#Mackenna's Gold

[voguefashion]

Camilla Sparv and Omar Sharif all in Velvet, at the premiere of Mackenna's Gold, in which they both starred, at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on April 9th 1969.

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WATCHLIST 2022: Mackenna's Gold

[nk-salinger]

my top 5 westerns of all time

[radio-therookie-blog]

Any movie he is in I will like .

They weren’t very good, but they were the best that was offered. I did not do them only for the money. I knew they weren’t worth much when I read the scripts. But as soon as I started working on them, damned if I didn’t start believing in them. It just goes to prove you can’t be an actor and Pauline Kael at the same time. -Gregory Peck on Mackenna’s Gold & Marooned

Mackenna’s Gold (1969) Dir. J. Lee Thompson Marooned (1969) Dir. John Sturges

[mrcowboysmovieroom]

Mackenna's Gold (1969)

Directed by: J. Lee Thompson Genre: Western, action

CW: None Originally written 07/04/2023

Mackenna's Gold caught my attention because of the synopsis and because it stars Omar Sharif. I've seen him in quite a few movies but never in a western. Well, I suppose there is Hidalgo but I don't really think that counts.

I really want to just talk about Omar's character all on his own, but I suppose that's really suited for later.

Mackenna's Gold stars Gregory Peck and Camilla Sparv as well. It also contained Telly Savalas and Ted Cassidy whom I recognized immediately as the man who played Ruk in Star Trek TOS episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of?". More notably and more significant however, was his role as Lurch in the original Addams Family tv show. Additionally there's Julie Newmar who played Catwoman in the Adam West Batman series. So, a pretty cool cast.

This western is a treasure chaser. The story goes that there is basically this hidden location sacred to the Apache which is basically just gold. I don't think anyone ever compared it to El Dorado, but the comparison probably goes without saying. The place is thought to be a myth up until recently before the film starts.

Marshall Mackenna (Gregory Peck) ends up being the only man to know it's location by happenstance. He happens to end up in a shootout with the chief carrying the only known map, seeing the map during a conversation ensuing, and then burning the map after the chief dies.

Mackenna has a gifted memory which we learn about through Colorado who reveals that Mackenna has a history of playing poker and won by memorizing the cards.

This marks one of many times we are informed of Mackenna and Colorado's shared history. They call one another old friend and whenever the story needs to reveal a bit of Mackenna's sordid backstory, Colorado is generally the one to divulge. I like this dynamic a lot, but I don't want to get distracted in talking about it a whole lot just yet.

Colorado is searching for the gold and has been following the Apache chief carrying the map for awhile now, and when he finds Mackenna and the chief dead, he surmises that Mackenna must be after the gold as well and is now their only lead to get to it, so he kidnaps Mackenna.

Before he met up with Mackenna he also kidnapped Inga Bergerman (Camilla Sparv) who's the daughter of the judge who made Mackenna Marshall. She's also the love interest. Don't really feel much of anything for her character if I'm being honest. But if I'm being even more honest, I really don't feel much for anyone but Colorado.

I don't think it's Sparv's fault. While I'm not super familiar with her career, this did come out in the 60s, and it's pretty commonplace to underutilize a femme character.

Colorado kidnaps her, but he has no idea of her import and value, or of the fact that even though she's the ex-judge's daughter she's actually worth basically nothing anyways and incidentally this gold could really help her.

And then, all of the sudden Eli Wallach shows up! I was really excited to see him, but this marks a very strange section of the film. With him is a really diverse group of various western archetypes. You expect this to mean something and go somewhere. There is such a weird amount of attention placed on various members of this group that you expect them to be around for a while, at least some of them. There's even dialogue and shots which seem to imply that later on there will be some modicum of payoff for a few of them.

One of them is supposedly the only known survivor to have been to the gold's location but he was taken there blindfolded and then blinded and left for dead. There's a pair of Englishmen who get a very strange amount of attention, and it's possibly implied one of them is actually a woman in disguise.

Eli Wallach and Omar Sharif combine their forces only for a short time before American troops catch up to them and  break them up. The only people to escape are Inga, Mackenna, Colorado, and two Apache played by Ted Cassidy and Julie Newmar (yeah, this is a movie with brownface).

