This film from a novel titled ¨The last cowboys¨ and adapted by Marguerite Roberts (True grit) deals with Clay Lomax (Gregory Peck) , he leaves the prison and seeking vengeance of his former partner named Foley (James Gregory) who double-crossed him . He carries the revenge in his heart after suffering the treason . He embarks on his vendetta and during his quest he gets stuck an eight-year-old little girl . Meanwhile , Foley contracts a young gunfighter (a violent , savage Robert F. Lions) who along with other gunmen (Pepe Serna and John Davis Chandler) abduct a prostitute (Susan Tyrell) and after that , they go out in pursuit Lomax .
An average Western revenge story plenty of violence , action and shoot'em up ; though the veteran director Hathaway is uninspired and the ending is pretty predictable . The film relies heavily on the continuous relationship between the tiring gunslinger and the orphaned girl . The picture is well played by Gregory Peck in one of his last Westerns (he starred ¨McKenna gold¨ , ¨Big country¨ , ¨Stalking moon¨ , ¨The gunfighter¨). The movie displays a wide plethora of secondary actors usually seen in Western genre : Jeff Corey (True grit) as an old brawler in wheelchair , the usual Arthur Hunnicutt (El Dorado), Paul Fix , Rita Gam (Tomahawk) , Willis Bouchey's last film and the habitual cocky nasty named John Davis Chandler . Evocative and imaginative musical score by Dave Grusin . The motion picture was regularly directed by Henry Hathaway in his last film along with ¨Raid on Rommel¨ , both made in 1971 . Hathaway hired Ben Johnson for the lead role but he turned it down . Henry was an excellent filmmaker who directed several classic Westerns , such as ¨True grit¨ , ¨Sons of Katie Elder¨ , ¨Nevada Smith¨ ,¨Rawhide¨ , ¨How the west was won¨ (also with Gregory Peck) , among others . The film will appeal to Gregory Peck fans.
