The Wonderful Country (film)
| The Wonderful Country | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Robert Parrish |
| Produced by | Chester Erskine |
| Written by |
Robert Ardrey (screenplay) Walter Bernstein (uncredited) Tom Lea (novel) |
| Starring |
Robert Mitchum Julie London Pedro Armendáriz |
| Music by | Alex North |
| Cinematography |
Floyd Crosby Alex Phillips |
| Edited by | Michael Luciano |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
|
Release date
|
1959 |
|
Running time
|
98 minutes |
| Country | United States of America (production) Mexico (filming) |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1 million (US/Canada rentals) |
The Wonderful Country is a 1959 Technicolor Western film based on Tom Lea's novel of the same name that was produced by Robert Mitchum's DRM Production company in Mexico. Mitchum stars along with Julie London.
Baseball pitcher Satchel Paige plays a soldier in the film, and Lea has a cameo as a barber.
In Mexico, expatriate American pistolero Martin Brady is employed by the Castro brothers, Marcos (Victor Manuel Mendoza), a general, and Don Cipriano (Pedro Armendáriz), the new governor. On a business trip to the United States to arrange the purchase of a wagonload of rifles and ammunition, he is delayed when he breaks his leg in an accident in the Texas border town of Puerto. Treated by Dr Stovall (Charles McGraw), he stays with German immigrant Ben Sterner (John Banner), who is the seller of the rifles, and Ben's nephew Ludwig (Max Slaten).
Brady's help is sought by the local U.S. Army commander, Major Colton (Gary Merrill), to persuade Cipriano Castro to cooperate with Colton's Buffalo Soldiers in an expedition against hostile Apaches in Mexico. In the meantime the rifles he purchased for Castro have been stolen. Captain Rucker of the Texas Rangers knows that Brady fled to Mexico as an adolescent after avenging the murder of his father not knowing the man he killed was an outlaw, and tries to enlist him as a Ranger. Brady is attracted to Colton's unhappy wife Ellen (Julie London), but after shooting a man (Chuck Roberson) who murdered Ludwig and then drew on Brady, he returns to Mexico to inform Cipriano Castro of the missing rifles.
...
Wikipedia