MovieChat Forums > The Bravados (1958) Discussion > What do you think of 'The Bravados' (195...

What do you think of 'The Bravados' (1958)?


This is a fine western with Gregory Peck giving a good performance as a man bent on revenge.

What do you think of it?


... Justin

reply

You said it all J! It was a great movie. It is best to be seen on the wide screen but I guess that is impossible today.

reply

At least it's available in a letterboxed version on DVD. Not the same as seeing it in a theater; but only a few old movies are privileged to return to the revival houses.


... Justin

reply

[deleted]

I don't know if I had seen Leone's "Dollars" trilogy when I posted this. But now I have. I don't think I noticed the connection. Thanks for replying!

... Justin

reply

Actually there's another connection: the ending when Gregory Peck is applauded for "bringing the killers to justice" always reminds me of the ending of The man who shot Liberty Valance, when James Stewart is congratulated for the heroic feat he actually did not perform ("Nothing's too good for the man who shot Liberty Valance!"). Same dramatic irony. Great Westerns both, by the way. I love the Henry Silva part here (his first close-up through the bars!).

reply

How great to see that this superb movie is gaining recognition! I honestly think, that it is the best western I have ever seen.

I wrote a few lines comparing it to The Searchers recently which I quote here:

"In my opinion, John Ford's The Searchers (1956) is an anti-revenge movie that makes the point that love, not revenge is the cure for bitterness. Ethan is exceedingly bitter when the search begins. But face to face with Debbie, his love for her wins over his hate of anything indian and he appears to be much more at peace with himself at the end of the movie.

But it is not a sappy resolution of bitterness such as the one in "The Naked Spur" og "The Far Country" (both by Anthony Mann and from 1953 and 1954, respectively) where James Stewart (once again) gets the girl and everything is good. Ethan is still a loner at the end of the movie. With all his experience and knowledge of the dark sides of humanity, he does not belong in the almost satirically portrayed "normal life".

An interesting parallell is Henry King's The Bravados (1958), which is clearly an anti-revenge movie. Gregory Peck is on a very similar search for a girl abducted by ruthless bandits whom he has very personal reasons to hate. He finds the girl, and kills the bandits - except the one which makes him realize that the bandits are not guilty of the crime he hates them for! At his return to the village of the abducted girl he is celebrated as a hero - but the irony is very sharp! "You will always be in our hearts", the sherif says in his speech. "Thank you - and in your prayers...please", Gregory Peck answers. The priest of the village, to whom Peck has just confessed, praises Peck for not being like other men in his shoes, who would excuse their crime by saying that the bandits were evil and deserved to die anyway. It is heavily hinted that the villagers are not among those who understand the fine line between justice and murder.

In this day and age where so many seem to think that a really good western is one where a tough guy gives the bad guys what they deserve, it is interesting to see that two of the most powerful westerns ever made are anti-revenge movies."

--
Westerns seen so far:
http://janniklindquist.fastmail.fm/Westerns.txt

reply

It seems revenge is a good theme whether you are for it or against it. Sergio Leone's "Dollars" trilogy, by contrast, is pro-revenge.

Clint Eastwood had a novel twist on this theme for his movie, "Mystic River." He leads you to expect an anti-revenge tale--but that's not what you get at the end.


... Justin

reply

Jan expresses it supremely well. Great post, Jan. Excellent points.


Now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!

reply

"The Bravados" is just an average western. Neither particularly good nor particularly bad.
Enjoyable for fans of the genre. That's it.

reply

Ah, a dissenting view!

... Justin

reply


A superb western illuminating the difference between justice and revenge. Outstanding performances by nearly everyone involved and supported by a wonderful score and a taut script.
Deserves a place amongst western classics and next to The Gunfighter and A big Country is Peck's finest hour.

Study his acting when he is told the truth of the matter by the indian.
Unreal.

Terminate this Thread with extreme prejudice.

reply

It's certainly a first-rate Western. I had never heard of it when I picked it up at the library. I'm glad I found it.

... Justin

reply

Just watched Three Godfathers. Amazing western. If you haven't seen it, check it out

Terminate this Thread with extreme prejudice.

reply

Revenge films, and anti-revenge films, are great.

However I must say that the anti-revenge theme didn't exact carry through with me.

Sure revenge can go awry but that doesn't mean that its not worth doing.

Thats also the take I get from watching anti-war films.

reply

What makes this movie special, is not the difference between revenge and justice.
Pecks character took revenge on the wrong persons. Surprising end.

reply

But that's just the point: revenge is stupid and blind and makes lots of mistakes. A major goal of justice is to prevent that the wrong persons are punished.

