Sunday, April 04, 2010

This One Deserved Its Own Post

You might recall that yesterday I said Desperate Measures was one of the movies that sold me on buying that Bunch o' Westerns* DVD I bought. There was one other film that helped seal the deal, the last movie on the last disc, and I finally reached it last night. White Comanche, starring William Shatner playing not one, but two roles!

Shatner plays Johnny Moon, and Johnny Moon's twin brother, Notah. They're each half-Comanche, though initially rejected by both sets of people. Notah, however, has risen to take command of a group, who he leads on raids against whitey, usually claiming the spirits have told him to do so. The raids involve the usual killing and raping committed in Westerns by bad guys. Johnny, unfortunately, keeps bearing the brunt of Notah's misdeeds. The movie starts with him riding through the wilderness and being ambushed by a bunch of guys who believe he's Notah and want to lynch him. I guess they didn't bother to consider why a guy who normally rides around shirtless and with a bunch of Comanche with him would be riding alone, in jeans and a jeans jacket. Moon escapes, and deciding he's had enough of this, rides to where Notah's group is camped out, and challenges Notah. In four days, they'll settle things permanently, near the town of Rio Hondo. Moon rides off to said town to settle in and wait.

Unfortunately, Rio Hondo is a bit like the town from A Fistful of Dollars. There are two rival factions having a power struggle, and one of them wants to hire Moon, while the other wants him gone. Johnny's desire is to focus on his confrontation with Notah. There's also an issue with a woman Notah raped initially trying to kill Johnny (thinking it's Notah), but within a couple of days seems to have fallen for him, even as Johnny points out he's killed people too, and is probably more Comanche than white man. Throw in some other people trying to kill Johnny for various reasons (though they mostly all relate back to thinking he's really Notah) to boot.

The movie largely seems to be about Moon and his relationship with Notah. Not only how Notah's actions make life more difficult for Johnny, who would like to be able to at least move through society without being hassled, but also with the fact they're brothers, more similar to each other than anyone else on earth, and now he's sworn to kill him. It troubles him, maybe because killing a brother is no small thing, maybe because he isn't sure he can win. Notah, outwardly, is unconcerned. Inwardly, he may be worried, as he tries to turn it into a mass attack by the group on Rio Hondo. Either he's trying to improve his odds, or he just doesn't feel like it's worth a trip simply to kill his brother, might as well burn down a town as well.

While Johnny meets with difficulty interacting with the people of Rio Hondo, Notah seems to have set himself up pretty well with his group. He's the leader, at least partially because no one will challenge him directly. He understands the customs well enough to pay lip service to them, which generally keeps people in line, but he doesn't care about them**. In some ways, I think Notah is taking out his frustration on both the Comanches and the whites, since both groups rejected he and his brother. He attacks stagecoaches and towns frequently, but his actions are eventually going to get the entire group killed, or hounded endlessly. They seem to be pawns he uses as convenient.

Shatner was pretty much what I expected. He has that particular cadence he speaks in, and he basically keeps it here. It works to a certain extent when Notah makes big proclamations about Great Spirits telling him they should attack the town, what with the dramatic pauses and all, and even with Johnny Moon, when he starts talking about how he doesn't fit in. There's enough melodrama in those bits of dialogue for his tone to work. Not so well at other times. His claim at the beginning, as the group tries to lynch him that 'No. . . you've. . . got the wrong man,' comes as flat. You could argue that Johnny's been through this so many times he's grown blase at having to escape lynchings, but the flatness the statement is delivered made me laugh.

The conflict between the two ranchers in Rio Hondo felt like it was there to pad out the story. I couldn't gain interest in it, not the way I could in the huge Civil War battle of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. It seems so small and petty compared to Johnny's looming battle with his only brother***. It's also there to make Johnny immerse himself more fully in the world that he feels apart from. Like it or not, he respects the sheriff (Joseph Cotton) who is trying to keep things under control, and he can't help but try and lend a hand.

The movie started a tad confusingly for me, until I realized the twin brother aspect, picked up as Johnny travels to town and tries to settle in and prepare for his struggle, lags a bit as the townspeople act distrustful, and as Kelly seems to get over being assaulted by a man that looks just like Johnny (except for the eyes, which are different colors) really quickly, then picks up a bit at the end. It isn't a superb movie, but I wouldn't mind watching it again sometime soon.

* Not the actual title.

** There are two occasions he doesn't want to stop and follow proper procedures for a dead comrade. The first time, there's only one person calling him on it, and they back down. The second time, the entire group/tribe is there and they stop to get the fire going (Johnny Moon had already found the two and set up the burial stands in preparation for the tribe to burn them).

*** Whereas the Civil War battle scene highlights for me how inconsequential all Tuco, Blondie, and Angel Eyes' chasing, shooting, partnerships, backstabbing, etc., are. Or maybe the Captain, drunk and dreaming of blowing that bridge up and saving his men is more compelling than a couple of guys in a pissing match over livestock.

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