FeistyUpper
If you don't like this, we can't be friends.
Catangro
After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.
ActuallyGlimmer
The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.
Spikeopath
Santee is directed by Gary Nelson and written by Brand Bell. It stars Glenn Ford, Michael Burns, Dana Wynter and Jay Silverheels. Music is scored by Don Rand and photography is by Donald Morgan. Plot finds Ford as seasoned bounty hunter Santee, who after killing the outlaw father of young Jody Deaks (Burns), takes him under his wing at his Three Arrows Ranch. With both of them nursing loses in their lives, they both come to be great for each other, but just as harmony is abundant at the ranch, news comes that the outlaw gang responsible for Santee's pain is back in town.No country for empty pockets and a flat stomach.Primarily shot on location in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santee is notable for a couple of things. Firstly it was the last time that Western legend Ford would play a lead role in the genre, secondly is that it was filmed on video tape. Some debate exists as to if it was the first film to be shot that way, but certainly the research suggests it was definitely the first Western. Santee is a strange film in many ways, for sure as a film it's not a great lead role send off for Ford, but he is actually very good in it. The story is a good one from Bell, full of emotional worth and maintaining interest throughout, while there's plenty of action and blood shed within the plot. The dialogue, too, often has some intelligence about it. But it's so poorly put together it becomes a frustrating watching experience.The video tape filming doesn't work, the colour is often dull and the night interiors are lifeless. While a couple of close ups appear to suddenly become pan and scan! Other problem comes with there being no truly great villain to underpin the destinies of Santee and Jody Deaks. The Banner (John Larch) gang exist, get a couple of small scenes, but that's about it until the bloody finale. The cast around Ford are OK, Wynter doesn't quite look right for a ranch gal lover, but makes a mark as a loyal wife and surrogate mother. Burns has the youthful naivety just right, but isn't helped by the screenplay having him become a killing man too quickly, and Silverheels turns in a good one as the wise ranch hand at Three Arrows. The film is very 70s in look and feel, something that can take you out of the period setting, more so with Rand's foot tapping music accompaniment. Bonus, though, on the music front, is the feature song in the picture, "Jody," that is song by Paul Revere and The Raiders, it's a beautiful ballad and carries with it the requisite emotional heft.An enjoyable Western with one or two tricks up its sleeve, but the problems are evident and stop it from being a must see for anyone other than Western and Glenn Ford purists. 6/10
Tony_J61
Nothing spectacular about this movie. An aging Glenn Ford carried it as well as any other he's done.Michael Burns did very well in his role. Just a shame that he gave it all away a few years later.An older Jay Silverheels was good to see, after starring in the Lone Ranger, a few decades before this movie was made. Not sure I've ever heard him speak so many lines. :-)The ending was nonsensical and unnecessary. Life could have gone on just as Santee and his wife wished, however, for some reason, the screenwriter and/or director decided to disappoint the viewer.Worth a look, if you enjoy Ford's work, but that's about it.
Poseidon-3
Western films were somewhat on the wane when this one was released and, while it isn't without some merits, it tends to be a pretty routine affair. An early attempt at videography versus film results in a cheap-looking product that ranges from perfectly acceptable to downright awful. Ford plays a bounty hunter who leaves his thriving spread periodically to track down outlaws and bring them to justice (or to the grave!) Driven by a shattering incident in his past, he feels an obligation to do away with as many cretins as he can. One day, after doing in a wanted man, he takes the son (Burns) into his custody, though the son has made it clear that he will one day exact revenge on Ford for the killing. As the pair begin to forge a tenuous relationship, aided by the soothing presence of Ford's wife Wynter and their ranch hand Silverheels, an outlaw gang rides into town threatening to wreck everyone's lives. Ford gives a solid performance here, his own advancing age adding to the weariness of the character. Burns is also decent. Their relationship is never as deeply delineated as one would like, though they share a certain amount of rapport. Wynter makes the most of her negligible scenes. Carelessly costumed in a variety of dull, mismatched pieces, she, thanks to the unusual filming method, sometimes looks wonderful and then other times looks a bit haggard. Silverheels delivers his lines with a sense of the stoic, iconic character of Tonto that he was famous for, but at least gets to display a certain amount of animation and emotion besides. Townes turns in a good performance as the town sheriff who inherited the job from Ford. Thankfully, the bulk of the film is shot outdoors in the daytime and those scenes are generally good-looking. Sadly, most of the indoor scenes are murky and anything done at night is beyond horrible. Despite the healthy amount of bloodletting, this has an old-fashioned feel to it. The potential was there for a reflective, enthralling western, but the often-shoddy camera-work and the undercooked script rob it of that chance. Still, fans of Ford ought to enjoy seeing him in one of his last big roles while fans of the genre should find enough action in it to hold interest.
funkyfry
Thoroughly mediocre Ford vehicle has him as the West's toughest bounty hunter (?!?). He lets the son of the guy he just killed follow him around, then eventually gives him a job. The son gives up his plans for revenge, opting to become a bounty hunter himself instead. Wynter is given a role that is thankless window dressing, and Silverheels is the only person in the movie who looks in shape for the West. Some good action, and it was good to see Silverheels in a movie again (though his part was fairly small), but bare plot goes on too long for its own good.
