Kid Rodelo (1966)

Don Murray is the title character. Just released from Yuma prison, he sets out to find the $50,000 in gold he was falsely accused of stealing.

Lots of other people want that gold, too. Like escaped convicts Joe Harbin and Thomas Reese. Like down-on-his luck rancher Link and his lady friend Nora. Like Balsas, the gunman Link has hired to help him get away with the money.

Then there’s the Apache “Cavalry Hat.” He wants the $50 gold piece he’ll get for capturing the escapees. Oh, and he wants Nora as well.

Balsas double crosses Link and teams up with Harbin to find the gold. With Link dead, Nora links herself with the Kid.

Balsas and Harbin decide to take them along on their journey to the Gulf of Mexico because they know Cavalry Hat will be on their trail, and the Kid knows where the water holes are.

Eventually, they double cross him, too. Then they have to fight off the Apaches during an odd final showdown on the beaches of the Gulf.

Review:

First, this is a European Western in location only. The lead roles are all Americans and it plays out more like a Hollywood B Western than anything you’d find made in Europe.

B Western being the key term. A low-budget B Western. After a promising opening, this bogs down with a tedious trek to the Mexican border.

Let’s just say it’s not the best film on the resume of Don Murray, Broderick Crawford or Janet Leigh.

Directed by:
Richard Carlson

Cast:
Don Murray … Kid Rodelo
Janet Leigh … Nora
Broderick Crawford … Joe Harbin
Richard Carlson … Link
Jose Nieto … Thomas Reese
Jose Villasante … Cavalry Hat
Julio Pena … Balsas
Miquel Del Castillo … Chavas
Emilio Rodriguez … Prison Warden

aka:
Fugitivos de Yuman

Score: Johnny Douglas
Song: “Love is Trouble,” performed by Don Murray

Runtime: 91 min.

Memorable lines:

Nora: “Did you ever hear of an Indian called Cavalry Hat?”
Kid Rodelo: “Yeah, he wants my boots.”
Nora: “Just your boots. Me, he wants all of.”

Joe Harbin: “The ocean must be right down at the end of that valley. I can smell the salt air from here.”
Balsas: “Yeah, but how we going to get there, with all that gold to pack? And water?”
Harbin: “Oh, you’re going to pack the gold. You don’t think I’d trust you with the water, do you?”

Nora: “Can we leave this damn money here?”
Kid Rodelo: “Heck no, that’s my money. But, if you help me tote it for another half hour, I’ll cut you in as a full partner.”
Nora: “Full partner? That’s nice. Nothing permanent, of course.”
Kid Rodelo: “Noooo. But it might take us a long time to spend $50,000.”

Trivia:

Janet Leigh made her film debut in 1947’s splendid “The Romance of Rocky Ridge” and would appear in just two other Westerns over a career that spanned 60 years — this film and 1953’s “The Naked Spur.” Of course, she’s best known for her brief role in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho.” She died in 2004 at age 77.

The son of two entertainers, Don Murray made his film debut in 1956’s delightful “Bus Stop” as the cowboy out to win over Marilyn Monroe. And a film career was born. He’d also star ina short-lived ABC television series “The Outcasts” about interracial bounty hunters out West and had a starring role on the first two seasons of the TV hit “Knots Landing.”