MovieChat Forums > Major Dundee (1965) Discussion > You'd make an unlikely looking Mexican.....

You'd make an unlikely looking Mexican...

posted 11 years ago by FANatic-10
4 replies | jump to latest

Heston must have been, at least some times, able to laugh at himself. This line, said by Richard Harris to his character of Major Dundee, must slyly reference his none-too-convincing appearance as a Mexican police chief in Orson Welles' "Touch of Evil". I love everything about "Touch of Evil", including Heston's performance, but let's face it, he faced a Herculean task in trying to pass as Mexican! "Major Dundee" has moments that are totally Peckinpah and inspired, but its choppiness and lack of focus bespeak the troubled production it indeed was. I'm glad I saw it, but everything I've always read of it was true - a shame, given the obvious potential for greatness.

[–] DarthBill 11 years ago

It's actually James Coburn who says the line, but it's still funny.

[–] briarmor 11 years ago

Let's consider he could have been a mexican with lots of spanish ancestry! and maybe some french, too! I remember in my only holiday in Mexico I sow some people who could easily pass for pure europeans..in any case he did a great work

[–] Vega_Lyra 10 years ago

Heston did a lot better at playing a Mexican in Touch of Evil than Sinatra did as a Spanish patriot in Pride and the Passion... ugh, what a stinker.

Conquer your fear, and I promise you, you will conquer death.

[–] agentalbert (2323) 2 years ago

It was a funny line, but Mexicans come in lots of shades. They don't all look like Demian Bechir. Plus, with "Touch Of Evil" being in b&w, it looked just fine, if you didn't think about how you already knew Charlton Heston.