The Good Guys and the Bad Guys (1969)

Dreadfully Boring

Boring

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

The late sixties had many comic westerns after Cat Ballou's success,so this carry on thus walking in this path,the picture has two generation of old west,in fact the picture is set place in turn of the century and two leading roles Robert Mitchum and George Kennedy both already an older men belonged to the past,they are unfashionable couple guys,the progress's winds aren't appreciated to them,easy to watch,plenty of humour, it's worth to see mainly by a funny and drunk old man called Grundy who lives in the hills nearby of the town.the unforgetable James W. Fowley who used to play those friendly characters that hates take a shower who prefer living alone in a little cabin,just amazing!!!Resume:First watch: 1981 / How many: 3 / Source: TV-DVD-R / Rating: 7.25

Robert Mitchum and George Kennedy must have had fun making this movie. They have a good supporting cast. "The Good Guys and the Bad Guys" is an enjoyable film, a mix of comedy and Western that doesn't quite fit solidly into either genre. The time was the turn of the 20th Century, when Western towns were "growing" up. Some held onto their frontier image, while others couldn't shake the past fast enough and become modern. That's the setting for the film and much of its comedy, and the two lead characters are smack dab in the middle of the changing times. Others have described the plot and background. What stand out to me are the train scenes and the scenery itself. This isn't a dust and sagebrush Western as were so many set in Monument Valley, AZ. This was shot in mountain and forest country. That means the Rocky Mountains. The DVD with the film I watched also had a short, "The Good Guy from Chama." It showed us the town of Chama, NM, where much of the movie was shot. The train scenes were on the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad, a 64- mile long narrow gage line that runs between Chama, NM and Antonito, CO. The line was built by the Denver and Rio Grande RR in 1880-81, and is the highest operating railway today – reaching 10,015 feet at Cumbres Pass. It's a national historical landmark, and tourists can ride it from late May to mid-October. I recommend the half-day full length trip. You'll see the same scenery that's in the movie, and more, including tunnels, bridges and trestles. Some other movies that were made with scenes from the C&T Scenic Railroad were "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (1989) and "Wyatt Earp" (1994).Few old-time railroad lines still exist in the U.S. So, when I get a chance in my travels, I like to ride the historic railways of the past. Some other scenic rails you might enjoy are the Durango to Silverton line in Colorado, the St. George's short line in Colorado, and the White Pass and Yukon RR from Skagway, AK, to Carcross, Yukon Territory. One can do the latter as a day-trip that many Alaskan cruises offer.

The Good Guys and the Bad Guys is directed by Burt Kennedy and written by Dennis Shryack. It stars Robert Mitchum, George Kennedy, Martin Balsam, David Carradine, Tina Louise, Lois Nettleton and Douglas Fowley. A Panavision/Technicolor production, music is by William Lava and cinematography by Harry Stradling Jr.The town of Progress and Marshal Jim Flagg (Mitchum) learns that old foe John McKay (Kennedy) is about and robbery is soon to follow. However, Jim has difficulty convincing Mayor Wilker (Balsam) that any thing is up, the Mayor apparently more concerned with bed hopping and feathering his own political nest. So when Wilker prematurely retires Jim, sticking one of his lap-dogs into the role of Marshal, Jim sets about doing his own investigation. Pretty soon both Jim and John, one time enemies on either side of the law, find that both of them are out of time with an ever changing West.Amiable. Burt Kennedy's film doesn't have the best of reputations, seemingly the blend of comedy and drama not teasing out much interest from the Western enthusiasts. It's true enough to say that the main theme, that of the changing West and two men finding themselves relics of the time, is ultimately playing second fiddle to the frivolity, while the finale tips over into over zealous slapstick farcery, yet Kennedy and Shryack imbue the picture with a genuine love of the genre. The director lets the pairing of Mitchum and Kennedy unfurl naturally, whilst also giving Balsam license to have a great time, thus all key performers are ever watchable. Scenic delights await within as Chama and Silverton provide location oomph, and the action quotient is in good supply.Disposable for sure, but fun while it's on. 6.5/10

The 'Classical Age' of the Old West, as portrayed in movies, was approximately the quarter-century following the end of the American Civil War. The general consensus among film-makers is that after 1890, and certainly after 1900, the Wild West gradually became the Tame West, more peaceful and law-abiding but also less interesting than it had been previously. John Wayne in "The Shootist" (set in 1901) and William Holden and his companions in "The Wild Bunch" (set in 1913/14) are portrayed as ageing Wild West heroes who know that they have outlived their time."The Good Guys and the Bad Guys", made in the same year as "The Wild Bunch", is another post-1900 Western with a similar theme. To judge from the cars and the fashions we see, the action probably takes place around 1910. The hero is Marshal Jim Flagg, a veteran lawman honoured for having brought peace and order to the once-lawless town of Progress. Flagg gets wind of a rumour that a once-notorious bandit named John McKay, long believed to be dead, is in fact still alive and planning a raid on the train bringing a large sum of money to the town's bank. Unfortunately, when Flagg tries to warn the townspeople he is not believed, and is "retired" from his duties by the Mayor, who thinks him unduly alarmist. Of course, Flagg is proved right, and sets off to thwart the villains. In this he has an unlikely ally- McKay himself, whom he captures in a skirmish. Although McKay is a villain he has his own code of honour, and has been offended by the cowardly, dishonourable way in which his subordinate Waco shot an elderly man in the back.The film can be seen as a comic version of "Firecreek", which came out the previous year. That film, like "The Shootist" and "The Wild Bunch", is a serious drama rather than a comedy, but it also features an ageing lawman and an ageing bandit leader who no longer has complete authority over his younger gang members. "The Good Guys and the Bad Guys", by contrast, is a mixture of comedy and action-adventure, although it does have occasional serious moments, like the shooting of the old man. The comic elements largely arise from the satirical treatment of Martin Balsam's conniving, self-serving Mayor and from the fact that the chief bad guy now finds himself on the same side as the good guys.Burt Kennedy was a director who specialised in Westerns; indeed, he tried to keep the flag flying on behalf of the genre throughout its lean years of the late seventies and eighties, although most of his films from that period were made for television rather than the cinema. His Westerns often incorporated a mixture of comic and serious elements; another example is the 1971 Raquel Welch vehicle "Hannie Caulder" which would be a standard revenge drama were it not for the fact that the villains are too ridiculous to take altogether seriously.One criticism I would have is that the two lead actors were perhaps too young; Robert Mitchum was 52 when the film was made, and looked younger, and George Kennedy only 44, which means that neither is quite convincing as an ageing man whose time has been and gone. James Stewart and Henry Fonda were both in their early sixties when they made "Firecreek", and "The Good Guys and the Bad Guys" might have worked better if actors of a similar age had been found. Also, Glenn Yarborough's title song gets pretty annoying at times. Those criticisms apart, however, this is overall a watchable, if lightweight, comedy/adventure film. 6/10