100 Rifles

1969 American Western film October 2021 July 2020 100 Rifles 100 Rifles (movie poster).jpg Theatrical release poster Tom Gries Marvin Schwartz Clair HuffakerTom Gries The Californio1967 novel Robert MacLeod Jim BrownRaquel WelchBurt Reynolds Jerry Goldsmith Cecilio Paniagua Robert L. Simpson Color by DeLuxe Marvin Schwartz Productions 20th Century Fox 1969 3 26 110 minutes United States EnglishSpanish $3.5 million (US/ Canada rentals)Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. 978-0-8108-4244-1. p231"Big Rental Films of 1969", Variety, 7 January 1970 p. 15 $3,920,000Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. 978-0-8108-4244-1. p255 100 Rifles is a 1969 American Western film directed by Tom Gries and starring Jim Brown, Raquel Welch and Burt Reynolds. It is based on Robert MacLeod's 1966 novel The Californio. The film was shot in Spain. The original music score was composed by Jerry Goldsmith, who had previously also scored Bandolero!, another Western starring Welch.Clemmensen Christian http://www.filmtracks.com/composers/goldsmith.shtml Jerry Goldsmith (1929–2004) tribute https://web.archive.org/web/20111101175348/http://www.filmtracks.com/composers/goldsmith.shtml 1 November 2011 Filmtracks.com 11 February 2011 Plot In 1912 Sonora, Mexico, Arizona lawman Lyedecker chases Yaqui Joe, a half-Yaqui, half-white bank robber who has stolen $6,000. Both men are captured by the Mexican general Verdugo. Lyedecker learns that Joe used the loot to buy 100 rifles for the Yaqui people, who are being repressed by the government. Lyedecker is not interested in Joe's motive, and intends to recover the money and apprehend Joe to further his career. The two men escape a Mexican firing squad and flee to the hills, where they are joined by Sarita, a beautiful Indian revolutionary. Sarita has a vendetta against the soldiers, who murdered her father. The fugitives become allies. The soldiers raid and burn a village that the rebels have just left, taking its children as hostages. Sarita tells Lydecker that she will allow him to take Yaqui Joe with him back to Phoenix afterwards if he stays with them to help rescue the children. She later warms up to Lyedecker and they make love. Leading the Yaqui against Verdugo's forces, they ambush and derail the General's train and overcome his soldiers in an extended firefight. Sarita is killed in the battle. Lyedecker decides to return home alone and allow Yaqui Joe to take over as the rebel leader. Cast Jim Brown as Sheriff Lyedecker Raquel Welch as Sarita Burt Reynolds as Joe "Yaqui Joe" Herrera Fernando Lamas as General Verdugo Dan O'Herlihy as Steven Grimes, the railroad rep. Eric Braeden (credited as Hans Gudegast) as Lieutenant Franz Von Klemme Michael Forest as Humara Aldo Sambrell as Sergeant Paletes Soledad Miranda as prostitute in hotel Alberto Dalbés as Padre Francisco (Alberto Dalbes) Charly Bravo as Lopez (Carlos Bravo) José Manuel Martín as Sarita's Father (Jose Manuel Martin) Akim Tamiroff as General Romero (scenes deleted) Sancho Gracia as Mexican Leader (uncredited) Lorenzo Lamas as Indian Boy (uncredited) Production section both August 2023 Development The film was the first of a four-picture deal between producer Martin Schwartz and 20th Century Fox.Martin, Betty 31 May 1967 'Insurgents' for Crenna Los Angeles Times d12 It was based on a novel by Robert McLeod, and the script was originally written by Clair Huffaker.Scheuer, Philip K. 13 August 1967 The One-Man Revolt in Hollywood Los Angeles Times c14 Tom Gries signed to direct following his successful feature debut with Will Penny. Gries wrote two further drafts of the script himself. Huffaker later requested his name be removed from the credits and replaced with the pseudonym Cecil Hanson because "the finished product... bears absolutely no resemblance to my original script." However, Huffaker's name does appear in the film's credits.Huffaker Asks Name Removal 14 February 1969 Los Angeles Times d10 Casting The leads were given to Raquel Welch (Gries: "in some situations, this woman is just a piece of candy but I think she will prove in this film that she can act as well"), Jim Brown, and Burt Reynolds. "I'd like to bring a style to the screen that means something to the cats out on the street", said Brown. "It's an image I want to portray of a strong black man in breaking down social taboos. In 100 Rifles... it's a different thing for a black man to be a lawman, get the woman and ride away into the sunset."Hollie I. West 26 March 1969 Jim Brown: Crisp and Direct as a Fullback The Washington Post and Times-Herald B1 It was the fifth film Burt Reynolds had made in a row. The first four – Shark!, Fade In, Impasse and Whiskey Renegades – had not been released when 100 Rifles was being shot.Johnson, Patricia 11 August 1968 Ex-Stunt Man Leaps into Star Status Los Angeles Times c18 For his role, Brown was paid a salary of $200,000 in addition to five percent of the film's box office.https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/mike-freeman/2023/05/19/jim-brown-hollywood-legend-activist-nfl-legend/70237611007/ Jim Brown was a Hollywood legend, an activist and highly flawed. 