Customer Reviews

Scalphunters, the

5 star:		(9)
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This was the movie that made me throw away my Maltin Reviews.

I've always been a huge admirer of Burt Lancaster & his work & in my book this is one of his very best; it may just be his best, but how can you beat Crimson Pirate or Vera Cruz or Sweet Smell of Success or even his first - The Killers? The man was endowed with very high doses of intelligence, humor, humanity, physical presence & and a sort of 19th century stage hamminess. There used to be a saying that you could tell the type of film Lancaster was doing by his hairdo. When the hair was short, the movie was serious. When it was wavy, his tongue was filling up his cheek. It's quite wavy in Scalphunters. He's the epitome of the mountain man / trapper in this one: whiskey-drinking, bible-quoting highly-opionated & super-stubborn Joe Bass. Mark Twain would have loved this character, he's right out of Twain's imagination. It's hard to believe that Lancaster was in his mid-50's when he made this. He looks much younger & moves with the quickness & grace that made this ex-trapeze performer a legend.

Ossie Davis is a perfect match for Lancaster as the extraordinarily wise & well-educated but highly wary escaped slave Joseph Lee, who must continually rein in his instinct to trump the cruder but highly canny in his own way Joe Bass. The film is an almost Shakespearean interplay of their personalities - duel & duet . The viewer is able to observe the change they continually effect upon each other.

The Scalphunters themselves are a group of lowlifes led by Telly Savalas as Jim Howie (in the best role I ever saw him play in a movie), a nasty but not unwise lout who spends most of the day & night in his baggy long johns. They make their living robbing & killing & selling indian scalps to the government. I found the portrayal (& dialog) of these bushwhackers as real & accurate in every detail as anything I've ever seen on the screen, right down to Howie's astrology ("star-gazin") ex...lady-friend Kate played by Shelly Winters in her least whiny role ever.
There's plenty of tension & action in this film. It's cat vs. mice from start to finish: Lancaster vs. Indians, Lancaster vs. Scalphunters, Lancaster vs. Indians again.

The performances, Sidney Pollack's direction & William Norton's writing all serve to put this film in a class with The Searchers. I believe it is to Lancaster's career what The Searchers is to John Wayne's.

Definitely a magnificent achievement. A must for wide-screen DVD restoration.

How has a good movie like The Scalphunters become largely unknown over the years while everyone knows what The Matrix is? With a fine cast lead by the legendary Burt Lancaster, Ossie Davis, Telly Savalis and Shelly Winters and with a lot of memorable dialogue and scenes, this is a great comedy western.

Joe Bass (Lancaster) is a fur trapper who has spent the whole winter collecting furs. When a pack of Indians lead by Two Crows take Joe's furs and leave him with Joseph Lee (Davis), an educated slave, Bass pursues the Indians to get his furs back. The two have a series of misadventures that also involves a party of Scalphunters lead by Jim Howie (Savalis), who take the furs from the Indians and also take Joseph Lee. Bass now has to get both his furs and his slave back.

The film works on many levels beside comedy. Some also might consider it a commentary on racial politics. The end of the movie, when Lancaster and Davis become covered in mud and are indistinguishable has some symbolism; the white and black man, while of a different color, are the same people.

This is a favourite movie of mine and up until now I only had a VHS tape of it. Thank you so much for the DVD which is quite perfect.
Vivian

Movies like this are few and far in between. The Scalphunters is a movie that is pure entertainment with something for everyone. If one word could sum it up the word would be FUN. I have yet to tire of watching the movie. The acting by Burt Lancaster, Ossie Davis, Telly Savalas & Shelly Winters is excellent and pulls the viewer into story.

Why do I give a movie 5 stars? Its when the film succeeds in doing exactly what it wants. If its also entertaining throughout, then I'm entirely satisfied. I don't know what real critics want beyond Swedish directors and Marlon Brando, so I often find their critiques to be misfires. So it is with THE SCALPHUNTERS. As a boy, all I knew about it to make me want to see it was that it was a Burt Lancaster movie. So me and my dad went to see it and I loved every minute of it from the funny title credits to the mud-bath ending. Its wry social commentary in the dialog between Ossie Davis(who almost steals the movie) and Lancaster was a superb wink at Hollywood's stereotypical treatment of minorities in the past and the racial tension and violence of the Sixties. The casting is terrific, with actors like Telly Savalas who can hold a comedic edge to their sadistic behavior. Given that Shelly Winters was a major old-flame of Lancaster's, it makes you wonder about the off-screen story of this movie. This is a beautifully paced, witty, gritty, well-acted, original movie.

Why do I give a movie 5 stars? Its when the film succeeds in doing exactly what it wants. If its also entertaining throughout, then I'm entirely satisfied. I don't know what real critics want beyond Swedish directors and Marlon Brando, so I often find their critiques to be misfires. So it is with THE SCALPHUNTERS. As a boy, all I knew about it to make me want to see it was that it was a Burt Lancaster movie. So me and my dad went to see it and I loved every minute of it from the funny title credits to the mud-bath ending. Its wry social commentary in the dialog between Ossie Davis(who almost steals the movie) and Lancaster was a superb wink at Hollywood's stereotypical treatment of minorities in the past and the racial tension and violence of the Sixties. The casting is terrific, with actors like Telly Savalas who can hold a comedic edge to their sadistic behavior. Given that Shelly Winters was a major old-flame of Lancaster's, it makes you wonder about the off-screen story of this movie. This is a beautifully paced, witty, gritty, well-acted, original movie.

"The Scalphunters" is a comic and entertaining western. Joe Bass (Burt Lancaster) is a nomadic trapper on his way to the big city with a season's worth of furs when he is waylayed by a band of Kiowa Indians who force him to trade his furs for a well-educated black slave, Joseph Winfield Lee (Ossie Davis). The battle of wits and wills between the frontier-wise Joe Bass and the erudite Joseph Lee evolves over the course of the movie as the trapper relentlessly pursues the return of his furs. His quest is complicated when a band of renegade scalphunters led by Jim Howie (Telly Savalas) and his mistress Kate (Shelly Winters) end up with both the furs and Joseph Lee. The action and humor are non-stop in this well-paced, well-cast film. There is even an interesting touch of social satire when Joe Bass and Joseph Lee become indistinguishable during a fight in mud bog.

The direction by Sydney Pollack; the cinematography, featuring both mountain and desert locales; and the musical score composed by Elmer Bernstein are outstanding. Mr. Bernstein is renowned for his legendary score in the "The Magnificent Seven." Here, he once again captures the vibrant drive and energy of the sprawling American west. With due respect to Leonard Maltin, I think you will find this to be an enjoyable, if under-rated motion picture.

This was a true sleeper. Having never heard of the movie, I rented it and was completely taken by surprise. Burt Lancaster and his horse kept the laughs going, along with Shelly Winters and Telly Savalas. It was a good, clean, fun movie.

Leonard Maultin must have been asleep when he saw this flick. The by play betweek Mr. Lanchaster and Ozzie Smith are sharp and witty. This is a must see film with Telly Savalas and Shelly Winters adding color to a very engaging film. I have been looking for this film to add to my collection for years.