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The Scalphunters (1968)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 6.7/10
Reviews Counted: 8
Fresh: 6 | Rotten: 2

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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 3
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 0

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Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 492

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Movie Info

For his third feature outing, director Sydney Pollack helmed this comedic western starring (Burt Lancaster) as fur trapper Joe Bass. While heading for the trading post for his pay after a successful hunting season, Bass runs into a band of Kiowa Indians, who offer to trade the educated slave Joseph (Ozzie Davis) for Bass's furs. Severely outnumbered, the uneducated Bass reluctantly agrees to the swap at gunpoint. Bass and Joseph then follow the Indians in hopes of retrieving the furs. Along the

Unrated, 1 hr. 42 min.

Western, Action & Adventure, Classics, Comedy

Directed By: Sydney Pollack

In Theaters: Apr 2, 1968 Wide

On DVD: May 17, 2005

Cast

Critic Reviews for The Scalphunters

All Critics (8) | Top Critics (3) | Fresh (6) | Rotten (2) | DVD (2)

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.

March 20, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety

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Variety Staff

Variety

Top Critic

While the individual incidents are familiar, they are played with gusto by Lancaster and Davis.

May 21, 2005 Full Review Source: New York Times

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Renata Adler

New York Times

Top Critic

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.

October 23, 2004 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Top Critic

A comical western with more than a hint of social satire.

March 20, 2008 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide

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TV Guide's Movie Guide

... never funny enough or Western enough or politically incisive enough to impress.

August 7, 2006 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews

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Dennis Schwartz

Ozus' World Movie Reviews

An amiable enough liberal comedy Western, with colour-coded cultural conflict worked through an ironic circular plot.

February 9, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out

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Time Out

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.

May 24, 2003 Full Review Source: Film4

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Film4

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Audience Reviews for The Scalphunters

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Semi comic western offset by a little too much violence. Shelley Winters is amusing as a shady lady who rolls with the punches and Burt Lancaster and a very young Ossie Davis have a nice rapport.

November 18, 2010