Charro!
| Charro! | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Charles Marquis Warren |
| Produced by | Charles Marquis Warren |
| Screenplay by | Charles Marquis Warren |
| Story by | Frederick Louis Fox |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Hugo Montenegro |
| Cinematography | Ellsworth Fredericks |
| Edited by | Al Clark |
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Production
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| Distributed by | National General Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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98 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1.5 million (US/ Canada rentals) |
Charro! is a 1969 American western film starring Elvis Presley shot on location at Apacheland Movie Ranch and Old Tucson Studios in Arizona. It was his only role that did not feature him singing on-screen, and is the only Presley film to feature no songs at all except for the main title theme. It also features a bearded Presley for the first and last time in any of his films. The film was adaptated into a novel written by Harry Whittington.
The film co-starred Ina Balin, Victor French, Barbara Werle, and Solomon Sturges and was the final for director Charles Marquis Warren. It was also the only Presley film released to theaters by National General Pictures. The film made a profit but was not a runaway success, and remains one of Presley's least-seen films despite it being among his best in terms of a 'straight' (non-musical) acting performance.
Jess Wade, a former member of a gang of outlaws led by Vince Hackett, is tricked into believing that an old flame of his and Vince's, Tracy Winters, wanted to meet him in a seedy Mexican saloon. Jess later sees Billy Roy Hackett, Vince's younger brother, summoning Vince and the other members of the gang into the saloon. Jess, realizing he was set up, orders the bar patrons to leave as a shoot out later ensues. After making a break for the door Jess is later stopped by another gang member, Gunner, and is trapped. Forcing Jess to relinquish his gun and to go with them to their hideout in the mountains, Vince later tells him that the gang had stolen a gold-plated cannon that was used by Emperor Maximilian in his ill-fated fight against popular Mexican leader Benito Juarez. After explaining to him about them stealing the cannon, Vince tells Jess that he let the word get out that, although a now-deceased member of the gang named Norm was the one who helped steal the cannon that it was Jess who stole it and had sustained a neck wound as a result of being shot by one of the guards, according to a wanted poster out on him. Ordering his men to subdue Jess on the ground, Vince takes a branding iron and burns a wound to his neck. Taking Jess' horse, Vince and the gang later leave Jess and take off. Jess does manage to capture a wild horse in the desert and break it in. The gang's motive is to force a ransom from the town they stole the cannon from, but the gang also uses the cannon to hold the townspeople at bay. Only Wade can save the people from his former gang.
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Wikipedia