When vigilante land baron David Braxton hangs one of the best friends of cattle rustler Tom Logan, Logan's gang decides to get even by purchasing a small farm next to Braxton's ranch. From there the rustlers begin stealing horses, using the farm as a front for their operation. Determined to stop the thefts at any cost, Braxton retains the services of eccentric sharpshooter Robert E. Lee Clayton, who begins ruthlessly taking down Logan's gang.
Acting
Brando's unhinged, possibly improvised assassin performance is car-crash fascinating
Direction
Penn deconstructs western myth with the same energy as Bonnie and Clyde
Cinematography
Big sky Montana beauty undercut by sudden, intimate violence
Director
Arthur Penn
Marlon Brando
Robert E. Lee Clayton
Jack Nicholson
Tom Logan
Randy Quaid
Tittle Tod
Kathleen Lloyd
Jane Braxton
Frederic Forrest
Cary
Harry Dean Stanton
Calvin
John McLiam
David Braxton
John P. Ryan
Si
Steve Franken
l'enfant solitaire
Richard Bradford
Pete Marker
Sam Gilman
Hank Rate
James Greene
Hellsgate Rancher
Luana Anders
Rancher's Wife
Danny Goldman
Baggage Clerk
Hunter von Leer
Sandy (as Hunter Von Leer)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Brando reportedly refused to learn his lines, forcing crew to write dialogue on set furniture. The result? Some of the strangest line readings in cinema history.
Released during America's 1976 Bicentennial celebration, this deeply cynical western about failed American myths bombed spectacularly—audiences wanted John Ford, not this sweaty deconstruction.
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