A comical western with more than a hint of social satire.
The Scalphunters (1968)
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Reviews Counted:8
Fresh:6
Rotten:2
Average Rating:6.7/10
Runtime: 1 hr 44 mins
Genre: Westerns
Synopsis: Sydney Pollack directs this amiable comic Western in which fur trapper Joe Bass (Burt Lancaster) is returning from a successful expedition only to find himself ambushed by a small group of Indians.... Sydney Pollack directs this amiable comic Western in which fur trapper Joe Bass (Burt Lancaster) is returning from a successful expedition only to find himself ambushed by a small group of Indians. The Indians force Joe to trade his pelts for Joseph, an educated runaway slave, played brilliantly by Ossie Davis. The two then set off in an uneasy alliance in pursuit of Bass's pelts. The ironic narrative gets turned around again when the Indians are themselves ambushed by a gang of scalphunters. This band of outlaws, led by Jim Howie (Telly Savalas), once again takes Bass's pelts, after murdering the entire tribe. Joe and Joseph then embark on a mission to retrieve Bass's furs from Howie and his vicious sidekicks. Any potential racial antagonism and interdependence issues are handled deftly by William Norton's screenplay. The solid comedic ensemble includes a raucous turn by Shelley Winters as Kate. [More]
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Shelley Winters, Ossie Davis, Telly Savalas
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Shelley Winters, Ossie Davis, Telly Savalas, Armando Silvestre, Nick Cravat, Dabney Coleman
Director: Sydney Pollack
Director: Sydney Pollack
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Reviews for The Scalphunters
Lancaster and Davis work particularly well together, ditto Savalas and Winters. There are talky periods of slow pace, but they are terminated before undue damage has been done.
... never funny enough or Western enough or politically incisive enough to impress.
An amiable enough liberal comedy Western, with colour-coded cultural conflict worked through an ironic circular plot.
While the individual incidents are familiar, they are played with gusto by Lancaster and Davis.
Some movies are masterpieces, and most movies are not, and sometimes you get a movie that can best be described as 'interesting.' By that I mean it falls short of excellence but nevertheless has something that makes it worth seeing.
Working on several levels, the film is entertaining as an outdoor adventure, a study in character and a movie with an explicit, but never heavy-handed, message.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 15% 15% | The Ugly Truth |
| 98% 98% | Up |
| 36% 36% | G.I. Joe: The Rise of … |
| 52% 52% | The Taking of Pelham 1… |
| 45% 45% | Ice Age: Dawn of the D… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 45% 45% | Shorts |
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