Chato’s Land (1972)

Charles Bronson is Pardon Chato, a half-breed Apache who tries to get a drink at the local saloon and winds up killing a sheriff who orders him out, then threatens to bleed him when he doesn’t move fast enough.

And so he soon finds himself being tracked by a posse more intent on killing an Indian than justice. That posse is led by Qunicey Whitmore, a former Confederate cavalry officer, and includes the Indian hating Hooker brothers.

At first, Chato robs the posse of its water supply, then runs off some of the horses, hoping they’ll give up the chase.

But when they find his home and rape his woman, the game of cat and mouse he’s playing with Whitmore and his followers becomes much more deadly.

Pretty soon, factions form in the posse. And as the death toll mounts, so does the number of posse members who want to give up the chase.

By that point, the question is: Will Chato let them ride away?

Review:

Pretty well done Bronson vehicle, though once it’s clear what Chato intends, the film doesn’t serve up many surprises. It’s just a question of which posse member will die next and how.

It is a violent film. Chato’s wife is gang raped. One of his relatives is wounded and burned alive. And then there’s his sometimes brutal means of dispatching of posse members.

Little is asked of Bronson in the starring role. He has very few lines, though he does look incredibly buff running around in little but a loincloth at age 51.

And Palance is solid as the posse leader who dons his old Confederate uniform when he hops back into the saddle. For once, he isn’t the deranged, over-the-top villain. The most villainous roles here are played by Simon Oakland and Ralph Waite as Jubal and Elias Hooker, respectively.

Directed by:
Michael Winner

Cast:
Charles Bronson … Pardon Chato
Jack Palance … Capt. Whitmore
James Whitmore … Joshua Everette
Richard Basehart … Nye Buell
Simon Oakland … Jubal Hooker
Ralph Waite … Elias Hooker
Richard Jordan … Earl Hooker
Victor French … Martin Hall
Sonia Rangan … Chato’s woman
William Watson … Harvey Lansing
Roddy McMillan …Gavin Malechie
Paul Young … Brady Logan
Raul Castro … Mexican scout
Lee Patterson … George Dunn
Peter Dyneley … Ezra Meade

Runtime: 100 min.

Memorable lines:

Lawman: “This is a white man’s saloon with white man’s liquor. Now I’m telling you to crawl yourself out of here, breed.”

Everett: “I’ll ride any place to see a dead Indian.”

Capt. Whitmore, to one of his riders: “Whiskey and hot sun don’t mix.”
The rider: “Well neither does my ass and this saddle.”

Gavin Malechie, as the men start to rape Chato’s woman: “Are you going to stop that or am I?”
Capt. Whitmore: “You don’t get between a dog and its bone.”

Elias Hooker, to brother Earl: “There never was a woman worth dying for.”

Jubal Hooker: “I ought to whoop you.”
Elias Hooker: “But you won’t, Jubal, cause you know I’d put a hole in your gut.”

Gavin Malechie to the Hooker brothers: “You came to hunt a man because he was half Apache. You raped and killed to feed your hunger. In the name of God, don’t call it justice.”