'I do what I want to do' Mike Freeman USA Today May 19, 2023 At the time, few black actors earned this kind of salary. Filming "I was playing Yaqui Joe, supposedly an Indian with a moustache", said Reynolds. "Raquel had a Spanish accent that sounded like a cross between Carmen Miranda and ZaSu Pitts. Jimmy Brown was afraid of only two things in the entire world: one was heights, the other was horses. And he was on a horse fighting me on a cliff. It just didn't work."Siskel, Gene 27 November 1976 Workaholic Burt Reynolds sets up his next task: Light comedy Chicago Tribune e2 The film was shot in Almería, Spain in order to save money.Johnson, Patricia 15 September 1968 Where Hollywood Pinches Pesos Los Angeles Times c20 Gries was hospitalized for three days during the shoot with typhus. Whilst portraying a half indigenous character, Reynolds stated he played his white half as though he was from Alabama, wearing wrist bands, arm bands and "funky spurs", the latter of which would prevent him from being able to hear dialog due to their noise.Clifford, Terry 6 April 1969 Burt Reynolds, Who Plays Half-Breeds Stoic About Roles Chicago Tribune f14 There were a number of press reports that Brown and Welch clashed during filming. Brown later said: The thing I wanted to avoid most was any suggestion that I was coming on to her. So I withdrew. If I'd tried to socialise, we'd have had problems. You know, Raquel is married too and out of respect for her husband I wanted to deal with Raquel through him... She was so suspicious and concerned that we were there to steal something away, or something. You can get very hung up on who's going to get the close ups and so on... [Burt Reynolds] was usually a stabilising influence [between the stars]... He's a heck of a cat. He had various talks with Raquel and tried to assure her that nothing was going on, that we weren't trying to steal anything.Haber, Joyce 3 November 1968 Super Fullback Talks About Super Body Los Angeles Times q13 Welch later confirmed the tension: It was an atmosphere. And it was really, in all seriousness, as ambiguous as hell. I don't know why it happened and I don't think Jimmy knows why it happened... My attitude on a film has always been, once it goes I'm interested only in my job. I'm not interested in asserting myself on a picture. Because it means too much to me. "I spent the entire time refereeing fights between Jim Brown and Raquel Welch", said Reynolds.BURT PRELUTSKY Two Centerfolds. Los Angeles Times 24 December 1972 k14 He elaborated: It started because they were kind of attracted to each other. After a while they both displayed a little temperament, but don't forget we were out in the middle of the bloody desert with the temperature at 110. Of course, I don't think they'll ever work together again. The critics have really been knocking those two – murdering them – but as far as I know no one ever said they were Lunt and Fontanne. Jim is the most honest man I know... And Raquel – one of the gutsiest broads I know, physically. She did all her own stunts. There's also a performance in there somewhere. Welch later said she "was the baloney in a cheesecake factory" on that film. "I wanted to keep up with all the action with the boys." She was sorry Gries "wanted to get all the sex scenes [with Jim Brown] in the can in the first day. There was no time for icing – and it made it difficult for me." She says Brown "was very forceful and I am feisty. I was a little uncomfortable with too much male aggression. But – it turned out to be great exploitation for the film, now as you look back. It broke new ground."https://variety.com/2008/scene/columns/1968-welch-gets-cozy-with-co-star-1117992047/ 1968: Welch gets cozy with co-star Army Archerd Variety 11 September 2008 11 December 2017 10 December 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20171210231709/http://variety.com/2008/scene/columns/1968-welch-gets-cozy-with-co-star-1117992047/ live Reception Box office The film opened on 26 March 1969 and grossed $301,315 in its first five days from nine cities.Variety This Picture Has a Message (Advert) https://archive.org/details/sim_variety_1969-04-02_254_7/page/23 2 April 1969 23 According to Fox records the film required $8,225,000 in rentals to break even and by 11 December 1970 had made $6,900,000 so made a loss to the studio.328 The Fox that got away : the last days of the Zanuck dynasty at Twentieth Century-Fox Silverman Stephen M 1988 L. Stuart Critical response On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has two reviews, with an average rating of 4/10.https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/100_rifles 100 Rifles (1969) Rotten Tomatoes 9 October 2019 20 April 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190420114834/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/100_rifles live Quentin Tarantino said the "mediocre final product still seems like a shamefully wasted opportunity (I mean Jesus Christ, how do you fuck up a movie starring Jim Brown, Burt Reynolds and Raquel Welch?)."The New Beverly Cinema Quentin Tarantino I Escaped from Devil's Island 6 April 2020 https://thenewbev.com/tarantinos-reviews/i-escaped-from-devils-island/?fbclid=IwAR0yx6FYh_-ZmdfrQaysB_1Umh84GidHEIAGgX2w39u03g95JZ-4DSB92WY 7 April 2020 19 August 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200819045813/https://thenewbev.com/tarantinos-reviews/i-escaped-from-devils-island/?fbclid=IwAR0yx6FYh_-ZmdfrQaysB_1Umh84GidHEIAGgX2w39u03g95JZ-4DSB92WY dead See also List of American films of 1969 References External links 0063970 100 Rifles 85685 23798 100_rifles 100 Rifles at DBCult Film Institute Review of film at New York Times Category:1969 films Category:1969 English-language films Category:1969 Western (genre) films Category:20th Century Fox films Category:African-American drama films Category:African-American Western (genre) films Category:Films about interracial romance Category:Films about Native Americans Category:Films based on American Western (genre) novels Category:Films directed by Tom Gries Category:Films scored by Jerry Goldsmith Category:Films set in 1912 Category:Films set in Mexico Category:Films shot in Almería Category:Mexican Revolution films Category:1969 drama films Category:1969 American films Category:Yaqui in popular culture Category:English-language Western (genre) films