--
Westerns seen so far:
http://public.janniklindquist.fastmail.fm/Westerns.txt

reply

[deleted]

Yes, I have always enjoyed THE BRAVADOS and find it surprising that it is 51 years since it was released. It does seem a lax way of keeping men who are under sentence of death - but still.

reply

I didn't find this especially good, it was okay. Certainly Peck and director King made a much superior and classic western with The Gunfighter, which had a better cast, story and cinematography. Besides being eye candy I cringed every time Joan Collins had a scene in this- and the dialogue she was given to speak didn't help. The twist ending was a bit different but overall the film was eh nothing special. The Fox DVD with widescreen on one side and fullscreen the other is pretty bare bones in extras- just a trailer and two very brief newsreel clips. The widescreen Cinemascope transfer on side B looked good and the stereo soundtrack and vocals sounded very good too- don't even bother with the side A fullscreen.

reply

I loved this movie. I had it stored on my DVR for quite awhile though before I watched it b/c while I love Gregory Peck; I had the feeling this was going to be just a typical western. I like classic revenge stories a la' Clint Eastwood and as I started watching this I was reminded quickly of Hang 'em High and several others. That was cool though b/c I like that movie, however a chord hadn't really been struck with me that early in the movie. But slowly I became more intrigued - I liked all the "night" shots (didn't they just film during the day & darken the shots to look like night back then?) And Gregory Peck looked real good as the stoic but angry cowboy! It wasn't until he catches up to the last bad guy and sees the money bag, that it clicked for me moments before the truth is revealed. That blew me away, and in that scene alone, the movie escalated to something very special for me. The close-ups of Greg's face as it dawns on him how much time & energy not to mention time away from his little girl that he wasted being angry & vengeful, when the real assailant that ruined his family was his own neighbor right next door. That was pretty powerful. And I liked that the last bad guy explained that he had no reason to kill Peck and took the time to find out why he was being hunted by him. He could've killed him no questions asked, but he let Peck go - I really liked that too. Up till then, I wondered what satisfaction could come from the ending, after Peck is just killing these guys one-by-one, and none of them admit to the crime Peck believes they've done to his family. Another one of those rare movies that you can't help thinking about long after the film has finished. GREAT movie!

Btw - when Peck catches up to Lee Van Cleef, I too drew a connection to For A Few Dollars More, b/c that was always my favorite of the spaghetti westerns.

"Are you going to your grave with unlived lives in your veins?" ~ The Good Girl

reply

I'm afraid I didn't think too much of this film.

I liked the cast, but the story dragged very slowly.

reply

It could have been about 15 minutes shorter. The action sequences could have been shortened quite a bit. Otherwise, an excellent story with a very sad ending. I'm glad I saw it.

~~
JimHutton (1934-79) & ElleryQueen

reply

Good solid western. Stoic performance from Peck and the underated Andrew Duggan was fine as the padre. Fine theme music and dramatic Mexican scenery.Pleased that Henry Silva survived and the handsome but horrible Stephen Boyd and his buddies Salmi and Van Cleef did not. The ending was dramatic and Joanie wasn't bad either. Certainly no bitch.Adios.

reply

You sum it up pretty well.

I'll only add that as far as revenge westerns go, this one very much serves as a cautionary tale, subtley conveying to viewers that there can be a rather steep downside to seeking revenge, as well as a not-so-subtle message that not all is always as it seems when labelling bad guys as such or deciding who deserves said vengeance.

It's an understated but also very powerful message that this movie conveys.

______________________
Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! THIS IS THE WAR ROOM!

reply

Thanks CD. Yeah it's a great revenge western with a twist.The guy who played the so called hangman was good too. He looked a bit like Lou Costello!

reply

The guy who played the so called hangman was good too. He looked a bit like Lou Costello!

Costello? Hmm...Close. I got more of a W.C. Fields vibe from that guy's look. With maybe a dash of Sydney Greenstreet thrown in.

______________________
Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! THIS IS THE WAR ROOM!

reply

The message is actually a bit more subtle than it seems. Douglas feels ashamed of having killed the three men when he discovers that they were not responsible of the death of his wife. Yet that does not mean that he has mistakenly wiped out three respectable law-abiding citizens; they were, after all, under sentence of death, presumably for some other murder- we never learn whose- and as a member of a lawfully constituted posse he was legally entitled to kill them. The message is not so much that Douglas has done the wrong thing, more that he has done the right thing for the wrong reason.

reply

Film incompréhensible.On ne sait pas ce qui s'est réellement passé dans le ranch de Jim et lui ne se pose pas trop de questions non plus.Ce n'est qu'à la fin qu'il comprend qu'il a commis une énorme erreur, irréparable malheureusement, et qu'ils étaient des assassins pour quelque chose qui ne le concernait pas du tout. Et qui sont ces Bravados du titre ? Il faut tout deviner.Belle musique par contre, tout comme les décors naturels, magnifiques.Joan Collins est stupefiante dans ce film.

http://www.downlinebuildingclub.net/Flatbroke

reply

They robbed the town bank and killed the teller. It was revealed early on in the film.

reply

I seem to have joined it in the middle of the film on tv, but just wanted to drop by and say I am seeing some of the best color and cinematography of that era. It wasn't a colorized B&W film right?

reply