The Desperados (1969)
90 mins | Western | 30 April 1969
Director:
Henry LevinWriters:
Walter Brough, Clarke ReynoldsProducer:
Irving AllenCinematographer:
Sam LeavittEditor:
Geoffrey FootProduction Designer:
José AlgueróProduction Company:
Meadway ProductionsOn 5 Feb 1968, DV announced that Vince Edwards had been cast in the leading role in The Marauders for producer Irving Allen and director Henry Levin, who previously collaborated on Genghis Khan (1965), Murderers’ Row (1966, see entry), and The Ambushers (1967, see entry). Later that month, the 28 Feb 1968 edition reported that Walter Brough was traveling to the location site in Madrid, Spain, to complete the screenplay, based on a story that reviews credited to Genghis Khan writer Clarke Reynolds.
Principal photography began 1 Apr 1968, as stated in a DV production chart published four days later. The 8 May 1968 Var reported that filmmakers were halfway through the seven to eight-week schedule, and a 29 May 1968 DV item suggested that Edwards and co-star George Maharis had recently completed their roles. That same day, Var announced Columbia Pictures’ decision to change the title to The Desperados for distribution.
A 7 Oct 1968 LAT feature on Spanish actress Teresa Gimpera referred to her inclusion in the cast, but this could not be corroborated by other contemporary sources.
The following spring, the 25 Mar 1969 DV reported that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) had assigned the film an “M” rating, as “Suggested for Mature Audiences.”
Additional sources claimed that The Desperados debuted in Houston, TX, on 30 Apr 1969, and later opened as the second feature in a double bill with Columbia’s The Mad Room (see entry) beginning 4 Jun 1969 in Los Angeles, ...
On 5 Feb 1968, DV announced that Vince Edwards had been cast in the leading role in The Marauders for producer Irving Allen and director Henry Levin, who previously collaborated on Genghis Khan (1965), Murderers’ Row (1966, see entry), and The Ambushers (1967, see entry). Later that month, the 28 Feb 1968 edition reported that Walter Brough was traveling to the location site in Madrid, Spain, to complete the screenplay, based on a story that reviews credited to Genghis Khan writer Clarke Reynolds.
Principal photography began 1 Apr 1968, as stated in a DV production chart published four days later. The 8 May 1968 Var reported that filmmakers were halfway through the seven to eight-week schedule, and a 29 May 1968 DV item suggested that Edwards and co-star George Maharis had recently completed their roles. That same day, Var announced Columbia Pictures’ decision to change the title to The Desperados for distribution.
A 7 Oct 1968 LAT feature on Spanish actress Teresa Gimpera referred to her inclusion in the cast, but this could not be corroborated by other contemporary sources.
The following spring, the 25 Mar 1969 DV reported that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) had assigned the film an “M” rating, as “Suggested for Mature Audiences.”
Additional sources claimed that The Desperados debuted in Houston, TX, on 30 Apr 1969, and later opened as the second feature in a double bill with Columbia’s The Mad Room (see entry) beginning 4 Jun 1969 in Los Angeles, CA, and the following day in New York City. Several months later, the 26 Nov 1969 Var indicated that the showcase engagement had expanded to thirty-one theaters, although the film remained part of a double bill.
In the closing days of the Civil War, fanatical Parson Josiah Galt and his three sons, Adam, Jacob, and David, are leaders of a gang of southern marauders. Josiah, driven by his lust for revenge for the death of his Indian wife, attacks the Kansas town of St. Thomas. David, recalling his dead mother's prophecy of doom upon the family and repulsed by the carnage caused by his father and brothers, breaks with the gang after his brother Adam tries to rape one of the town's young girls. David is captured by his own men and brought before his father, who accuses him of treason and sentences him to be executed. David escapes, joins his wife, Laura, and together they flee to Texas, where they live for 6 years under an assumed name. After the war, Parson Galt and his sons continue to loot and pillage, and they eventually reach the Texas town where David, Laura, and their young son, Pauly, live. David recognizes the wagons of Carlin's Entertainers, a band of prostitutes who also serve as Galt's spies. Knowing that an attack is imminent, David reveals his true identity to Sheriff Kilpatrick, and together they set a trap for the Galts. David kills Adam, thereby setting off a chain of events that destroys nearly the whole family. To avenge Adam's death, Josiah abducts Pauly and tramples Laura, who dies in David's arms. Setting out on his father's trail, David hunts down Carlin and forces from him facts about a train robbery his father is planning. David helps to foil the robbery but in so doing kills his other brother Jacob. In a final confrontation with his father, David ...
In the closing days of the Civil War, fanatical Parson Josiah Galt and his three sons, Adam, Jacob, and David, are leaders of a gang of southern marauders. Josiah, driven by his lust for revenge for the death of his Indian wife, attacks the Kansas town of St. Thomas. David, recalling his dead mother's prophecy of doom upon the family and repulsed by the carnage caused by his father and brothers, breaks with the gang after his brother Adam tries to rape one of the town's young girls. David is captured by his own men and brought before his father, who accuses him of treason and sentences him to be executed. David escapes, joins his wife, Laura, and together they flee to Texas, where they live for 6 years under an assumed name. After the war, Parson Galt and his sons continue to loot and pillage, and they eventually reach the Texas town where David, Laura, and their young son, Pauly, live. David recognizes the wagons of Carlin's Entertainers, a band of prostitutes who also serve as Galt's spies. Knowing that an attack is imminent, David reveals his true identity to Sheriff Kilpatrick, and together they set a trap for the Galts. David kills Adam, thereby setting off a chain of events that destroys nearly the whole family. To avenge Adam's death, Josiah abducts Pauly and tramples Laura, who dies in David's arms. Setting out on his father's trail, David hunts down Carlin and forces from him facts about a train robbery his father is planning. David helps to foil the robbery but in so doing kills his other brother Jacob. In a final confrontation with his father, David saves Pauly's life, but in the struggle over his son, both David and Josiah fall to their deaths.
Viewed by AFI
Partially Viewed
Offscreen Credit
Name Occurs Before Title
AFI Life Achievement AwardTOP SEARCHES
CASABLANCA
During World War II, Casablanca, Morocco is a waiting point for throngs of desperate refugees fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe. Exit visas, which are necessary to leave the country, are at ... >>
CITIZEN KANE
Seventy-year-old newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane dies in his palatial Florida home, Xanadu, after uttering the single word “Rosebud.” While watching a newsreel summarizing the years during which Kane ... >>
REAR WINDOW
Laid up with a broken leg during the height of summer, renowned New York magazine photographer L. B. “Jeff” Jeffries enters his last week of home confinement, bored and ... >>
RAGING BULL
In 1941, at a boxing match in Cleveland, Ohio, pandemonium breaks out when Jake La Motta, an up-and-coming young boxer, loses a decision to Jimmy Reeves, suffering his first ... >>
CITY LIGHTS
At an outdoor dedication ceremony, a tramp is discovered sleeping in the arms of a statue as it is being unveiled before a crowd. He is chased into ... >>
