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The Scalphunters

Play trailer Poster for The Scalphunters 1968 1h 42m Western Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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63% Tomatometer 8 Reviews 56% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
Illiterate fur trapper Joe Bass (Burt Lancaster) is coerced by some Kiowa Indians into trading his haul for a well-educated, escaped slave named Joseph Lee (Ossie Davis). Bass seeks to track the Indians and recover his treasure, while Joseph wants to travel to Mexico, where slavery is illegal. Their plans are complicated by the arrival of a band of scalp hunters, led by Jim Howie (Telly Savalas), who want to kill the Indians, claim the furs and resell the black man.
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The Scalphunters

Critics Reviews

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Variety Staff Variety Mar 20, 2008
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. Go to Full Review
Renata Adler New York Times May 21, 2005
While the individual incidents are familiar, they are played with gusto by Lancaster and Davis. Go to Full Review
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Oct 23, 2004
3.5/4
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. Go to Full Review
Brian Orndorf Blu-ray.com Sep 27, 2014
B-
Navigating the movie's period attitude is relatively easy, but finding its sense of humor takes some work. Go to Full Review
David Nusair Reel Film Reviews Sep 30, 2013
1/4
...a seriously misguided and hopelessly dated endeavor that's best left forgotten. Go to Full Review
Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Aug 7, 2006
C+
... never funny enough or Western enough or politically incisive enough to impress. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Will G @Kingofthepixies Mar 11, 2025 Great film, very underrated and heartfelt. Can't understand the negativity on here. See more
philip w @RT34210439 Jan 1, 2024 Well if you don't like this there's something wrong somewhere = it's very entertaining See more
Dec 26, 2020 Burt Lancaster wants his furs back. Ossie Davis wants his freedom back. I want my 90 minutes back. See more
steve d @RT35616104 Jul 18, 2020 Nothing special even if it has its fun moments. See more
delysid d @RT67044741 Apr 9, 2019 i really liked this 60s american western, how i wish i was a cowboy See more
May 18, 2015 Por maior que seja o gozo de ver Burt Lancaster e Telly Savalas em confronto a caminho do México, "The Scalphunters" não é muito mais que um simples western cómico de aventuras, com a agravante de um subtexto racial datado aos olhos de hoje. See more
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The Scalphunters

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Cast & Crew

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Sydney Pollack

Director

Burt Lancaster

Joe Bass

Shelley Winters

Kate

Ossie Davis

Joseph Lee

Telly Savalas

Jim Howie

Dabney Coleman

Jed

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The Scalphunters

The Scalphunters (1968) The Scalphunters (1968) The Scalphunters (1968) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Illiterate fur trapper Joe Bass (Burt Lancaster) is coerced by some Kiowa Indians into trading his haul for a well-educated, escaped slave named Joseph Lee (Ossie Davis). Bass seeks to track the Indians and recover his treasure, while Joseph wants to travel to Mexico, where slavery is illegal. Their plans are complicated by the arrival of a band of scalp hunters, led by Jim Howie (Telly Savalas), who want to kill the Indians, claim the furs and resell the black man.
Director
Sydney Pollack
Producer
Arthur Gardner, Arnold Laven, Jules Levy
Screenwriter
William W. Norton
Distributor
United Artists
Production Co
Bristol Films, Norlan Productions
Genre
Western, Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 2, 1968, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 16, 2008
Runtime
1h 42m
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