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Was Charro the movie that killed producer/director/writer Charles M. Warren's career? After successfully handling television westerns "Gunsmoke" and "Rawhide," Warren attempted a sure fire box office winner by casting Elvis Presley in the title role. It's the last film Warren ever made. And if you ever watch it, you'll see why producers would be leery of collaborating on future projects. Warren does what you wouldn't think possible in an Elvis vehicle—he crafts a joyless ride that fails to take advantage of its star's talents. Tossing out the standard formula, Elvis never sings during the movie, nor does he have any fun. Poor Elvis hardly gets a kissing scene and doesn't even get the girl in the end.
Coming just after a series of successful Clint Eastwood movies, it's understandable that the studio would want to cash in on the trend with a grizzled looking Elvis flashing his famous sneer (to counter Clint's clenched teeth), but this American spaghetti western leaves out the sauce. About the only fun the audience has is looking for plentiful continuity errors and Elvis' continually changing beard from moment to moment. The plot drones across the Arizona desert so predictably, that the biggest improvement that could be made from this mess would be to trim its 98-minutes down to a palatable 25-minute television drama.
Without Elvis fooling around and singing, this movie needs a compelling plot and more than its one touch of humor—a head-banging jailhouse scene telegraphed long before the punch line. Elvis plays Jess Wade, formerly a member of the outlaw Hackett gang, headed by Vince (Victor French). The backstory tells how Jess had attempted to go straight after hooking up with Vince's woman, Tracey (Ina Balin), by going into the gold mining business. The mine never panned out and Tracey left him inexplicably. Same deal with Jess, though it's implied that he left to avoid confrontation with an angry Vince but has now come back to a mixed reception.
Vince still holds a grudge against his former comrade, and has figured out his revenge. The Hackett gang has stolen the gold plated Victory Cannon from the Mexican government, but has spread posters on both sides of the border that Jess is the man behind the property and is identifiable by a neck wound. They proceed to stick a hot branding iron to Jess' neck in unconvincing fashion, and Jess is left to wander the desert after Vince's parting word:
You won't be needing my tender care anymore. You're free to go, Jess. Anywhere where the Mexican law or Mexican federales can't find you. Or any place north where the American law or the American cavalry can't run you down. You're a famous man, Jess. Don't ever forget it.
Of course he survives. Jess hasn't relied on Vince for years and is determined to stay on the right path. He makes his way to the nearest town, where his surrogate father serves as sheriff (James Almanzar) and his old flame Tracey runs a saloon. Predictable complications ensue with Jess being the Mexican cannon poster boy who jails Vince's loony drunken brother after he shoots the sheriff. Perhaps the cannon shooting down on the plywood sets of the town could be considered entertaining, but those scenes are much funnier in Blazing Saddles.
This movie could have been saved from inept oblivion with a few Elvis songs (besides the opening theme “Charro” sung over the titles) and set pieces, but the King seems determined to play it straight. It just doesn't work. With all the characters playing stereotypes, the filmmaker enlists the heavy hand of Hugo Montenegro to create "drama" and "suspense" with a soundtrack heavy with blaring trumpets to "Mickey Mouse" Elvis' movements (Ina gets obnoxiously loud flute music). If the DVD version contained a subtitle track, you could improve the film significantly by turning off the sound to avoid the over-the-top audio clichés. Alas, that feature is missing.
The visuals are also nothing to get excited over either. Although filmed in Technicolor, the film's appearance is drab throughout and is unevenly lighted. The monotonous editing may make the viewer sea sick as well with its overused mismatched jump cuts so often used in television drama. So without anything worthwhile to listen to or look at, there's not much in Charro to like (and Elvis doesn't look like he's enjoying it either). If you're a completist, you may want to rent this forgettable flick, most memorable for being atypical of the Elvis genre. A noble experiment to see if the King could mimic Clint, this amateurish project only proves that there's more to making a western than miscasting an icon and throwing a film together like it was made for television. Elvis fails to carry this movie, but neither Clint nor the Duke could make Charro palatable without the right spaghetti and BBQ sauce.
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