Take a Hard Ride (1975)

Jim Brown is Pike, foreman for a cattle boss named Morgan (Dana Andrews). They’ve just completed a long cattle drive, and dream of all the good the money can do back home.

When Morgan dies of a heart attack, he makes Pike promise to take the $86,000 in profits back to the village of Sonora.

But a black man heading for the border with $86,000 figures to be easy pickings for every scoundrel in the West.

And a bounty hunter name Kiefer (Lee Van Cleef) has a built-in excuse for trying to track down Pike and the payroll money; Pike was once a wanted man until Morgan gave him a second chance at leading a lawful life.

Others with their eye on the prize include a former lawman named Kane (Barry Sullivan), a fancy-dressed gambler named Tyree (Fred Williamson) and a Bible-verse spouting racist named Deacon with a Gatling gun at his disposal.

Tyree agrees to tag along with Pike, at least until they reach the border, when they can sort out who rides off with the money.

Kiefer strikes an uneasy alliance with most of the rest.

And along the way to Mexico, Pike and Tyree pick up two other companions, a pretty woman named Catherine (Catherine Spaak), whose husband has just been killed by marauders, and a mute half-breed named Kashtok (Jim Kelly).

Review:

Short of classic Spaghetti, but entertaining nonetheless. Once Pike starts to head off with the money, it becomes a chase film, and the chase proves far more difficult than anyone in pursuit imagined. Well, anyone but Kiefer, Van Cleef’s character.

Williamson is counted on to provide the comic relief, and does a fine job in that role. Spaak looks lovely as the former whore from the cribs of New Orleans who was rescued by her husband and now needs rescued again. She’s looking for a purpose in life.

If there’s a false note in the film, it’s the presence of a second pair of black actors who keep being mistaken for Pike and Tyree. Did they really add anything to the film?

Meanwhile, the cast includes lots of familiar faces, including Dana Andrews and Barry Sullivan, both of whom were in their 60s at the time, and Harry Carey Jr., who was in his mid-50s.

The excellent score comes courtesy of Jerry Goldsmith.

Directed by:
Antonio Margheriti

Cast:
Jim Brown … Pike
Fred Williamson … Tyree
Catherine Spaak … Catherine
Lee Van Cleef … Kiefer
Jim Kelly … Kashtok
Dana Andrews … Morgan
Barry Sullivan … Kane
Harry Carey Jr. … Dumper
Robert Donner … Skave
Charles McGregor … Cloyd
Leonard Smith … Cangey
Ronald Howard … Halsey
Ricardo Palacios … Calvera
Robin Levitt … Chico
Buddy Joe Hooker … Angel
George Rigaud … Horse dealer

Runtime: 103 min.

aka:
La parola di un fuorilegge… è legge!

Music: Jerry Goldsmith

Memorable lines:

Grimes, when Kiefer shows him a wanted poster: “Look, that was a long time ago. I was just a kid. Those days are behind me. I’m got a whole new life here — a damn good life.”
Kiefer: “That’s just about finished.”

Sheriff, about Grimes: “Lots of people around here thought he was a good man.”
Kiefer: “A wanted man — that’s all that matters.”
Sheriff: “To you.”
Kiefer: “To the law.”

Tyree: “You gave your word to a white man. Where I’m from, that ain’t exactly binding. Not $86,000 worth.”
Pike: “I gave my word to a man.”

Tyree: “Two blacks, a woman and now an Indian on foot. You think nobody is going to recognize you now, Pike?”
Pike: “Now that I know you can shoot, Tyree, we ain’t got no problems.”

Deacon: “They’re heathens — black heathens. Black is the devil’s color and they’re riding on the devil’s mission.”

Kane, when Kiefer proposes a joint venture: “Two n—-ts and an Indian. I can handle that myself.”
Kiefer: “I’ve already buried a dozen men who said the same thing.”

Pike: “Ten years ago, I would have shot you. But I learned every man needs a second chance.”
Kiefer: “That could be your failing, Pike.”

Trivia:

Jim Brown was a former Cleveland Browns stars. Don’t mistake Jim Kelly as the same; he’s not Leroy Kelly. In fact, he was a tennis standout who became one of the first black martial arts experts to become a film star.

The year before this film was released, Brown, Williamson and Kelly starred in a film called “Three the Hard Way.” It’s about a white supremacist plot to put something in the water supply that’s harmless to whites but somehow lethal to blacks.

French-born Catherine Spaak had appeared in her first film 15 years earlier. Married four times, she later hosted a long-running talk show on Italian TV and competed on Italy’s version of “Survivor” for a short time in 2015. She would have been about 70 at the time.

Robert Donner as Skave, one of the men after the payroll in Take a Hard Ride (1975)

The Deacon, the man with a Gatling gun in Take a Hard Ride (1975)

Buddy Joe Hooker as Angel, showing what a Gatling gun can do in Take a Hard Ride (1975)

Catherine Spaak as Catherine, left in possession of the payroll, at least temporarily in Take a Hard Ride (1975)

Lee Van Cleef as Kiefer, who finds more than a bounty to chase in Take a Hard Ride (1975)

Fred Williamson as Tyree, introducing himself to Pike in Take a Hard Ride (1975)