Like Brando's "One Eyed Jacks", "Wild Rovers" was pretty much ignored when first released, but over the decades its brilliance has shone through.
Writer/director Blake Edwards utilised the same powerful theme that worked so well for "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid": two guys with contrasting personalities who have each other's backs and will lay down their lives for each other. He set this against a beautifully realised feeling for the times.
Ross Bodine (William Holden) is an aging cowboy who befriends a younger cowboy, Frank Post (Ryan O'Neal). They work on a large ranch owned by Walt Buckman (Karl Malden). Bodine and Post live a day-to-day existence, but both have a reckless streak and decide to alter their fortunes by robbing a bank. The decision seals their fate.
We sense that the way Bodine and Post stick together - partners, buddies, mates - was the key to surviving in a tough environment - the loner, hero of many a western, stood less chance.
Many reasons have been given as to why the film failed at the box office in 1971: it was badly cut by the studio and given a happier ending, plus the advertising was wrong. Although I have only seen the restored version, even in truncated form its quality would have come through; I think something else undermined it.
The two stars, Holden and O'Neal, arrived with all the baggage they carried at the time. Ryan O'Neal had just made "Love Story" and had been big on TV in lighter fare; his star status gave the wrong perception. But like his role in "Barry Lyndon", time has stripped away the distractions, now he fits the role of the wild young cowboy perfectly. William Holden never gave a bad performance, but maybe he was seen to be repeating himself - "The Wild Bunch" was made a couple of years earlier. However as with O'Neal, distance has allowed us to appreciate his role as the weather-beaten, 50-year old cowboy in isolation; it's surely one of his best performances.
The film has a feeling of nostalgia for the passing of the Old West and much of that is down to Jerry Goldsmith's Coplandesque score. Many film music buffs still think that Jerry was The Man, and his score for "Wild Rovers" is one of the reasons why.
"Wild Rovers" can be appreciated on many levels; it's simply one of the best films of its type ever made.
Writer/director Blake Edwards utilised the same powerful theme that worked so well for "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid": two guys with contrasting personalities who have each other's backs and will lay down their lives for each other. He set this against a beautifully realised feeling for the times.
Ross Bodine (William Holden) is an aging cowboy who befriends a younger cowboy, Frank Post (Ryan O'Neal). They work on a large ranch owned by Walt Buckman (Karl Malden). Bodine and Post live a day-to-day existence, but both have a reckless streak and decide to alter their fortunes by robbing a bank. The decision seals their fate.
We sense that the way Bodine and Post stick together - partners, buddies, mates - was the key to surviving in a tough environment - the loner, hero of many a western, stood less chance.
Many reasons have been given as to why the film failed at the box office in 1971: it was badly cut by the studio and given a happier ending, plus the advertising was wrong. Although I have only seen the restored version, even in truncated form its quality would have come through; I think something else undermined it.
The two stars, Holden and O'Neal, arrived with all the baggage they carried at the time. Ryan O'Neal had just made "Love Story" and had been big on TV in lighter fare; his star status gave the wrong perception. But like his role in "Barry Lyndon", time has stripped away the distractions, now he fits the role of the wild young cowboy perfectly. William Holden never gave a bad performance, but maybe he was seen to be repeating himself - "The Wild Bunch" was made a couple of years earlier. However as with O'Neal, distance has allowed us to appreciate his role as the weather-beaten, 50-year old cowboy in isolation; it's surely one of his best performances.
The film has a feeling of nostalgia for the passing of the Old West and much of that is down to Jerry Goldsmith's Coplandesque score. Many film music buffs still think that Jerry was The Man, and his score for "Wild Rovers" is one of the reasons why.
"Wild Rovers" can be appreciated on many levels; it's simply one of the best films of its type ever made.