Monte Walsh

Now to the inevitable arguments and comparisons that have arisen, given the remake that was recently produced. This original 1970 version of the film, as opposed to the equally likeable and viewable new Tom Selleck version, brings with it some striking differences.

In the first place there's just no one else like Lee Marvin and his immortal portrayal of Monte Walsh. Yes, Selleck does a marvelous job in the remake but the hard, chiseled features that made Marvin a western legend are difficult to upstage. Marvin not only delivers the hard edge that all have come to expect from the cowboy stereotype, he also shows an amazingly soft side that comes through in spades throughout the film. And that voice!

Secondly, there's just no one else like Jack Palance. While I was 50-50 on the differences between Marvin and Selleck, I came away liking Palance's wonderful portrayal of Monte's trail partner, Chet, far better than that of Keith Carradine in the remake. Palance pulls off the likeable and agreeable Chet but maintains a tough side that is all his own. And like Marvin the striking silhouette and the gravelly voice create a believability that was lacking in the Carradine portrayal.

Next there's Martine. Jeanne Moreau portrays the perfect Martine with her infrequent but sad smile. It literally lights up the screen and then vanishes as Martine, a prairie prostitute, inevitably contemplates the harsh realities of her existence. The hollow, sad eyes are beautiful and yet leave you with a sense of pain that would surely have been characteristic. The sad chemistry that emerges between Moreau and Marvin is nothing short of magical, leaving the viewer to sense and weigh the pain and the fleeting happiness that exists between them. Isabella Rosellini's portrayal of Martine in the remake is just too perky.

The film also features a grainy, old-feeling, almost sepia patina that was characteristic of other western films of the time like BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID, BIG JAKE and MAN IN THE WILDERNESS. Add to that the wonderful soundtrack by John Barry (OUT OF AFRICA, MIDNIGHT COWBOY, CHAPLIN and THE LION IN WINTER) and the haunting strains of Mama Cass singing "The Good Times Are Comin'," the theme from Monte Walsh, and you have a western classic that has been much neglected and should not be missed.

As Monte rides off into the sunset, telling his horse a story about a wolf-wrastling compadre, one realizes that Chet's observation in the film that "nobody gets to be a cowboy forever..." is dead wrong--especially for Monte Walsh! Here's hoping he keeps riding forever.

I don't know who holds the rights to this one but let's hope they get there stuff together soon, especially given the success of Tom Selleck's remake, and get this fine film released in an appropriate widescreen version on DVD.


DEAD MEN RIDING   May 9, 2004
STEPHEN T. McCARTHY (a Mensa-donkey in Phoenix, Airheadzona.)
28 out of 30 found this review helpful


MONTE WALSH is haunting and lyrical; a slow, dark, and melancholy poem on celluloid. It's Henry David Thoreau in a Stetson and down on his luck.

The episodic story revolves around two friends - older cowboys - who are trying to survive in the dying days of the big cattle ranches, as absentee Eastern corporations buy up the Western landscape, altering the only lifestyle that these hard-working, free-spirited men know and can embrace.

While many cowboys are sent packing as ranches are being dismantled or rendered inactive, Monte (Lee Marvin) and Chet (Jack Palance) are trying to remain on horseback doing the work that defines who they are and gives them a sense of accomplishment. But these are dead men riding in the dusk of their times; and what's worse, they know it. The serene pale pink and blue canopy of the fading daylight envelops these men and symbolically illustrates the sundown that lays heavily on their hearts. The truth dogs Chet until in a relaxed moment at the close of a day, he acknowledges what all of the ranch hands know but have avoided admitting. "Nobody gets to be a cowboy forever," he warns his friend. But Monte is incapable of adjusting, and he will remain astride this horse called "Honor" even if it takes him into the horizon of a sad and solitary existence.

For Monte and Chet, some solace can be found in retaining their work ethic for the faceless employers and in the relationships that they clumsily but sweetly form with a prostitute and a lonely widow - two women who can understand the pain that these men carry and who can share in their growing sense of isolation. The subtle and beautifully rendered relationship between Monte and his "Countess" is easily one of the silver screen's greatest tragic romances. It would have received the critical acclaim it so justly deserves if it had been framed in any environment other than a Western. (Western movies have traditionally been slighted in the critiques of film writers. Only in the last 15 years or so have they really begun to receive due consideration as an important genre in the art of American movie-making.)

This is a very special and haunting movie that addresses the loneliness of those who feel distanced from their surroundings; caught up in forces that strip them of relevance in their times. This is NOT an action-packed, rip-roaring, shoot-em-up, and it will disappoint anyone who comes looking for exaggerated Hollywood gun duels. MONTE WALSH is a character study that takes a hard, and realistic look at Western men and women who cling to each other for support during the halcyon "hour" of soft, golden light and elongated shadows.

If what I have just written means something to you, then MONTE WALSH will find an honored place in your movie collection; if it doesn't, then I would recommend great, but more traditional and/or exciting Western Movies to you (e.g., Red River; Shane; Butch Cassidy; etc.)

There are so many subtle, authentic touches to be discovered in this movie. For instance, in one scene Monte's shirt is ripped, but notice how it shows up later in the form of a bandana around his neck. That's true Western economy!

MONTE WALSH contains more honesty than we are accustomed to finding in Western films, and for this reason, it may seem too sedate for most contemporary viewers. The unique dignity of this film is summed up perfectly when the nearly destitute and futureless Monte is offered a significant amount of money to act like a caricature of himself in a traveling Wild West Show, but he resolutely responds, "I ain't spittin' on my whole life." MONTE WALSH seems to have an indefinable quality to it that transforms it into a transcendental viewing experience for certain individuals. It's something like Blues music: you either FEEL it or you don't, but words will never quite explain it.


Most genuinely honest film ever made about the Cowboy.   August 11, 1999
Charles F. Noble (cnoble2@earthlink.net) (Lancaster, PA USA)
15 out of 16 found this review helpful

This film captures as no other the lives of the American Cowboy. What is felt most poignantly are the relationships among the men who punch cattle. The film conveys all the facets of life, both physical and emotional. No other film exhibits the profound attachments and respect felt by the men for their horses and the environment in which they lived and which was their livelihood. The Comeraderie and competition which were part of their daily existence was so accurately portrayed that one can't help feeling sad that a way of life which expesses this kind of freedom has passed from the scene. The tenderness of the relationship between Jeanne Moreau and Lee Marvin is so real and yet so subtley played by both that one has to marvel at the direction of this movie. No other movie conveys the feelings this one does. The cold, the loneliness, the uncertainty, the sad knowing that it is all over for the cowboy,that his era has ended. Momma Cass's voice as the continuo for the film was a stoke of genius. Her melancholy "There Are good Times Coming" is an untruth which we all know .The characters know also but their refusal to acknowledge makes us empathize and we like them more for not giving in. Their time on the scene was short only about twenty years but the spirit they conveyed is still part of the American psyche. I rank it number one in all the westerns ever made.


Monte Walsh   July 2, 2000
JOHN (Virginia)
13 out of 14 found this review helpful

I rank it as one of the all-time best movies ever made--- for those who love the American West and that way of life. If you like "Shane", Jerm. Johnson, and similar--- you will like this movie. Mama Cass's rendition of "The Good Times are Coming" is perfect. It has been 30 yrs-- and I still love the atmosphere and story of this GEM!


monte walsh   June 30, 2004
john white (minneapolis)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful

A Great Movie especially for all those who enjoy Lee Marvin and
Jack Palance.
But why hasn't this movie come out in Dvd?