The Bravados (1958)

Gregory Peck is Jim Douglass, a man on the trail of the four men who robbed his home and raped and killed his wife.

His journey leads him to Rio Ariba where the four men are to be hanged for another killing and a botched bank holdup.

But they break jail and take a young woman named Emma captive.

Jim Douglass methodically leads the pursuit, guiding a posse that include deputy sheriff Primo, Emma’s boyfriend Tom, Emma’s father and, at times, Josefa Velarde (Joan Collins), a woman to whom Jim once proposed marriage.

Douglass finds one bandit (Lee Van Cleef as Parral) waiting in ambush and kills him, though he begs for his life and swears he had nothing to do with the death of Douglass’ wife. He does the same with a second bandit, hanging him from a tree by the feet before executing him.

But there are two more suspects on the run. They’re getting more desperate.

They still have Emma. And they’re heading in the direction of Jim Douglass’ ranch.

Gregory Peck as Jim Douglass, wanting to get a glimpse of the four men he’s been tracking for months in The Bravados (1958)

Joan Collins as Josefa Velarde, enjoying a reunion with a man she once thought she loved in The Bravados (1958)

Review:

Excellent variant on the revenge for a murdered wife theme with a unique twist we won’t give away here. Of course, that’s Gregory Peck leading the cast, which always helps. So does a touch of realism, like the messy jailbreak that springs the four men he’s seeking.

The theme of redemption runs through the film as well. The pastor urges the residents of Rio Ariba to pray for the four bandits on the eve of the hanging that never does occur.

And Josefa, sensing a hardness in the man she nearly married five years earlier, urges him to give up the chase and let the law handle matters.

But when the posse finds one of the bandits has brutally attacked Emma, even she goads Jim in his quest to be judge, jury and executioner for this band of outlaws.

As a side note, Jim’s three-year-old daughter is played by a child actress named Maria Garcia. She would appear in just seven films, but would marry the first son of singer Placido Domingo.

And in an uncredited role, Joe DeRita plays the hangman. He joined The Three Stooges as the new Curly the same year this film was released and appeared with the trio in “The Outlaws is Coming” (1964) and a cameo in “Four for Texas” (1963).

Henry SIlva as Lujan, insisting he had nothing to do with the death of Jim Douglass’s wife in The Bravados (1958)

Lee Van Cleef as Alfonso Parral, pleading with Jim Douglass for mercy after being caught trying to set an ambush in The Bravados (1958)

Directed by:
Henry King

Cast:
Gregory Peck … Jim Douglass
Joan Collins … Josefa Velarde
Stephen Boyd … Bill Zachary
Albert Salmi … Ed Taylor
Henry Silva … Lujan
Lee Van Cleef … Alfonso Parral
Kathleen Gallant … Emma Steimmetz
George Voskovec … Gus Steimmetz
Barry Coe … Tom, Emma’s boyfriend
Herbert Rudley … Sheriff Sanchez
Ken Scott — Deputy Sheriff Primo
Gene Evans … John Butler
Joe DeRita … Mr. Simms
Andrew Duggan … Padre
Maria Garia … Jim’s daughter

Runtime: 98 min.

Stephen Boyd as Bill Zachary and Albert Salmi as Ed Taylor, in jail and awaiting their hanging in The Bravados (1958)

Herbert Rudley as Sheriff Sanchez, wondering why Jim Douglass has traveled to Rio Ariba in The Bravados (1958)

Memorable lines:

Simms, the hangman, to Jim Douglass: “Hope I see you again, sir. Of course, not professionally.”

Jim Douglass, walking past the gallows: “You’re wasting an awful lot of good lumber. A tree would have done just as well.”
Sheriff: “They were sentenced to be hanged, not lynched.”

Outlaw Bill Zachary, as he fondles the rope to which Emma Steimmetz is tied: “I’ve got one weakness I feel you should know about.”
Outlaw Ed Taylor: “What’s that?”
Zachary: “Women.”
Taylor “Every man’s entitled to one weakness. Mine’s cards.”

Gregory Peck as Jim Douglass, questioning one of the suspects in his wife’s death in The Bravados (1958)

Joan Collins as Josefa Velarde, learning why Jim Douglass has turned into a hunter of wanted men in The Bravados (1958)

Stephen Boyd as Bill Zachary, coming face to face with the man who’s been hunting him The Bravados (1958)

Kathleen Gallant as Emma Steinmetz, the young woman taken captive by the outlaws in The Bravados (1958)

Gene Evans as John Butler, Jim Douglass’ neighbor, wary of two strange riders who show up on his property in The Bravados (1958)

Gregory Peck as Jim Douglass, looking for answers at the home of one of the men he’s been chasing in The Bravados (1958)

Maria Gracia as Helen, Jim’s daughter, peeking at her father as he returns home for a visit in The Bravados (1958)

Joe DeRita as Mr. SImms, the hangman who arrives in Rio Ariba in The Bravados (1958)

Andrew Duggan as the padre Josefa Velarde turns to for answers about Jim Douglass in The Bravados (1958)

Alicia del Lago as Angela Lujan, hearing riders approach her home in The Bravados (1958)

Ken Scott as Deputy Primo, the man leading the search for four outlaws after the sheriff is wounded in The Bravados (1958)

Henry SIlva as Lujan, Albert Salmi as Ed Taylor and Lee Van Cleef as Alfonso Parral, realizing the posse is gaining ground in The Bravados (1958)

Stephen Boyd as Bill Zachary with Emma Steimmetz (Kathleen Gallant), his captive in The Bravados (1958)

Joan Collins as Josefa Velarde and Gregory Peck as Jim Douglass, attending mass together in The Bravados (1958)