Charro! is a 1969 American Western film starring Elvis Presley, shot on location at Apacheland Movie Ranch and Old Tucson Studios in Arizona. This was Presley's only film in which he did not sing on-screen; the film featured no songs at all other than the main title theme, which was played over the opening credits. It was also the only movie in which Presley wore a beard. The film made a profit but was not a runaway success, and remains one of Presley's least-seen films despite being regarded among his best in terms of his acting (as opposed to his singing).
Elvis had long been a gun owner and collector of firearms, and he used to practice his quick draw with Clint Eastwood. Elvis made sure that he could show off his skills with firearms in this film.
Working titles for the film included Jack Valentine, Johnny Hung, and Come Hell or Come Sundown. but was left disappointed when he arrived for his first day of shooting on July 22, 1968, to find that the script he had originally signed up for had been changed beyond recognition, A scene featuring a nude Ina Balin climbing from a bath was also removed (despite the fact that she herself is dubbed) , although this scene has been restored in the complete unedited version. and John Wayne wanted Elvis to co-star with him in True Grit. Elvis' manager Colonel Tom Parker contested Elvis' billing and would only agree if he was top billed. Eventually, he was paid more money to star in Charro than he would have been in those films.
Charro has been strongly reassessed as one of Elvis' best films and his performance as Jess Wade has been called the most convincing of his career. Many fans believe that a new phase of Elvis' acting career should have been ahead for him after this film and Change of Habit, but the concert stage beckoned.
Quentin Tarantino used the name of Charro's director, Charles Marquis Warren, for Samuel L. Jackson's character in his western The Hateful Eight.
Reception
The film, although successful, was not received as well as Presley's previous films. Variety wrote that "Presley strolls through a tedious role that would have driven many another actor up the wall ... Even more at fault than Presley, who has occasionally responded in the past to the demands of a good director, is Charles Marquis Warren, who takes credit (or blame?) for the script, the direction, and even part of the production." Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times wrote that in the film Presley "sings nary a note, which is too bad. A song or two, though arguably inappropriate, would have helped to relieve the tedium of this trite low-budget Western that has quick-sale-to-TV stamped all over it." Gary Arnold of The Washington Post called it "the least kinesthetic Western I've ever seen," which "seems to have conceived for the small screen. A plot that might suffice for 30 minutes of restless entertainment has been stretched to a somnambulent 98 minutes." Allan Eyles of The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote, "Unfortunately, Charro is fatally undermined by the slack staging of its action highlights and by a plot riddled with irrational behaviour and dialogue ... As if to compensate for the film's lack of impact, Hugo Montenegro's lively but over-attentive score does too much underlining of mood and character."
Soundtrack
In June 1968, Presley had already completed the sequences and recorded the songs for what would be his comeback television special and its attendant album, Elvis, that put his musical talents back on display after the long slog of the soundtrack years. During the special, Presley erroneously states that he had made twenty-nine "pictures" up to that time. The actual tally was twenty-eight at taping. Charro would be the twenty-ninth. By the time the special aired in December 1968, Presley had completed his thirtieth film, The Trouble with Girls (and How to Get into It).
His confidence and enthusiasm restored, Presley turned to his musical obligations for Charro! Appropriately for a Western, the studio hired Hugo Montenegro to produce the two songs intended for the film. The recording session took place at Samuel Goldwyn Studio in Hollywood, California on October 15, 1968. The title song appeared in the movie during the opening credits, and was released commercially on February 25, 1969, as the b-side to RCA 47-9731 "Memories," which had also appeared on the TV special and album. The other song recorded for the film, but not used, "Let's Forget About the Stars", appeared on the budget album Let's Be Friends in 1970.
Personnel
- Elvis Presley - vocals
- Sue Allen, Sally Stevens, Allan Capps, Loren Faber<br>Ronald Hicklin, Ian Freebairn Smith, Robert Zwirn - backing vocals
- Howard Roberts, Tommy Tedesco, Ralph Grasso - electric guitar
- Don Randi - piano
- Max Bennett - bass guitar
- Ray Brown - double bass
- Cubby O'Brien - drums
- Emil Radocchia - percussion
- unknown horns and strings
Film music track listing
- "Charro" (Billy Strange and Mac Davis)
- "Let's Forget About the Stars" (A. L. Owens) (Recorded for the film, but unused)
Home media
Charro! was released on Video CD in 1996. Charro! was released to DVD in the summer of 2007. It marked the very first time that an uncut release of the film was presented to the retail market, and in its original wide-screen letterbox format. This DVD version underwent an extensive re-mastering process to restore the original 35mm film-print quality. Previous VHS issues of the film, notably the 1990 Warner Home Video release, were of an inferior standard, mainly due to poor picture quality and minor edits throughout the film. An oddity concerning Charro! is the film's classification. Despite containing violence and partial nudity (the latter a scene in which Ina Balin's character is shown exiting a bath tub), it was released with an MPAA G rating, even though other Presley films from the 1968-69 period carry PG ratings. These latter releases are somewhat less 'adult' than Charro!.
See also
- List of American films of 1969