source: Monte Walsh

Moviecut—Monte Walsh

Monte Walsh

Beautiful to look at and serene in its pacing, this gem from 1970 deserves a chance to find an audience today. Those who have seen the very fine remake with Tom Selleck may be surprised to find that the two scripts are word for word identical about 80% of the time. Lee Marvin is more melancholy in his approach to Monte Walsh, and as a result this version plays a bit more on the wistful side. It is quite moving at times. Both films enjoy a sly sense of humor although this version is more subtle. John Barry's score supplies just a hint of the style he would later utilize for his epic Dances With Wolves. Mama Cass sings her heart out on The Good Times are Coming Soon. Jack Palance plays wonderfully against type as the somewhat bashful Chet. Monte Walsh needs to be re-released as a proper DVD so we don't have to rely on inferior bootleg copies from eBay.

A Modern classic spearheaded by an intelligent script, excellent performances, beautiful photography and an outstanding score. Lee Marvin is at his rugged best in the title role with typical solid support from Jack Palance, who is excellent here cast against type. That this great western was finally released on DVD LONG after the REMAKE is just wrong. And I do not mean that as a slam against the Tom Selleck/TNT version which was a well done rehash that I also enjoyed. MONTE WALSH stands beside WILL PENNY as 2 pillars of the "vanishing cowboy" genre. It seamlessly morphs from action to pathos, poignant to laugh-out-loud funny. One of Lee Marvin's best roles.

That's the old west which it is question here, as were so many westerns of this period. All melancholic stories indeed, but so realistic, so close to the way things happened in the west. I thought about CULPEPPER'S CATTLE COMPANY, the true life of cattle rustlers, so moving with Mitch Ryan at his ever best in a supporting role. The face to face sequence between him and Marvin is absolutely riveting.

This movie should be re-released. I can't help thinking that it came out at a time when we as a nation had our mind on other things. And that's a shame. I remember that I went to see it at one of the first multi-cinemas in Utah and What's up Tiger Lily was playing along side of it. My friend and I couldn't get in to the more risque movie (Utah---imagine that,) so we stepped into this one. And even an idiot in the ninth grade could be touched by this melancholy tale. I love Lee Marvin and Jack Palance. And Mama Cass did this movie a great service with her song The Good Days are Comin'. Do yourself a favor and see this one. Your heart will hurt a little at the end, but it's a good kind of pain.

Here's a case of Palance putting in a great supporting role like he has done so often, a truly selfless actor with a great humility. Seldom does an actor allow himself to look as pathetic as Palance does in his performances. This is a great film, primarily due to the metaphor near the end where Marvin tries to tame a horse, frustratingly attempting to control the nature of all things around him. The austere writing and stilted acting lend to the overall tone, creating an elegiac western greatly under-appreciated in its time. One of those small, offbeat movies awash in a decade of so many sparkling little films, each challenging the strictures of Hollywood. I loved it.

When considering the acting career of Lee Marvin, the movie Monte Walsh must be included as an example of Lee Marvin at his best, Mr. Marvin gives a powerful, compelling and moving performance as an aging cowboy who has to deal with change. So strong is his performance that he carries the entire movie, which, given the outstanding supporting cast, including Jack Palance, Jeanne Moreau, Jim Davis and Mitchell Ryan, is saying a lot. The story contains drama and pathos without becoming melodramatic or stagy and includes some spectacular cinematography which captures the essence of the open range. What makes this movie particularly wonderful is its unpretentious dramatization of relationships between people with whom the audience can relate and what happens to them as they try to adjust to a disappearing way of life. As the open range gave way to the fenced in ranches, an entire way of life disappeared. This movie is about what that change means to people and how it effects their lives.