Marlon Brando is Matt Fletcher, a Confederate veteran who returns to his adopted family in Mexico with a prize stallion and dreams of turning a dirt-poor farm into a profitable ranch.
But on his way there, he has the misfortune of crossing paths with Chuy Medina (John Saxon), an egotistical ranchero, with a gang of gunmen to back up his bravado, and Trini (Anjanette Comer), a pretty young woman unhappily united with Chuy.
Trini lies about Fletcher molesting her in church, knowing Chuy will confront the stranger, perhaps allowing her to escape on Fletcher’s Appaloosa.
She’s caught instead. To save face in front of his men, Chuy makes up a story about her testing out an Appaloosa he was purchasing from Fletcher. But Fletcher has no intention of selling the horse and trades insults with Chuy.
Next thing you know, Chuy has the stallion back at his hacienda in Mexico. And Fletcher is heading south, determined to bring it back, though the odds are better that he’ll be killed trying to do so.
Marlon Brando as Matt Fletcher in The Appaloosa (1966)
Review:
Director Sidney J. Furie and company create a different and entertaining Western as two lies and a broad dash of pride result in severe consequences for Matt Fletcher.
Within minutes, the film establishes John Saxon’s character as a villain we’ll love to hate. And with a few looks, Comer convinces us she’s a woman in need of a rescue.
But Matt Fletcher is motivated by the memory of the man who adopted him and the stallion that he’s pinned his dreams on, not a woman in distress.
In one especially memorable scene, he and Chuy engage in a hand wrestling match. Deadly scorpions have been placed where the loser’s hand will land.
Mirium Colon as Ana and Rafael Campos as Paco help Matt Fletcher (Marlon Brando) in The Appaloosa (1966)
Directed by:
Sidney J. Furie
Cast:
Marlon Brando … Matt Fletcher
Anjanette Comer … Trini
John Saxon … Chuy Medina
Emilio Fernandez … Lazaro
Alex Montoya … Squint Eye
Mirium Colon … Ana
Rafael Campos … Paco
Frank Silvera … Ramos
Larry D. Mann … Priest
Argentina Brunetti … Yaqui Woman
Abel Fernandez … Mexican farmer
Runtime: 98 min.
John Saxon as Chuy Medina and Marlon Brando as Matt Fletcher prepare the scorpions in The Appaloosa (1966)
Memorable lines:
Matt Fletcher, at confessional: “I’m having a little trouble getting started, Father.”
Priest: “You are in the House of God now, my son. Speak from your heart.”
Matt Fletcher: “Well, I’ve done a lot of killin’. I’ve killed a lot of men and sinned a lot of women. But the men I killed needed killin’ and the women wanted sinnin’, and well, I never was one much to argue.”
Chuy Medina, guiding a scared Trini away from the crowd after she’s been caught trying to run away: “Yes must tell me about the horse. I too have always admired the appaloosa. Such a beautiful animal. Tell me then, does he ride as good as he looks.”
Chuy Medina: “Senor, I must have your horse. I will give you $500, American money.”
Matt Fletcher: “All you’re going to give me, mister, is a bad case of worms.”
Chuy: “You agreed to sell me your horse. You cannot now go back on your word.”
Matt: “Well, I’ll give you my word. Next time you point a gun at me, you better pull that trigger, ’cause I’m going to blow you into so many pieces your friends will get tired of looking for you.”
Anjanette Comer as Trini with Marlon Brando as Matt Fletcher in The Appaloosa (1966)
Ana to Matt Fletcher: “Is it true we’re going to have a ranch? Or is he (husband Paco) just drunk dreaming?”
Ana, as Matt Fletcher pats wrapped coffee grounds against his face to make his white skin darker: “Coffee grounds do not make a Mexican.”
Ramos, the Mexican goat farmer, looking at one of the young goats: “Poor, Maria, her mother is in the stew. She was killed by one of Chuy’s pistoleros. Just practicing to kill.”
Matt Fletcher to Trini: “I’m looking for a horse, with spots on his rump. Remember?”
Ramos: “It is a grave I dug for myself. One day when I am tired of living, I will come here for a long rest.”
Matt Fletcher to Trini: “”If you go back now, you might have to take a bad licking, but he’s not gonna kill you. You’re too good looking to kill.”
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Just seen for the first time “The Appaloosa”, starring M.Brando and John Saxon. Let’s say that the film has a bad reputation, it was pointed to inspire too much from Italian Westerns, the 1966 audience didn’t appreciate the way it was filmed.
I think it’s a good story, Brando doesn’t make too much Brando, John Saxon as a Mexican leader sounds well too, the sets (desert, mountain, snow…) are great, and the final gunfight is great too.
When the film starts, we see Brando in a confederate officer uniform (…but they say the year is 1870…), very used, so we must suppose that he’s been prowling some years after the war, he looks like a tramp, his Mexican foe looks farly better…
On the dvd “bonus”, someone says that Brando’s hat looks ridiculous, too small for his head…I guess it’s not too small : it’s a short sized officer’s hat you can see sometimes on photos of the era (or in other movies), but Brando is long haired and bearbed at this moment, that why the hat seems too small.