At the end of the film, when Valdez is riding hidden between two horses, a wire is visible holding the horses' bridles together, so that they won't separate during Lancaster's close-up.
Similar in story to Michel Winner's CHATO's LAND, VALDEZ IS COMING turns out to be the better film thanks to its realistic depiction of racism and politics in the American west. Headliner Burt Lancaster (who plays a Mexican, which is slightly distracting) stars as Valdez, a man who stands up for the rights of the individual and finds himself all but condemned as a result.
Probably a very low budget film but a great script and a good job of acting by many of the cast. I came away with a deep appreciation for this film.
In this much underrated Western, Burt Lancaster (who is one of my favourite stars) plays an ageing Spanish American lawman who tries to do the right thing for a native American widow, not by having a whip-round in a saloon or council meeting but going to the big rancher (played by Jon Cypher) with a dubious past, who Valdez believes is indirectly responsible for the death, even if Bob Valdez himself pulled the trigger. Not so simple getting 200 Dollars American from a truly nasty piece of work (500 dollars in the novel) even if the amount for the rancher is negligible.
This is a classic American western portraying life in the Southwest after the Civil War, when disputes were settled by guns and physical violence.The backup actors in the movie play their parts extremely well.
It always strikes me as odd when a well known and celebrated white actor is given a Mexican or Indian role in a Western. It seems like the man's celebrity overwhelms the characterization to a distracting degree.
After killing an innocent man in self defence, Mexican-American lawman Bob Valdez(BURT LANCASTER)asks gunrunning rancher Frank Tanner(JON CYPHER),who instigated the chaos, to pay the dead man's wife compensation. Tanner rebuffs and humiliates Valdez twice, and the second time results in the latter being tortured.
I'm a big Burt Lancaster fan, but this is not one of his better films. Why?
God knows what made the Broadway actor/director Edwin Sherin shoot this modest revenge western which I enjoyed immensely as a boy, next to George Roy Hill's "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", Martin Ritt's "Hombre" and Sydney Pollack's "Jeremiah Johnson". All four have more things in common than solely the title heroes' sky-blue eyes ; I would like to mention only what impressed me most (and still does), i.
Burt Lancaster's crystal clear blue eyes is but one, but the most obvious reason I can't take Valdez Is Coming all too seriously. Burt's given some great performances, but can't overcome his Anglo looks and a heavy handed script.
