SHALAKO - Bond & BB Go West

Shalako - Bond & BB Go West 

Shalako was a change of pace for Sean '007' Connery; he was tired of being James Bond and when he was offered a part in a Louis L’Amour adaptation, he quickly accepted because he had always been a fan of westerns. For the producers, Connery was a ‘big fish’, so it instantly became ‘his movie’: He received over $1 million out of the $5 million budget and brought two Bond collaborators with him, director of photography Ted Moore and stunt coordinator Bob Simmons. Honor Blackman also had a history in the Bond franchise: she had played the infamous Pussy Galore in Goldfinger.

The film was shot in the Almeria surroundings, the homeland of the spaghetti westerns, but doesn’t look or feel like any of them, but is more violent (or at least more graphically violent) than most of them. There’s one scene including a necklace (you’ll recognize it when you see it) that is particularly gruesome.

The premise is intriguing: a party of European aristocrats are on a hunting party in New Mexico in the 1880’s. They’re travelling full equipage, including silver cutlery, vintage wines, butlers, maids, side-whiskers and frizzled moustaches. There’s even a countess called Irina Lazaar, played by Brigitte Bardot herself. The company is threatened by hostile Apaches and duped by the treacherous guide, who’s after their jewelry (and Honor Blackman's pussy galore). Luckily there’s a U.S. army scout to save them. And yes, the army scout is played by 007 (in disguise).

Shalako isn’t bad, but doesn't completely live up to this interesting premise. The script is meandering and it moves at a rather slow pace, especially during the second half. The film is also marred by a rather abrupt conclusion and particularly silly theme song. But the action scenes are often quite exciting, partly because the Spanish gypsies who were hired to perform the Indian attacks were acting over-enthusiastically. Producer Loyd had cast real Native Americans as Apaches, but the ones who turned up were overweight, so he hired these Spanish gypsies instead, leading to a series of incidents with actors and actresses complaining about the 'Spanish Indians' charging in such a furious style that people felt really menaced (!).

The pairing of the two stars was of course the biggest selling point of the movie, and a multitude of behind-the-scene photos was spread to show audiences how much the two stars enjoyed being together on a film set, but apparently they didn’t get along very well. Bardot had to learn her lines phonetically because she didn't speak Zee English ferry well; she remained somewhat remote between the takes and deliberately surrounded herself with her own entourage. The supporting actors are well-cast: Van Eyk and Hawkins are very convincing as, respectively, an arrogant and a more concerned member of the European nobility, and Eric Sykes is very funny as the butler. As per usual, Stephen Boyd is very effective in a villainous role. Casting good old Woody Strode as an Indian was quite a daring thing (an African American as a Native American?!), but the part probably launched his career in European westerns, which would turn him into one of the most famous people in film history waiting for a train.

Two other movies were being filmed on virtually the same locations around Almeria, the spaghetti western May God Forgive You… I won’t (BB causing much excitement among the Italian stallions) and the British war movie Play Dirty (one film crew had to remove tyre tracks, the other had to remove the horse droppings before filming!). One day the 'Indians' misinterpreted an indication of the director, and charged a British tank instead of the camp.

Dir: Edward Dmytryck – Cast: Sean Connery (Shalako), Brigitte Bardot (Countess Irina Lazaar), Stephen Boyd (Fulton), Jack Hawkins (Sir Daggatt), Honor Blackman (Lady Daggett), Peter van Eyk (Baron Von Hallstaat), Eric Sykes, Woody Strode, Alexander Knox, Valerie French – Produced by Euan Lloyd - Screenplay: J.J. Griffith, Hal Hopper (based on a novel by Louis L’Amour)

 

Miscellanous:

Remarkably both Connery and Bardot had turned down the offer to appear in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The new Bond, Australian actor George Lazenby, had little or no star appeal, therefore the producers of the Bond movie, Saltzman & Broccoli, had been looking for a major star to play the Bond girl who would become Mrs. Bond in the course of the movie, but Bardot chose Shalako instead of Bond. She was then replaced by Diana ‘Emma Peel’ Rigg.