Gone with the West (1975)

Director:

Bernard Girard

Writers:

Monroe Manning (written by) and
Douglas Day Stewart (written by) ...

Release Date:

September 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Western | Action

Plot Keywords:

Arson | Catapult | Prison | Barroom | Hung Upside Down

Cast

James Caan	...	Jud McGraw
Stefanie Powers	...	Little Moon
Aldo Ray	...	Mimmo, Stage Robber
Barbara Werle	...	Billie
Robert Walker Jr.	...	Sheriff of Black Miller
Sammy Davis Jr.	...	Kid Dandy
Heather Angel	...	Old Little Moon / Narrator
Mike Lane	...	Shark
Elmore Vincent	...	Jerry
L. Andy Stone	...	Old Jud
Elizebeth Leigh	...	Gail
Kenneth Adams	...	Artie (as Kenny Adams)
Michael Conrad	...	Smithy
Anne Barton	...	Smithy's Wife
Paul Bergen	...	Singing Cowboy

Also Known As:

Bronco Busters
Little Moon & Jud McGraw (Australia)
Little Moon and Jud McGraw (USA) (reissue title)
Man Without Mercy (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

92 min | Netherlands:95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:M (DVD rating) | Australia:R (original rating) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park - 10700 W. Escondido Canyon Rd., Agua Dulce, California, USA

Company:

Cougar Productions

Movie Connections:

Edited into Dead People (1973)

GONE WITH THE WEST (Bernard Girard, 1975) BOMB

One of the more memorable sequences in MESSIAH OF EVIL (1973) features a major supporting character meeting her doom while at a movie screening preceded by the trailer for GONE WITH THE WEST; by sheer coincidence, within the same week I rented the former on DVD, I also came across the latter – having rented this particular budget-priced Western collection primarily because it also included THE JACKALS (1967), a remake of William A. Wellman's YELLOW SKY (1948) which I intend to revisit presently in tribute to its recently deceased co-star, Richard Widmark! The footage seen in MESSIAH OF EVIL – of a mean-looking gunslinger played by Sammy Davis Jr.(!) – promised a fun movie but, even if his cameo did prove to be its brightest spot, having now had the misfortune to sit through the damn thing in its entirety, it's perfectly clear now that the trailer had been inserted only because GONE WITH THE WEST was an as-yet unreleased debacle which needed all the exposure it could get!

This truly lamentable attempt at a Western spoof was evidently shot prior to James Caan attaining stardom with THE GODFATHER (1972) and, although he does manage a couple of decent bits, he is a long, long way from his scene-stealing turn as Mississippi in Howard Hawks' EL DORADO (1966). Despite some surprising nudity by both of them, Stefanie Powers is simply terrible as an all-Spanish-speaking Indian girl(!) and Barbara Werle fares no better as Aldo Ray's nymphomaniac wife. Ray himself is embarrassing as a grizzled cowboy and Robert Walker Jr. barely registers at all in the role of an ineffectual sheriff. Even less rewarding is seeing Hollywood veteran Heather Angel as a loony old woman – who is actually an elderly version of the same character played by Powers; not that it matters much but the film opens in a modern-day setting and the bulk of the narrative is made up of Angel's reminiscences (by which time, it seems, she had learned to muster the English language).

Retitling the film to LITTLE MOON AND JUD McGRAW (which is the name sported by the print I watched) only served to jettison the puerile original but did zilch to mask the film's glaringly rampant deficiencies (particularly those of an editorial nature). Director Bernard Girard may have been behind a couple of interesting movies prior to this one – the James Coburn caper, DEAD HEAT ON A MERRY-GO-ROUND (1966) and the Christopher Walken psychological outing, THE MIND SNATCHERS (1972) – but it's no surprise at all that GONE WITH THE WEST sealed his fate in filmdom forever. There is no doubt in my mind that this is one of the worst movies of the Seventies but, arguably, I'd even go so far as to name it the worst Western I ever laid eyes on!