the screenplay, although I doubt it was a decisive one. The title character is a sort of unfeeling cynic who places military protocol above all else, and the rivalries between his men are beefed up into the real conflict of the story. But this is not quite so provocative as it sounds. Western anti-heroes had been popular for some time now, and Dundee is not that different from Frank S. Nugent creations like Colonel Thursby (Fort Apache, 1948) and Ethan Edwards (The Searchers, 1956).Behind the camera, Peckinpah stands out as a would-be maverick surrounded by a regularly professional crew. In particular the balletic editing patterns he would later be known for are nowhere to be seen. Still, you can see his thoughts are leaning that direction. He makes most shots a unit, a frame for one actor or action, which necessitates a complex editing pattern regardless of the editor's personal take on it. Violence is sudden, chaotic and, like a Michael Curtiz battle sequence, composed of eye-catching little snippets of action. We also see a lot of the judicious god shots – that sense of cool detachment that characterises prime Peckinpah. And, whatever his contribution to the script it seems he aims to bring out the most cynical elements in the story on a visual level. He even portrays the West as a ravaged landscape, barren and spiky, filled with the ruins of Old Mexico – the only relics of medievalism in the New World.Standing tall amongst this landscape is a delightful rogues' gallery of a cast. This is the kind of role that really suits Charlton Heston. A bit like the guy he played in The Big Country, not actually bad but certainly obnoxious, yet still effortlessly attractive and charismatic. He has a body that makes lounging around look almost noble, and a face to which a sardonic glance is handsome. I'd much rather see him like this than faking it as some clean-cut good guy. Richard Harris gives his character a kind of melodramatic sense of self-importance, playing the kind of gentleman-cum-hell-raiser that he was in real life. But what one really remembers is that supporting cast of rugged uglies, with faces that match the wilderness. What's really great about guys like L.Q. Jones, Slim Pickens and Warren Oates is that they look totally authentic, to the point where it's even hard to think of them as actors. You just can't imagine them going back to a caravan to shower off the dust.In the end it is really these little touches – the motley cast, the impressive little proto-Peckinpah moments – that make Major Dundee worth watching. It does suffer from a lack of cohesion, and is certainly held back by that unshakeable studio Western look. Eventually the old time Western style would fade out completely, and we would at last get some pure and decently-made neo-Westerns, of which Peckinpah would be a champion. All the same it's sad to see the remnants of the classic Western looking so awkward and dated here, for they come from the genre's golden age, which no amount of revisionism or even nostalgic homage can hope to match.