Review of Shalako (1968) by Richard D — 22 Feb 2010

This is a surprisingly good western. An excellent cast with breath-taking on-location filming in New Mexico. Bardot does not have very much to say in the film but she is seductive and stylish and stands out like a sore thumb.

Connery is good but, ultimately, not at his best. Honor Blackman is excellent. There are two unusual scenes which come to mind. At the beginning a group of 'hired hands' and an international elite group of aristocratic gentry encounter a puma and cajole it and finally hunt it down.

The second is when Honor Blackmans' character is captured by the Apaches: they begin ripping off her clothes and when one loutish red Indian gets up close with her she tries to fend him off with the offer of expensive jewellery but instead of taking the priceless stones he rams a bracelet into her mouth until she suffocates on it???