Movie Review: Chino (1973)

Also Known As: Valdez Horses; Valdez The Halfbreed  

Genre: Western  

Director: John Sturges  

Starring: Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland, Vincent Van Patten  

Running Time: 98 minutes  

Synopsis: The mixed-race Chino Valdez (Charles Bronson) was raised by a Cheyenne tribe, and now leads a solitary life breeding wild horses on an isolated ranch. He reluctantly shelters runaway teenager Jaime (Vincent Van Patten), who becomes a full-time helper. Evil wealthy landowner Maral (Marcel Bozzuffi) puts up fences and harms Chino's horses and business, but Maral's half-sister Catherine (Jill Ireland) wants to learn to ride horses, sparking a romance with Chino. The antagonized Maral intensifies his efforts to drive Chino away.

What Works Well: This adaptation of Lee Hoffman's book is a laid-back, slow-paced gallop, most interested in capturing frontier living and the glory of wild horses as filtered though downbeat early-1970s sensibilities. Director John Sturges allows the story to unfold at a leisurely pace, inserting only limited moments of action and focusing on Chino as an uncompromising loner, as wild as his horses and equally running out of time and space. Stoicism co-exists with tenderness within a man who only functions on his terms, yet possesses a heart big enough to accommodate first Jaime and then Catherine.

What Does Not Work As Well: The Dino De Laurentiis Italian-Spanish-French co-production features rudimentary staging, limited sets, and some choppy editing. For long periods, the horses are the only source of energy, and the characters of Morel and Catherine suffer from under-exposition.

Key Quote:

Chino (criticizing Catherine's riding technique): Aw, that's terrible - terrible! You're still bouncin'.

Catherine: I have to bounce some!

Chino: Yeah, I guess so. You have a lot of bouncy parts.

All Ace Black Movie Blog reviews are here.