Way of a Gaucho (1952)

Rory Calhoun plays Martin Penalosa, a master gaucho, unhappy over the way foreigners and civilization are taming the Argentine wilderness he and his fellow gauchos roam.

When he kills a man defending the honor of his patron, Don Miguel Aleondo (Hugh Marlowe), he’s forced to enlist in the local militia as punishment.

It’s there that he meets Maj. Salinas (Richard Boone), a commander determined to break the man with the eyes of a cougar.

But Martin’s not a man easily broken. He deserts during a campaign to quell an Indian uprising.

It’s during his flight that he rescues Teresa Chavez (Gene Tierney) from the Indians. They’ll eventually become lovers.

And it’s after being captured, maiming Salinas, then escaping again that Martin takes the name Valverde and becomes a leader of gaucho bandits, trying to hold back the tide of progress.

As for Salinas, he’s less interested in progress than settling an old score with the gaucho who crippled his right arm.

Rory Clahoun as Martin Penalosa, getting his first taste of military life in Way of a Gaucho (1952)

Richard Boone as Major Salinas, the military commander determined to break, then capture Martin Penalosa in Way of a Gaucho (1952)

Review:

Decent Calhoun film that plays out like a Western even if it’s set in Argentina.

The plot constantly puts Calhoun in harm’s way, then offers him a way out.

At one point, Martin decides he and Teresa should flee to Chile. There will be work there for a gaucho, he assures her.

Harsh weather forces them to turn back. So does news of Teresa’s pregnancy and the desire to make sure their child is legitimate in the eyes of God.

And that puts Martin in harm’s way one last time.

As a bit of trivia, the film crew stayed on in Argentina after shooting concluded there in order to film the funeral proceedings for Eva Peron, an Argentine hero and wife of a revolutionary leader / ruler there. She was the starring figure in the 1996 film “Evita,” starring Madonna and Antonio Banderas.

Gene Tierney as Teresa Chavez, the woman Martin Penalosa rescues, then falls for in Way of a Gaucho (1952)

Hugh Marlowe as Don Miguel Aleondo, patron to Martin Penalosa in Way of a Gaucho (1952)

Directed by:
Jacques Tourneur

Cast:
Rory Calhoun … Martin Penalosa
Gene Tierney … Teresa Chavez
Richard Boone … Maj. Salinas
Hugh Marlowe … Don Miguel Aleondo
Everett Sloane … Falcon
Enrique Chaico … Father Fernandez
Jorge Villoldo … Valverde
Ronald Dumas … Julio
Hugo Mancini … Army lieutenant
Nestor Yoan … Army sergeant

Runtime: 87 min.

Enrique Chaico as Father Fernandez, trying to protect Martin and guide him in the right direction in Way of a Gaucho (1952)

Rory Calhoun as Martin, Everett Stone as Falcon and Ronald Dumas as Julio debate the fate that should befall a captured major in Way of a Gaucho (1952)

Memorable lines:

Brutos, to the new patron on the ranch where Martin Pendosa works: “Even the strongest bulls get sickly calve. I drink to not running dog for the city man.”

Maj. Salinas: “I have no morale objection to killing, which after all, is my trade. But it too should be a matter of discipline.”
Martin Penalosa: “Some think it should be a matter of honor.”

Maj. Salinas to Martin Penalosa: “A soldier, like a horse, needs breaking before he can be useful.”

Martin Penalosa: “I’ve said too much. Only fools talk.”
Teresa Chavez: “Only fools lock up what is in their hearts. It is right that men should talk of what they love. And that women should listen.”
Martin: “On the pampa we have a saying, ‘No matter how she smiles, a woman is a woman. And there’s another. And another. Up to the number of the stars.”

Soldier of Martin Penalosa: “He is a fool. But he’s very gaucho.”

Teresa of Martin: “You don’t know him, do you? … He’s not like us. With him, freedom isn’t just an idea in his mind. It’s in his blood, part of his whole being. You could no more cage him than you could cage the pampas wind.”

Lidia Campos as Tia Maria, the maid who reveals Martin’s hiding spot to Teresa Chavez in Way of a Gaucho (1952)

Gene Tierney as Teresa Chavez offering Martin Penalosa her necklace as a good luck charm in Way of a Gaucho (1952)