It seems like some of the others may have escaped also but the movie never storybooks their ends so it’s a really confusingly useless section of the movie. It adds nothing to the plot, and at first you don’t realize that because it seems like any of these guys might have gotten away and would end up being trouble later on, but then the movie ends and you’re like oh. Okay. In fact, you may have even forgotten that that part of the movie happens at all! It was just *so* long ago.

So, to get to our final five it feels like we took a long walk to get basically right back to where we started. Omar had more than five people in his group, but these were the only really relevant ones anyway.

Whatever. The group now keeps making their way with soldiers still on their tail and the hot desert ahead. At some point Inga is released to join the soldiers because she’s been slowing them down as she’s weaker and unused to the climate. She meets up with Sergeant Tibbs (Telly Savalas) whom she tells everything to in the hopes that he’ll help Meckenna. Well, shock and awe as he kills his own men and kidnaps her so he can catch up to Meckenna and company to also hunt down the gold.

Kinda funny.

From here, it’s a bit of a blur. I’ve neglected to talk about some other scenes of character development because, if I’m being honest, I don’t care. I don’t really have much regard for these characters despite the cast behind them. There were some enjoyable components but it all mostly had to do with Omar Sharif.

Eventually they reach the location and so more characters have to die. Greed or whatever I guess. Basically, by the time we see gold all we have left is Colorado, Mackenna, and Inga. Unsurprisingly, Mackenna and Colorado fight. Mackenna overpowers Colorado by beating him against the rock walls. Funnily, Inga tries to help by throwing Mackenna her belt to use but then he misses grabbing it and it falls right off the cliffs.

While they’re having their climactic action other Apache who’ve been trying to keep this place guarded finally catch up to them and the rumble and size of the group inadvertently causes an avalanche to occur. So, now our three leads have to escape the area and the end of the movie sees this gold paradise lost in the rubble. Pretty much what you expect from movies like this. Greedy characters get punished and the object of their greed is lost to time and becomes mythical once more.

Uh, it’s okay. The major issues for me are that the film is full of wasted time. There were all those extraneous characters I mentioned before, but it feels like a lot of time could be abridged or make the remaining characters more interesting. I liked that all of them were more or less connected. Mackenna and Colorado have history, but so too does Mackenna to Hesh-Ke (Julie Newmar) who was once his lover. I liked when the movie referenced this history or used it for some of the conflict. For instance, Hesh-Ke tries to kill Inga in an attempt to be the only viable option for Mackenna.

And of course, I really liked Colorado. It’s Colorado time, baby! First, Omar Sharif makes a delightful ruffian. He has this boyish charm and a brilliant smile. Colorado dresses nice and wears these jangly spurs that are never not making noise. I love that detail to his character because it enforces this pattern of peacocking and virtue signaling he does. Colorado really wants you to take him seriously and he’s a man with dreams! There is an adorable scene where he shows Mackenna his reason for wanting the gold and pulls out pamphlets about well dressed men in Paris. He wants to live the life!

Suddenly it’s got me thinking about his wardrobe and how he’s probably never known the comfort and power of wealth like that and that's why this is so important to him. He has this endearing and bubbly personality that just sucks ya in. He’s magnetic and you wonder how anyone can’t grow to love him, and it makes me wonder how the movie can’t give him some sort of redemption proper or reward in the end. Yeah, he lives but under threat and without any gold. I’d give Colorado the gold. Listen I know he’s an outlaw but he’s so sincere and pleasant to be around. Can’t we cut him some slack?

I also just find him more interesting than Mackenna. My interest in Mackenna really only extended as far as his connection to Colorado went. Mackenna was such a stiff board in comparison. There’s a scene in the movie where they find a river and Colorado jumps in naked and then lounges outside and Mackenna and Inga, are for some reason, too good to do the same. They jump in a little later with their clothes still fully on and Colorado says he will never understand the gringo, and like uhhh yeah man, these two are real party-poopers.

So anyway, now that I’ve talked about how much I love Colorado I will conclude by saying the movie is okay. It’s not bad, it's just dull at times and wastes a good bit of time on things that don’t ever matter. It’s probably not so bad if you’re watching for a first time, but I can’t imagine some of the scenes will be bearable in subsequent watches when you know they lead nowhere and did nothing for the plot on large.

Final verdict; 5.6/10

[qeeble]

my disgusting son

[cinemajunkie70]

A very happy birthday in the afterlife to Telly Savalas!

