Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Abraham Polonsky

Writers:

Harry Lawton (book)
Abraham Polonsky (written by)

Release Date:

31 October 1969 (West Germany)

Genre:

Drama | Western

Plot:

Based on true events, Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here, tells the story of one of the last Western manhunts...

Plot Keywords:

On The Run | Sheriff | Native American | Posse | Suicide

Awards:

Won 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 1 win

Cast

Robert Redford	...	Deputy Sheriff Christopher 'Coop' Cooper
Katharine Ross	...	Lola
Robert Blake	...	Willie Boy
Susan Clark	...	Dr. Elizabeth Arnold
Barry Sullivan	...	Ray Calvert
John Vernon	...	George Hacker
Charles Aidman	...	Judge Benby
Charles McGraw	...	Sheriff Frank Wilson
Shelly Novack	...	Johnny Finney
Robert Lipton	...	Charlie Newcombe
Lloyd Gough	...	Dexter
Ned Romero	...	Tom
John Wheeler	...	Newman
Erik Holland	...	Digger (as Eric Holland)
Garry Walberg	...	Dr. Mills

Also Known As:

Willie Boy (USA) (trailer title)

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

USA:PG (re-rating) (1975) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | USA:M (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Joshua Tree, California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Quotes:

[first lines]
Tom: Did you see that crazy Calvert go by?
Willie Boy: Ate his dust.
Tom: When did you get back to Banning, Willie Boy?
Willie Boy: Five o'clock freight.
Tom: Goin' to the fiesta?
Willie Boy: Is that where you're goin', Tom?
Tom: Trailin' Mr. Calvert with a tow just in case he breaks down - or breaks his neck.
Willie Boy: Well, I guess that's where I'm goin'.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Beautiful Girls (1996)

Hollywood version of Indian manhunt

Beautifully filmed, the movie creates the same edge-of-your-seat tension to see the outcome as the book by Harry Lawton, and, indeed, the real events must have engendered.

Too bad Hollywood once again played with the truth. While much of the film appears to fairly closely follow history, with a few excusable abbreviations, two crucial incidents and Redford's character are Hollywood inventions. They add to the drama and mystery of the sad story, but considering most people know only the history they see on film, it's a shame to see the truth corrupted.

Blake is outstanding. Redford is uncomfortable trying on the cowboy persona at that early stage. Ross is completely unbelievable as an Indian.

The movie captures the essence of this turn-of-the-last-century western environment transitioning from horse & buggy to automobile, from cowboy to urbanite, from the remaining blend of Indian autonomy side-by-side with encroaching white man encroachment and ultimate domination.

The fact that it took several posses of 75+ men on horse, with supplies, days and nights of tracking to catch up with one Indian on foot without more than a rifle, a few shells and only what food he could scrounge, speaks volumes for the Indian-vs-white fight for survival and the tactics used.

Quietly intense, the movie is dramatic, captivating, and over-ridingly sad at the unavoidable outcome of the decidedly unbalanced "battle."