Valdez is Coming (1971)

Spaghetti western style marketing

Shot in Spain, this Elmore Leonard story makes for an absorbing tale of pursuit and justice. The Valdez of the title (Burt Lancaster) is a Mexican-American and former cavalryman, who is now a star-wearing constable of a western border town. In a bungled attempt to secure the surrender of a suspect wanted for murder, he shoots and kills an innocent man.

Valdez wants to compensate the man’s widow and attempts to collect $100 from the man, Frank Tanner, who wrongly accused the victim. Tanner refuses and humiliates Valdez, then has him tied to a cross when he persists. Arming himself, Valdez surprises Tanner in his bed and asks again for the $100. Failing in this attempt, he takes the man’s girlfriend (Susan Clark) as a hostage, and thus begins a long chase.  

Man after man sent after Valdez comes a cropper. By the time we get to the last reel and the final standoff between Valdez and Tanner, eleven men have bitten the dust. We see several picked off by buffalo gun in this clip (click).

Published 1970

The twists and turns and surprises in the plot, all the way to the last line of the movie, are pure Elmore Leonard. The film deftly avoids nearly every western cliché. There are fine, believable performances all around. After the first few minutes, even Lancaster is plausible as a soft-spoken Mexican-American.

The film has a steady level of excitement but is thankfully also interested in character. It’s not just marksmanship with firearms that keeps Valdez going. There’s also a hidden depth of intelligence as he continues to outsmart his pursuers. It’s a battle of wits right to the end.

I really enjoyed this movie. In many ways it beats Hombre (1967), another Elmore Leonard story that picks up some of the same racial issues. (I didn't mention that the man shot at the beginning of the movie is black and his wife is Indian.)

The film was directed by Edwin Sherin, who went on to a lot of TV work, including 200 director and producer credits for Law & Order. Barton Heyman deserves mention as El Segundo, Tanner’s chief henchman. The film is rated PG-13 for violence, brief nudity, and some language. [Lancaster wears a Stetson or a cavalry cap in the movie, not the photoshopped one on the the DVD cover.]

Valdez is Coming is currently available at netflix and amazon. Tuesday’s Overlooked Films is a much-appreciated enterprise of Todd Mason over at Sweet Freedom.

Coming up: Mary Austin, Isidro (1905)