Themes: Righting the Wronged, Social Injustice, Interracial/Cross-Cultural Romance
Main Cast: Jim Brown, Raquel Welch, Burt Reynolds, Fernando Lamas, Dan O'Herlihy
Release Year: 1969
Country: US
Run Time: 110 minutes
Plot
Lyedecker (Jim Brown) is the Arizona lawman who travels to Mexico in search of Yaqui Joe (Burt Reynolds). Joe has made an illegal withdrawal of $6,000 from the band in Phoenix to help finance his tribes's uprising against the Mexican government. Sarita (Raquel Welch) is the local woman who is friendly towards the Indian leaders. Both men are tracked by General Verdugo (Fernando Lamas), the career-minded military man who realizes a victory could boost his station in high-society and politics. Also on hand is the American railroad agent Grimes (Dan O'Herlihy). The battle ensues between the Indians and the government troops as Lyedecker and Joe form a temporary alliance to survive. They are captured by the troops, but the Indians instead of the calvary come to the rescue in this routine western taken from a novel by Robert MacLeod. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
Michael Forest - Humara; Aldo Sambrell - Sgt. Palates; Soledad Miranda - Girl In Hotel; Albeto Dalbes - Padre Francisco; Carlos Bravo - Lopez; Jose Manuel Martin - Sarita's Father; Hans Gudegast - Von Klemme
Credit
Carl Anderson - Art Director, Tony Tarruella - First Assistant Director, Tom Gries - Director, Robert L. Simpson - Editor, Jerry Goldsmith - Composer (Music Score), Ramon de Diego - Makeup, Cecilio Paniagua - Cinematographer, Marvin Schwartz - Producer, L.B. Abbott - Special Effects, Art Cruickshank - Special Effects, Roy Charman - Sound/Sound Designer, David Dockendorf - Sound/Sound Designer, Tom Gries - Screenwriter, Clair Huffaker - Screenwriter, Robert MacLeod - Book Author
Dynamic score for forgettable film, highlighted by percussive Latin rhythms and bombastic action cues. Rousing "Main Title" opens the CD on a strong, bold note. Throughout the score, Goldsmith plays with the orchestra, creating unusual percussion effects mixed with a strong South American sound. Occasional blasts of dissonant brass then burst out over mariachi-style rhythms and instrumentations. This plays as a sort of dark counterpoint to Elmer Bernstein's music for The Magnificent Seven. The score is presented twice on the CD: first, all surviving stereo cues, then the entire score in mono. Presentation includes Film Score Monthly's typically authoritative liner notes. ~ Neil Shurley, All Music Guide
Jerry Goldsmith (Composer), Jerry Goldsmith (Conductor), Dan Hersch (Digital Mastering), Nick Redman (Executive Producer), Brian Risner (Score Remix), Tom Cavanaugh (Project Coordinator), David Tamkin (Orchestration), Lukas Kendall (Producer), Lukas Kendall (Liner Notes), Joe Sikoryak (Art Direction), Jeff Bond (Producer), Jeff Bond (Liner Notes), Ron Fuglsby (Assembly), Doug Adams (Liner Notes)
Set in 1912 Mexico, an Arizona lawman named Lyedecker (Brown) travels to a remote village looking for Yaqui Joe (Reynolds), a half-Indian, half-white bank robber who's stolen $6,000 to buy rifles for his people who are being repressed by the government.
Lyedecker isn't concerned with Yaqui Joe's cause, and all he cares about is getting the money returned to a Phoenix bank within his jurisdiction. They eventually become allies and fight for the Indians.
Significance
100 Rifles was one of the first films to feature an interracial sex scene (between Brown and Welch).
