Despite earning cinematic immortality with his
moving performance as a victim of prejudice in To Kill a Mockingbird (1960), Brock Peters didn’t get many
opportunities to play leading movie roles. The middling race-relations Western The McMasters is an exception, because even though avuncular thespian Burl Ives has top billing, this is Peters’ movie
from start to finish. Set in a small Deep South town just after the Civil War,
the picture dramatizes the explosive consequences of a free black man trying to
live quietly as a property owner in a heavily racist white community. Benjie
(Peters) returns from service in the Union army and reconnects with Neal
McMasters (Ives), the white rancher who raised Benjie and regards him as a
son. Recognizing that he’s getting
older and has no other heirs, Neal gives Benjie his last name and
half-ownership of his ranch. This development doesn’t sit well with nasty
rednecks including Kolby (Jack Palance), a former Confederate officer, and Russel
(L.Q. Jones), a local troublemaker. The racists ensure that Benjie and Neal
can’t hire white workers for their ranch. However, Benjie befriends a band of
Indians led by White Feather (David Carradine), and the Indians agree to help
with chores. White Feather also “gives” his sister, Robin (Nancy Kwan), to
Benjie as a concubine. Predictably, Benjie and Robin fall in love, and just as
predictably, Robin is raped during a siege on the ranch. All of this leads up
to a bloody showdown, though the climax of The
McMasters is neither as decisive nor or simplistic as one might expect. And
while it would be inaccurate to describe The
McMasters as a surprising film, the story has just enough emotional texture
to make a casual viewing worthwhile. The acting is generally solid, although Ives delivers rote work and Peters comes on a bit theatrically at times, while Western-cinema veterans
including Jones, Palance, and R.G. Armstrong provide standard-issue varmint
flavor. The miscast Kwan is appealing, and as for Carradine, his performance as an Indian is a stretch, since his
line deliveries sound suspiciously modern, but his unique persona adds
vitality. (The actor’s father, John Carradine, shows up for a small role as an
idealistic preacher.) One of the only features directed by prolific TV helmer
Alf Kjellin, The McMasters is never
less than competent in terms of technical execution, and it’s never less than
serious about its subject matter.
The
McMasters: FUNKY
2 comments:
You mention the rape by the white racists shown thankfully only by a zipper being pulled up but do not mention the bizarre beatdown, explicit rape of the native american character by the black protaganist. Why?
Because he's not foolish enough to jeopardize his own career by doing so. He knows "which side his bread is buttered on" and therefore knows that he is free to publicly write about his disdain for things such as misogyny, white-on-black racism, and homophobia while keeping silent on other problems. He doesn't want his words in film reviews to be used against him so he smartly "toes-the-line" and deplores whatever is "in vogue" to deplore among critics and other writers. His reviews are good too.
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