Main Cast: Burl Ives, Brock Peters, David Carradine, Nancy Kwan, Jack Palance
Release Year: 1970
Country: US
Run Time: 89 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Set in the immediate post-Civil War era, The McMasters stars Brock Peters as a black Union soldier who finds he must figuratively fight the war all over again. Returning to his southern hometown, Peters quickly learns that nothing has really changed: he is a "free"man in name only. Peters' ex-master Burl Ives magnanimously gives the former slave a plot of land, but only Native-American David Carradine and his tribesmen are willing to work for a black man. The "invasion" of Indians serves to stir up the racial divisiveness even farther, thanks to local rabble-rouser Jack Palance. The McMasters was originally released in two versions with two different endings, succinctly summing up the film's "no easy answers" stance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
John Carradine - Preacher; L.Q. Jones - Russell; R.G. Armstrong - Watson; Dane Clark - Spencer; Frank Raiter - Grant; Alan Vint - Hank; Marion Brash - Mrs. Watson; Neil Davis - Sylvester; Paul Eichenberg - Jud; Richard Alden - Lester; Lonnie Samuel - Bull; Albert Hockmeister - Sheriff; Dumas Slade - Cullen; Joan Howard - Mrs. Spencer; William Kiernan - Bartender; Leo Dillenschneider - Watson's Son; Richard Martinez - Black Fox; Joseph Duran - Black Cloud; Bill Alexander - Barber; David Welty - Kolby's Son
Credit
Joel Schiller - Art Director, Alf Kjellin - Director, Harold Jacob Smith - Director, Melvin Shapiro - Editor, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson - Composer (Music Score), Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson - Musical Direction/Supervision, Joel Schiller - Production Designer, Lester Shorr - Cinematographer, Monroe Sachson - Producer, George R. Nelson - Set Designer, Herman Townsley - Special Effects, John V. Speak - Sound/Sound Designer, Rodd Redwing - Technical Advisor, Harold Jacob Smith - Screenwriter