1959
The Wonderful Country
Western
7.0
User Score
53 Votes
Status
Released
Language
en
Budget
$0
Production
United Artists, D.R.M. Productions
Overview
Having fled to Mexico from the U.S. many years ago for killing his father's murderer, Martin Brady travels to Texas to broker an arms deal for his Mexican boss, strongman Governor Cipriano Castro. Brady breaks a leg and while recuperating in Texas the gun shipment is stolen. Complicating matters further the wife of local army major Colton has designs on him, and the local Texas Ranger captain makes him a generous offer to come back to the states and join his outfit. After killing a man in self-defense, Brady slips back over the border and confronts Castro who is not only unhappy that Brady has lost his gun shipment but is about to join forces with Colton to battle the local raiding Apache Indians.
Review
Wuchak
6.0
_**Robert Mitchum caught between Mexico and America**_
A man from Missouri now living in Mexico and working for shady officials breaks his leg while conducting business in a West Texas town across the river. He has time to consider his future options, which include maybe joining the Texas Rangers and possibly hooking up with the unsatisfied wife of a straitlaced officer (Julie London & Gary Merrill). Meanwhile his bosses in Mexico blame him for a lost shipment of firearms.
“The Wonderful Country” (1959) is similar in tone (not plot) to “Vera Cruz” (1954) and “One-Eyed Jacks” (1961), but lacks their compelling stories to make it great.
This is still a worthwhile Western. It’s realistic and weighty with a few meaty dialogues and gems to mine, not to mention it’s nice to see a black character in an old Western (Leroy 'Satchel' Paige). It just needed a more focused script to tie everything together for a more absorbing experience.
The film runs 1 hour, 37 minutes, and was shot entirely in Mexico (Chihuahua, Sonora and Durango).
GRADE: B-
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