Posing as a hangman, Mace Bishop arrives in town with the intention of freeing a gang of outlaws, including his brother, from the gallows. Mace urges his younger brother to give up crime. The sheriff chases the brothers to Mexico. They join forces, however, against a group of Mexican bandits.
Acting
Stewart's hangman disguise is pure mischievous genius.
Direction
McLaglen stages the final siege with brutal Mexican sunset poetry.
Costume
Those dusty ponchos? Authentic misery chic.
Director
Andrew V. McLaglen
James Stewart
Mace Bishop
Dean Martin
Dee Bishop
George Kennedy
Sheriff July Johnson
Raquel Welch
Maria Stoner
Andrew Prine
Deputy sheriff Roscoe Bookbinder
Will Geer
Pop Chaney
Clint Ritchie
Babe Jenkins
Denver Pyle
Muncie Carter
Tom Heaton
Joe Chaney
Sean McClory
Robbie O'Hare
Harry Carey, Jr.
Cort Hayjack
Don 'Red' Barry
Jack Hawkins
Guy Raymond
Ossie Grimes
Perry Lopez
Frisco
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Stewart and Martin were so close they improvised constantly, including Mace's hangman disguise details. Director McLaglen just let the cameras roll.
Shot during Hollywood's last Western boom, this flopped commercially—audiences wanted Peckinpah's bloody revisionism, not charming buddy banter. RIP innocence.
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