[gatutor]

Julie Newmar-Gregory Peck "El oro de MacKenna" (MacKenna´s gold) 1969, de J. Lee Thompson.

[leonardcohenofficial]

gregory peck and omar sharif playing bridge on the set of mackenna's gold, 1969

[david-watts]

omar sharif in mackenna's gold... ohh

[leo-leon-leonar-leonardo]

Eli spotted! Mackenna's Gold, 1969

[wheelscomedyandmore]

Theodore Crawford "Ted" Cassidy (July 31, 1932 – January 16, 1979)

Noted for his tall stature at 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m), and his deep bass voice. He tended to play unusual characters in offbeat or science-fiction series such as Star Trek and I Dream of Jeannie, and is best known for the role of Lurch on The Addams Family in the mid-1960s. He is also known for voicing The Hulk. Though the character of Lurch was intended to be mute, Cassidy ad-libbed his signature line, "You rang?". The subtle humor and the deepness of his voice was immediately a hit. Thereafter, it was a recurring phrase written into the script. Cassidy also provided the voice of the more aggressive version of Balok in the Star Trek episode "The Corbomite Maneuver", the role of the android Ruk in the episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of?", and he voiced the Gorn in the episode "Arena". Cassidy did more work with Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry in the early 1970s, playing Isiah in the post-apocalyptic drama pilots Genesis II and Planet Earth. His film work included his appearances in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Mackenna's Gold (1969), The Limit (1972), Charcoal Black (1972), The Slams (1973), Thunder County (1974), Poor Pretty Eddie (1975), Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976), The Last Remake of Beau Geste (1977) and Goin' Coconuts (1978). He also co-wrote the screenplay of 1973's The Harrad Experiment, in which he made a brief appearance. Cassidy underwent surgery at St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles to have a non-malignant tumor removed from his heart. While recovering at home, complications arose several days later and he was readmitted. On January 16, 1979, Cassidy died at age 46 at St. Vincent Medical Center.

[jedivoodoochile]

Theodore Crawford "Ted" Cassidy (July 31, 1932 – January 16, 1979)

Noted for his tall stature at 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m), and his deep bass voice. He tended to play unusual characters in offbeat or science-fiction series such as Star Trek and I Dream of Jeannie, and is best known for the role of Lurch on The Addams Family in the mid-1960s. He is also known for voicing The Hulk. Though the character of Lurch was intended to be mute, Cassidy ad-libbed his signature line, "You rang?". The subtle humor and the deepness of his voice was immediately a hit. Thereafter, it was a recurring phrase written into the script. Cassidy also provided the voice of the more aggressive version of Balok in the Star Trek episode "The Corbomite Maneuver", the role of the android Ruk in the episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of?", and he voiced the Gorn in the episode "Arena". Cassidy did more work with Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry in the early 1970s, playing Isiah in the post-apocalyptic drama pilots Genesis II and Planet Earth. His film work included his appearances in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Mackenna's Gold (1969), The Limit (1972), Charcoal Black (1972), The Slams (1973), Thunder County (1974), Poor Pretty Eddie (1975), Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976), The Last Remake of Beau Geste (1977) and Goin' Coconuts (1978). He also co-wrote the screenplay of 1973's The Harrad Experiment, in which he made a brief appearance. Cassidy underwent surgery at St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles to have a non-malignant tumor removed from his heart. While recovering at home, complications arose several days later and he was readmitted. On January 16, 1979, Cassidy died at age 46 at St. Vincent Medical Center.

[nk-salinger]

[radio-therookie-blog]

There were scenes in this movie and I was like 😳😳😳whaaa is happening?? But any movie of his I watch to see something good.

Gregory Peck Make Me Choose Meme: forever-carrington asked: Mackenna’s Gold (1969) or I Walk The Line (1970)

[howardhawkshollywoodannex]

Omar Sharif as Sheik Riyadh in Hidalgo (2004). Omar was born in Alexandria, Egypt, and had 118 acting credits from a 1954 Egyptian film, to a 2015 educational short in the UK. His entry among my best 1001 is his first English language film, Lawrence of Arabia.

His other notable credits include Genghis Khan (as Khan), Doctor Zhivago, Funny Girl, Mackenna's Gold, Funny Lady, The Pink Panther Strikes Again, and Top Secret!