The Animals (1970)

Keenan Wynn plays notorious outlaw Pudge Elliott, stagecoach bound for a court date; he’s being retried for a hanging offense.

That gives his gang two reasons to hold up the stage — freeing Pudge and grabbing the gold its carrying. Riding inside, they find a third reason — pretty school teacher Alice McAndrew (Michele Carey).

Pudge and his gang kill everyone on the stage, including Mrs. Emily Perkins, Alice’s traveling companion. Well, they spare Alice. Pudge has other plans for her.

After making camp, Pudge decides its time to have fun with Alice. When she resists, he has his men strip her down and stake her out, Indian style. Then they take turns raping her.

She survives the ordeal and winds up being rescued by an Apache brave (Henry Silva as Chatto). A bond forms between the two as he nurses her back to health.

Then she convinces him to help her in another way — to get revenge on the men who savagely raped her.

Sheriff Allan Pierce (John Anderson) is on the job too. He’s tracking down the outlaws, only to discover someone keeps reaching — and killing — the wanted men before he does.

Review:

What we have here is a curiosity and a film with a great ending that deserved a much better lead-up to that ending.

It’s a curiosity because of the brutal rape scene and the presence of lovely Michele Carey in the lead role. And because an Apache brave (Silva) is portrayed as a hero of sorts.

More than once, the savagery of whites is pressed home. Early on, a posse member suggests the school teacher would be better off dead if she’s in the hands of the Apache. The sheriff wryly notes that she didn’t fare very well with white outlaws.

Later, Chatto tries to gets the school teacher help by dropping her off at a Wells Fargo station. As soon as those inside think an Indian is about, they start firing indiscriminately.

But there’s lots of silliness too, because this is an American Western doing a poor imitation of a Spaghetti Western.

Don’t bother thinking about how Chatto and Alice track down their prey. And try not laughing too hard when the romantic theme song plays just as Chatto is training Alice in the art of killing.

As for the ending … well, let’s not give it away. But keep watching until the last second.

Directed by:
Ron Joy

Cast:
Michele Carey … Alice McAndrew
Henry Silva … Chatto
Keenan Wynn … Pudge Elliott
John Anderson … Sheriff Pierce
Pepper Martin … Jamie
Joe Turkel … Peyote
Bobby Hall … Cat Norman
Peter Hellman … Karl
Bill Bryant … Sheriff Martin Lord
Peggy Stewart … Mrs. Emily Perkins
Donna Kern … Samantha
Dean Casper … Reno Parks

Runtime: 90 min.

aka:
Five Savage Men
The Desperadoes
Apache Vengeance

Song: “There’s So Little Time”
by The Year 2000

Memorable lines:

Stage driver, after Pudge Elliott has shot Alice’s travelling companion: “You killed her.”
Pudge: “No shit.”

Gang member, after Pudge has had his way with Alice: “Did you kill her?”
Pudge: “I broke her in. That’s all. She’s all yours, boys.”

Pudge: “I figure they’ll be looking for a gang. We’ll stand a better chance if we split up.”
Gang member: “We just got back together.”
Pudge: “And we’ll be together permanent if they ever catch up with us.”

Deputy, to sheriff Pierce: “They must be crazy. They blew Lou Atkins apart with a shotgun.”

Alice to Chatto: “You’re perfect; you know that.”

Sheriff Martin Lord: “Put up your guns, men. We’ve been shooting at the law. God damned!”
Sheriff Pierce, after he and Lord shake hands: “Feel like a damned fool.”
Sheriff Lord: “Likewise.”

Trivia:

This marked the first and only film directed by Ron Joy. He also directed one episode of “Get Smart.”

Michele Carey’s first significant role was in the John Wayne Western “El Dorado” (1966). She also starred as a mini-shirt wearing Indian maiden in the Frank Sinatra comedy Western “Dirty Dingus Magee.”