Chato's Land (1972)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Michael Winner

Writer:

Gerald Wilson (written by)

Release Date:

30 June 1972 (Denmark)

Genre:

Adventure | Western

Tagline:

The scream of his victims is the only sound he makes.

Plot:

After Pardon Chato, a mestizo, killed a US marshal in self-defense, a posse pursues him, but as the...

Plot Keywords:

Posse | Rape | Beans | Corncob Pipe | Vulture

Cast

Charles Bronson	...	Pardon Chato
Jack Palance	...	Capt. Quincey Whitmore
James Whitmore	...	Joshua Everette
Simon Oakland	...	Jubal Hooker
Ralph Waite	...	Elias Hooker
Richard Jordan	...	Earl Hooker
Victor French	...	Martin Hall
Sonia Rangan	...	Chato's woman
William Watson	...	Harvey Lansing
Roddy McMillan	...	Gavin Malechie
Paul Young	...	Brady Logan
Lee Patterson	...	George Dunn
Roland Brand
Peter Dyneley	...	Ezra Meade
Hugh McDermott	...	Bartender

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:M | Singapore:PG | West Germany:16 (f) | New Zealand:R16 | Netherlands:16 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (1972) | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | UK:18 (cut)

Filming Locations:

Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Company:

Scimitar Films

Trivia:

The Hooker ranch house and barn are the same as the McBain house and barn in C'era una volta il West (1968).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Several times as the posse rides through the desert, the saguaro cacti props in the background can be seen jiggling and flapping their arms in the wind.

Quotes:

Jubal Hooker: I ought to woop you.
Elias Hooker: But you won't, Jubal, because you know I'd put a hole in your gut.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in My Best Friend's Birthday (1987)

In Chato's Land, Manhunters Can Easily Become Wild Game

Michael Winner's "Chato's Land" of 1972 starring the great late Charles Bronson and the equally grand Jack Palance, who also passed away recently, is a tough-minded and violent English Western which should not be missed, and a must-see for every Bronson fan. Director Winner, who is most famous for his violent 1974 cult classic "Death Wish", is certainly one of the masters of uncompromising revenge cinema and "Chato's Land", Winners first collaboration with Bronson, is one of the movies which have rightly earned him this reputation.

When half-breed Apache Pardon Chato (Bronson) shoots a racist Sheriff in self defense in a Saloon, local men form a posse to catch him, in order to hang him as soon as possible. The posse is lead by former Confederate Captain Quincy Whitmore, who is more keen on the manhunt just for the good old times than out of hate towards Chato. The sadistic Hooker brothers who have also joined the posse, however, hate Indians of any kind, and they don't have the slightest scruples of doing anything to make the fugitive pay for defending himself. As the posse members get deeper and deeper into the desert of Indian territory, however, they have to find out that they might have underestimated their opponent. This is Chato's land, and in Chato's land the hunters can quickly become the hunted...

The acting in "Chato's Land" is great, Charles Bronson, who hardly says a word fits perfectly into his role. Jack Palance is superb in his role of Capt. Quincy Whitmore, and I couldn't imagine anybody else but Bronson and Palance to play the leading parts in this. Simon Oakland and Richard Johnson are also great in their ugly roles of Jubal Hooker and his psychopathic little brother Earl, and the cast furthermore contains Richard Basehart. The film is very well photographed in the Spanish Almería, certainly the best location for European Westerns.

"Chato's Land" is a brutal, tough-minded and great Western, which should not be missed by anybody who likes revenge movies. The performances are excellent, and the movie is stunning, raw and atmospheric from the beginning to the end. A must-see for Charles Bronson fans, Chato's Land is a great film. Highly recommended. 8/10