Rio Conchos (1964)

Someone is dealing rifles to the Apaches. White renegades are involved. And it’s the job of Capt. Haven (Stuart Whitman) and Sgt. Franklyn (Jim Brown) to stop the gun-running.

They recruit an unwilling ally in Jim Lassiter (Richard Boone), who hates the Apache for murdering his wife and child and now spends his days getting vengeance against any Indians he can find.

To even the odds on this mission, Lassiter insists they take along one of his less than honorable acquaintances, a womanizing Mexican named Rodriguez (Anthony Franciosa), who has a date with a hangman’s noose.

Their plan: Head south with a wagon load of gunpowder. Whoever stole 2,000 repeating rifles with the goal of arming the Apache will certainly find that bait attractive as well.

They soon discover that the man they’re looking for is Pardee (Edmund O’Brien), a former Confederate officer who has headed south of the border plotting the day when the South will rise again.

In their quest to find him, they come across a pretty Apache girl (Wende Wagner).

Haven thinks she might be helpful in finding Pardee. Lassiter thinks she’s just as likely to lead the small party into a trap.

Richard Boone as Jim Lassiter, leading an expedition to recover stolen rifles in Rio Conchos (1964)

Stuart Whitman as Capt. Haven, on a reluctant mission with Jim Lassiter in Rio Conchos (1964)

Review:

Richard Boone steals the show with his gritty performance in this action-packed Western.

Okay, the characters spend a bit too much time snarling at one another, and wondering whether they’re being double crossed or not.

But the ending is especially effective with Pardee watching the final showdown from the porch of the mansion he’s trying to rebuild far, far from his old home on the Mississippi.

This marked the film debut for Jim Brown, who walked away from a career as a star running back for the Cleveland Browns to try his hand at acting. He’d appear in nearly 40 films and about a half dozen Westerns.

Wende Wagner’s only previous acting experience was as a stunt double and one episode of the TV series “Wagon Train.” She’d later marry James Mitchum, Robert’s son, and they had a child together. She appeared in just one other Western, “Guns of the Magnificent Seven.”

Jim Brown as Sgt. Franklyn, second in command under Capt. Haven in Rio Conchos (1964)

Anthony Franciosa as Juan Luis Rodriguez, his time with woman and drink interrupted in Rio Conchos (1964)

Directed by:
Gordon Douglas

Cast:
Richard Boone … Jim Lassiter
Stuart Whitman … Capt. Haven
Anthony Franciosa … Rodriguez
Jim Brown … Sgt. Franklyn
Wende Wagner … Apache girl
Warner Anderson … Col. Wagner
Edmond O’Brien … Pardee
Rodolfo Acosta … Bloodshirt
Barry Kelley … Croupier
Vito Scotti … Bandit
House Peters Jr. … Pardee officer
Kevin Hagen … Blondbeard

Runtime: 104 min.

Score: Jerry Goldsmith

Edmund O’Brien as Pardee, dreaming of a South that rises again south of the border in Rio Conchos (1964)

Wende Wagner as the Apache girl, at the scene of an Indian raid with Haven (Stuart Whitman) and Rodriguez (Anthony Franciosa) in Rio Conchos (1964)

Memorable lines:

Col. Wagner: “How does anyone get to you? How do I get inside those twisted guts of yours?”
Jim Lassiter: “You don’t.”

Col. Wagner, as Lassiter accepts the mission to track down Pardee: “You’ll give me your word you’ll get them there?”
Lassiter: “My word?”
Col. Wagner: “That’s right.”
Lassiter, laughing: “Well, for whatever it’s worth, you can have it.”

Rodriguez, referring to the Indian squaw: “What do we do with her?”
Jim Lassiter: “Shoot it.” Then he has second thoughts and hands Rodriguez a knife. “Better yet, save the bullet.”

Lassister to Capt. Haven: “You’re just stupid enough to become a general.”

Rodolfo Acosta as Bloodshirt, leader of the renegade Apache in Rio Conchos (1964)

Warner Anderson as Col. Wagner, the officer determined to track down stolen rifles in Rio Conchos (1964)

Lassiter, as Haven prepares to kill an Indian who’s on fire: “Don’t. Let him burn. Burn!”
Sgt. Frankyn to Lassiter, after Haven fires the fatal shot: “Doin’ like they do don’t make it right.”

Pardee, showing off his mansion that’s little more than a facade: “Well, what do you say now? A miracle, isn’t it? Chihuahua instead of Louisiana. The Rio Conchos instead of the Mississippi. But here, Riverview, back to life again, as though it sprung from the ashes. Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Bloodshirt: “Lassiter… Lassiter… They tell me there is such a man, great killer of my people. Often I think, what kind of man is this Lassiter, that hunts the Apache like the Apache hunts the white eye? Now I look, I see, same as me,” He taps his chest. “Same hate here. I will tell you why Lassiter comes. To kill, and then to die!”

Vito Scotti as leader of a band of Mexican bandits in Rio Conchos (1964)

Jim Brown as Sgt. Franklyn and former Confederate Jim Lassister (Richard Boone) fighting on the same side in Rio Conchos (1964)

Stuart Whitman as Capt. Haven, reinforcing who’s in charge in Rio Conchos (1964)

Anthony Franciosa as Rodriguez, Richard Boone as Lassiter and Wende Wagner as the Apache girl in Rio Conchos (1964)