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.
Gene Tierney as Teresa Chavez learns Martin Penalosa (Rory Calhoun) is an Army deserter 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 legtimate 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.
Rory Calhoun as Martin Penalosa meets Maj. Salinas (Richard Boone), the officer who will become his arch nemesis 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.
Hugh Marlowe as Don Miguel Aleonda tries to convince gaucho Martin Penalosa (Rory Calhoun) to serve out his punishment in the Army 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 calfs. 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.”
Rory Calhoun as Martin Penalosa tries to convince Teresa Chavez (Gene Tierney) that everything will turn out fine in Way of a Gaucho (1952)
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