Gene Hackman is Zandy Allan, a hard-working, no-nonsense rancher in the Sierra Nevadas.
He needs a woman to bear his children, so he sends off for a mail order bride.
Enter Hannah (Liv Ullmann), who longs for her own home but quickly wonders if she’s made a terrible mistake.
Allan forces himself on her on their first night together, makes it clear that he rules the roost and that she can expect no comforts — not even a clothes line — living with him.
After his first absence from home, she tries harder to be the wife he expected.
But he continues his brutish ways, disappearing for long periods of time and cheating on her with a longtime admirer (Suan Tyrrel as Maria Cordova) until she’s finally had enough.
It’s only at that point that Zandy realizes he’d better change in order to be welcome on his own ranch.
Gene Hackman as Zandy Allan, chastising Hannah for lying about her age in Zandy’s Bride (1974)
Liv Ullmann as Hannah, wondering if there’s a future as Mrs. Zandy Allan in Zandy’s Bride (1974)
Review:
Several mail-order bride Westerns have been made, several played for laughs.
The laughs are few and far between in this slow-moving character study, but it certainly seems more genuine than most.
Credit Hackman for selling himself as a hateful son-of-a-bitch, one who will dunk his wife in a drinking trough when he thinks she’s dolled herself up too pretty for a barbeque or stampede his cattle through her carefully tended garden if it suits his whim.
Heck, you might root for Hannah to shoot the bastard. Spoiler alert: No one gets shot in this Western. So if you’re looking for an action-packed oater, look elsewhere.
The film does a great job of conveying the isolation of the Big Sur region during the period.
Susan Tyrrell as Maria Cordova, a local girl with a hankering for Zandy in Zandy’s Bride (1974)
Eileen Heckart as Ma Allan, trying to teach son Zandy a lesson in Zandy’s Bride (1974)
Directed by:
Jan Troell
Cast:
Gene Hackman … Zandy Allan
Liv Ullmann … Hannah Lund
Eileen Heckart … Ma Allan
Susan Tyrrell … Maria Cordova
Harry Dean Stanton … Songer
Frank Cady … Pa Allan
Sam Bottoms … Mel Allan
Bob Simpson … Bill Pincus
Vivian Gordon … Street girl
Fabian Gregory Corvoda … Indian boy
Runtime: 116 min.
Frank Cady as Pa Allan, Zandy’s cruel, hard-working dad in Zandy’s Bride (1974)
Sam Bottoms as Mel Allan, Zandy’s younger brother in Zandy’s Bride (1974)
Memorable lines:
Zandy Allan: “Well, for openings Miss Lund, you ain’t no 25, are you? What else did you lie about?”
Zandy Allan: “We marry for keeps in this country. You go down that coast road with me, there’s no turning back short of death.”
Hannah, as Zandy wipes his spoon on his pant’s leg: “You don’t have to do that. The spoon and the bowl and the table are the only clean things in this pigsty.”
Zandy Allan: “I didn’t send for no god damned affliction.”
Zandy Allan: “You got a baby?”
Hannah Lund: “No. Thank god.”
Zandy: “Thank god? What the hell do you think you’re here for? My pleasure?”
Zandy Allan, returning home with cattle he’s bought: “You ruined this place. Turned it into a damn town lot.”
Hannah: “I turned it into a ranch fit for a widow.”
Liv Ullmann as Hannah, trying to hang on as Zandy leads her up the coastal road in Zandy’s Bride (1974)
Gene Hackman as Zandy Allan, about to disappear for a while after being caught cheating in Zandy’s Bride (1974)
Liv Ullmann as Hannah, dessed up for a barbeque to her husband’s displeasure in Zandy’s Bride (1974)
Gene Hackman as Zandy Allan, back from San Francisco wearing a new suit in Zandy’s Bride (1974)
){kind=link}