Lee Marvin is Monte Walsh. The William Fraker-directed western gets a beautiful Blu-ray edition thanks to Kino Lorber.
The Film
Monte Walsh is both a classic western and one that works perfectly in the 1970s post-modern western era it was released in. Directed by William Fraker the character study and revenge picture gives both Lee Marvin and Jack Palace plum roles as ranchers that may have outlived their usefulness as the modern era encloses on the open range of the West.
Monte (Marvin) and Chet (Palance) are ranch hands going from place the place plying their trade. Along with a motley crew of fellow hands, they work hard and earn a decent wage to put to the future. A future that appears to be a lot closer than any of them are prepared for or willing to admit. Monte has a future set with a sex worker, Martine (Jeanne Moreau), who he keeps thinking he has more time with. Chet sees the writing on the wall and puts in his spurs to live the life he has left with a woman he loves in a small town. As Monte goes on refusing to see the future tragedy besieges him from all fronts and Monte must confront the future if he wants to or not.
At a leisurely 99 minutes, Monte Walsh feels like it wants to soak in the pageantry of the end of an era. Almost like Fraker understood casting of Marvin and Palance – two dealing with what could have been the end of their careers – gave him the heft to create an elegy for not just the end of the West but the end of the Classic Hollywood genre. Even the score and songs by Mama Cass and John Barry has a melancholy tone to them that’s as sad and tragic as Dylan’s score for Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett. This ode to what was and can never be again isn’t afraid to be tragic or morose and it’s better for it.
Marvin here is fantastic as the man who refuses to change and pays the emotional price. It’s fitting the star who was so rigid rubs many the wrong way and plays Monte Walsh with the same kind of rigidity. Even in the moments of intimacy with Moreau, there’s a distance that eventually haunts the performance by the final third. Though Palance is good here it’s a support to Marvin’s lead performance. In fact, all of the supporting players are excellent giving lived-in warm performances. Mitchell Ryan, GD Spradlin, Bo Hopkins, and Matt Clark do work that is both distinctive and in service to Marvin’s performance.
The only part of Monte Walsh that’s standard issue is its shootout ending. One had wished they found a way to end it as uniquely as the film manages to be for most of it run time. That isn’t the blame of the filmmakers but the films origins as a novel by Jack Schaefer. That minor quibble aside Monte Walsh is the kind of unique Western fans of the genre will love.
The Transfer
This transfer is a solid representation of the widescreen image. There isn’t a blemish or scratch on the transfer. The transfer is gorgeously luminous showcasing the wonderful widescreen anamorphic photography by David M. Walsh.
The Extras
They include the following;
- NEW Audio Commentary by Lee Marvin Biographer Dwayne Epstein
- Theatrical Trailer
The all-new Audio Commentary by Lee Marvin Biographer Dwayne Epstein opens with his bonafides before diving into the fact that this is one of Marvin’s best films and best performances, and the book written by Shane writer Jack Schaefer. Some of the other details include Marvin had only began his career 15 years prior on Thunder Road; the hiring of the troubled Mitchell Ryan; the credits of Mama Cass and how it had changed since she had just left The Mama’s and The Papa’s shortly before this film’s release; the Western subgenre of the death of the Western and where Monte Walsh lines up with the pillars of the subgenre; a discussion about Mitchell Ryan whom that Epstein interviewed about Marvin and some great anecdotes and details about the actor and making the film; the casting of Jeanne Moreau; the filming location the production used; a great Jack Palance story about Lee Marvin; how director Fraker accomplished trickier shots and moments that Marvin would refused to do; a discussion of a possible fuller version of the film and that the producers cut anywhere from 10 – 30 minutes from; an anecdote about novelist James Mitchener and this film; a great story about Marvin, and his involvement and almost casting in The Wild Bunch; the complicated relationship with Moreau had with Marvin; the friendship between Mitchell Ryan and Marvin; a larger discussion of the various actors that appear in the film; and much more. Epstein provides an insightful and informative commentary track about the film and its star and what makes it so important and vital to Marvin’s career.
Rounding out the special features are trailers for Monte Walsh (3:20); Sergeant Ryker (2:05); Paint Your Wagon (1:06); Prime Cut (2:34); The Spikes Gang (2:39); Shout at the Devil (3:41); The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday (2:37); Gorky Park (2:24); High Plains Drifter (2:31); Soldier Blue (3:41); Chato’s Land (2:10); Valdez is Coming (2:35)
The Final Thought
Monte Walsh is the kind of unique Western that is a great addition to the Kino Lorber Library of titles. Recommended.