Bandolero! (1968)

A group of bank robbers make their way through the Mexican desert along with a female hostage and the law close on their heels. Based on the story MACE by Stanley Hough and directed by Andrew V. McLaglen. McLaglen has a filmography crammed with westerns like SHENANDOAH, MCLINTOCK, THE WAY WEST and THE UNDEFEATED among many others. This is one of his weakest. It looks fantastic thanks to William H. Clothier's Panavision lensing of the Utah desert locations but the script borders on the nonsensical and wants us to invest our time and empathy for the two male leads (James Stewart and Dean Martin as brothers) but they're thieves and killers! Martin has never seemed more out of his element, acting as if he were in a Las Vegas casino rather than the Texas west. Poor Raquel Welch is burdened with a terrible Mexican accent and with such lines as "I was a whore at 13 and my family never went hungry!". George Kennedy manages to emerge with his dignity intact. The score by Jerry Goldsmith is probably the most memorable thing about the film. The cast includes Will Geer, Andrew Prine, Sean McClory, Donald Barry, Jock Mahoney, Perry Lopez, Dub Taylor and Harry Carey Jr.