Catlow (1971)

Directed by Sam Wanamaker. Starring Richard Crenna, Yul Brynner, Jeff Corey, Leonard Nimoy, Jo Ann Pflug, Daliah Lavi, Michael Delano, Julián Mateos, José Nieto. [PG-13]

Standard, if poorly-produced, pursuit/heist Western where Brynner’s outlaw goes after a cache of Confederate gold in Mexico with old lawman friend Crenna and ruthless killer Nimoy on his tail. Sounds more exciting than it is, with confused direction and numerous continuity flubs negating the basic appeal of dusty, six-shootin’ action, too much weak comic relief, and less-than-stellar acting across the board—Crenna is okay, but in a rare post-”Star Trek” non-Trek film appearance, Nimoy overdoes the cold restraint schtick in an underwritten part where he disappears for long chunks of the story. Elsewhere, Brynner flounders (stick to gunslinging robots in black-leather get-ups, Yul), and the chief supporting female characters—Lavi’s lusty firebrand and Pflug’s bland and blatantly non-Mexican daughter of a Mexican general (Nieto)—are both quite bad on opposite ends of the scenery-chewing spectrum. The ending definitely could’ve used a rewrite, but at least it doesn’t overstay its already-strained welcome. Nieto’s voice was dubbed by Ricardo Montalban.

42/100