Ronee Blakley and Dean Stockwell are Willy and Pat Westall, a couple looking to settle down in the West and raise a family.
Willy is pregnant with their first child when Pat signs a contract for four sections of land in a desolate section of Oklahoma.
He’s crippled in a fresk accident soon after, but the couple manage to live on the land for the three years required to make it their own.
Then, on the advice of a handsome stranger named Bill Lester (Scott Glenn), they pack up and head to a valley in Texas, near the Rio Grande.
With Lester’s help, Willy and Pat set up a general store in the brand new town of Mission, Texas.
That’s when they learn Bill has been selling guns to Pancho Villa.
And that’s when they get caught up in the battle for control of Mexico between Villa and Gen. Venustiano Carranza.
Seems Carranza’s men have been donning rags to impersonate Villa’s rebels, then crossing into Texas to raid towns there, knowing Villa will be blamed for the attacks.
Ronee Blakley as Willy Westall, the backbone of her family in She Came to the Valley (1979)
Scott Glenn as Bill Lester, the drifter who befriends the Westall family in She Came to the Valley (1979)
Review:
Another in a rash of 1970s Westerns that look as though they were made on a shoestring budget. The cinematography is partly to blame here, though the cropping to fit once-standard TV screens probably didn’t help.
At least this film benefits from a decent story line. Pat relies more and more on the bottle to get him through his days and night, leaving the family’s fate largely in the hands of the determined Willy.
Meanwhile, romance is blossoming between Willy and Bill Lester, though both are hesitant to act on their feelings since she’s already taken and has two young daughters.
And, yes, that’s country music star Freddy Fender singing the title song and playing the role of Pancho Villa. This was one of just five films in which he appeared.
Freddy Fender as Pancho Villa, preparing to strike back at Carranza in She Came to the Valley (1979)
Dean Stockwell as Pat Westall, willing to help Bill Lester get guns to Pancho Villa is it helps keep Mission, Texas, safe in She Came to the Valley (1979)
Directed by:
Albert Bland
Cast:
Ronee Blakley … Willy Westall
Dean Stockwell … Pat Westall
Scott Glenn … Bill Lester
Freddy Fender … Pancho Villa
Anna Jones … Amara Westall
Jennifer Jones … Srita Westall
Rafael Flores Jr. … Benito Torres
Les Becht … Phil Allen
Frank Benedetoo … Capt. Hernandez
Robby Romero as Pepe, Bill Lester’s friend and a bearer of bad news in She Came to the Valley (1979)
Dean Stockwell as Pat Westall, Ronee Blakley as wife Willy and their daughters arrive in Mission, Texas, in She Came to the Valley (1979)
Memorable lines:
Mr. Courtney, about Westall bidding on four sections of wilderness: “Personally, I think you’re crazy. You’re talking about land not even the Indians want. It’s all chaparrel and srub brush. Ratlers, horn toads, tarantulas. Some folks have even seen tigers out there.”
Pat Westall about Bill Lester: “Never could figure out a drifter.”
Pat Westall, heading southwest with his family in a wagon: “Don’t know why they (the Mexicans) didn’t tell us we’d run into sandstorms. And we should have two weeks supply, stead of one. They should have told us that.”
Willy Westall: “When are you going to stop blaming everything on the Mexicans, Patrick.”
Pancho Villa: “Senora, can you believe I can tell my men we will attack a Carrantista camp just to save one Americano?”
Willy Westall: “Bill Lester is one of your best soldiers. You need him. And it’s not just one Americano. It’s all the Americanos who blame you for the raids across the border.”
Pancho: “You know it is not so.”
Willy: “That’s how it will be writen.”
Pancho: “What written?”
Willy: “Not about the great battles. But how you killed woman and children. They won’t even call you a general. Pancho Villa, the bandit.”
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