Mackenna's Gold (1969)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

J. Lee Thompson

Writers:

Heck Allen (novel)
Carl Foreman (screenplay)

Release Date:

10 May 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | Western

Tagline:

A GIANT OF A MOVIE

Plot:

The gangster Colorado kidnaps Marshal McKenna. He believes that McKenna has seen a map which leads to...

Plot Keywords:

Gold | Marshal | Cavalry | Buzzard | Canyon

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Gregory Peck	...	MacKenna
Omar Sharif	...	Colorado
Telly Savalas	...	Sgt. Tibbs
Camilla Sparv	...	Inga Bergmann
Keenan Wynn	...	Sanchez
Julie Newmar	...	Hesh-Ke
Ted Cassidy	...	Hachita
Lee J. Cobb	...	The Editor
Raymond Massey	...	The Preacher
Burgess Meredith	...	The Storekeeper
Anthony Quayle	...	Older Englishman
Edward G. Robinson	...	Old Adams
Eli Wallach	...	Ben Baker
Eduardo Ciannelli	...	Prairie Dog
Dick Peabody	...	Avifa

Runtime:

128 min | UK:136 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (Westrex Recording System) (70 mm prints)

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:PG | West Germany:12 (f) (re-rating) | West Germany:16 (f) (original rating) | Germany:16 (DVD rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:M | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Arizona, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Acording to a 1996 biography, Clint Eastwood was first offered the lead role, but turned it down to make Hang 'Em High (1968) instead

Goofs:

Continuity: The cloud formation while jumping the earthquake chasm.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Mummy (1999)

Soundtrack:

Old Turkey Buzzard

The map was on his mind.

1969 was a very good year for westerns (The Wild Bunch, True Grit), so this film went by without being noticed, but every second of it is enjoyable. Gregory Peck is great as always, Omar Sharif as Colorado does surprisingly well, also Julie Newmar as the Indian girl, Edward G. Robinson as Adams, Telly Savalas as an army officer. No doubt this was a precursor to Raiders of the Lost Ark. It is also very similar in certain scenes to the 1949 western "Lust For Gold". Seeing it today in DVD with widescreen is quite an experience, because of the beautiful way the scenery is shown (it looks like Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon put together with a bit of fantasy) also the unusual places the camera is placed, like at certain moments you are following the feet of the horses, or in other scenes you feel the camera is riding the horse.