Chatto's Land (1972)

Information from IMDb

Plot Summary
After Pardon Chato, a mestizo, killed a US marshal in self-defense,
a posse pursues him, but as the white volunteers advance deep in Indian territory
they become more hunted then prey, leading to internal strife.
They rape Chato's woman, and are hunted down to the last man by the unrelenting warrior.
Written by KGF Vissers

Full Cast
Charles Bronson ... Pardon Chato
Jack Palance ... Capt. Quincey Whitmore
James Whitmore ... Joshua Everette
Simon Oakland ... Jubal Hooker
Ralph Waite ... Elias Hooker
Richard Jordan ... Earl Hooker
Victor French ... Martin Hall
Sonia Rangan ... Chato's woman
William Watson ... Harvey Lansing
Roddy McMillan ... Gavin Malechie
Paul Young ... Brady Logan
Raul Castro ... Mexican scout
Lee Patterson ... George Dunn
Roland Brand
Peter Dyneley ... Ezra Meade
Hugh McDermott ... Bartender
Celestino González (as Celestino Gonzalez)
Florencio Amarilla
Verna Harvey ... Shelby Hooker
Sally Adez ... Moira Logan
Clive Endersby ... Jacob Meade
Rebecca Wilson ... Edna Malechie
Luis Amarilla
Richard Basehart ... Nye Buell
Rudy Ugland ... Will Coop (uncredited)

Writing Credits
Gerald Wilson written by

Original Music
Jerry Fielding

Cinematography
Robert Paynter

Trivia
This is the first film out of six that Charles Bronson and Michael Winner made together.

The Hooker ranch house and barn are the same as the McBain house and barn in Once Upon a Time in the West.

This film is one of Charles Bronson's 70s westerns. His westerns made during the 1970s include Chino, Red Sun, Chato's Land, From Noon Till Three, Breakheart Pass and The White Buffalo.

Goofs
Character error
When Joshua Everette leaves the gang to seek medical help for his broken shoulder, he can be seen using his arm normally. He is supposedly dying of a broken arm, perhaps from infection or something, but as he leaves he shifts his reins with the bad arm and then uses the reins in the bad arm to whip his horse.

Continuity
As Captain Whitmore walks down the street in the opening sequence, the direction of his shadow changes from behind him and to his right to in front of him and to his left.

Revealing mistakes
Several times as the posse rides through the desert, the saguaro cacti props in the background can be seen jiggling and flapping their arms in the wind.

Memorable Quotes

Filming Locations
Almería, Andalucía, Spain
Tabernas, Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Watch the Trailer

Chato's Land is a 1972 American and Spanish western Technicolor film
directed by Michael Winner, starring Charles Bronson and Jack Palance.
It falls more closely into the revisionist Western genre, which was at its height at the time.
The original screenplay was written by Gerry Wilson.

User Review

Quote

True mystic in Bronson's screen presence…
Author: Righty-Sock from Mexico
5 April 2007

"Chato's Land" was well suited to Bronson's evolutionary screen persona, that of the strong, relatively silent avenger—a solid figure of firm intention but few words…

As Pardon Chato, the vengeful Apache half-breed, Bronson enjoyed the most vocally reticent role of his starring career, speaking but few lines—and most of those in Apache!

Again, Spanish locations represented the American frontier West for this post-Civil War tale about a white posse's search for Chato, who, in self-defense, had killed the sheriff of a small New Mexico town… As the pursuers forge deeper into Apache country, the situation shifts around, with hunters becoming the hunted… Failing out among themselves, the posse members gradually become victim either to each other's violence or to Chato's well-justified vengeance, after they rape his woman…

In the non-U.S. countries where Bronson enjoyed his greatest popularity, "Chato's Land" was well met and highly successful…

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