Billy Two Hats (1974)

Billy Two Hats is directed by Ted Kotcheff and written by Alan Sharp. It stars Gregory Peck, Desi Arnaz Junior, Jack Warden, David Huddleston and Sian Barbara. Music is by John Scott and cinematography by Brian West.Interesting. Peck plays a grizzled Scottish outlaw and Arnaz Jr. the half-breed Indian of film's title. They rob banks and have a sort of father and son relationship as they try to escape from vengeful racist Sheriff Gifford (Warden). So in essence it's a buddy Western, albeit one that's a bit off-beat and has grand ideas to be a religio parable of sorts.Unfortunately away from the unusual casting decisions which happen to entertain, it's immeasurably dull on narrative terms and blandly photographed (in Israel) into the bargain. It's not hard to see why it flopped upon release to theatres.The sporadic action passages are adequately performed, and the intentional humour hits the required mark, but by the time the boorish inter-racial relationship comes to the fore, you may find it hard to stay awake. 5/10

Please rest assured that this little gem of a western will be very appealing to you. Having past it by many times for more modern films, I viewed it on a whim and was very pleased. A straight forward story of hate being defeated, love being found, loneliness lost and adversity faced. Easy to understand for any viewer requiring no interpretation. A gem well played by all actors. The stark scenery that others have noted as being filmed in Israel provides a great background for this simple story. The evils of bigotry and prejudice towards native Americans is well covered and evaluated without being preachy. Subjugation of women during this early western period is also exposed for its cruelty.

This unknown Western deals about a Scottish bandit named Deans(Gregory Peck) along with the mestizo Billy Two Hats, both participate on a robbery which goes wrong. Meanwhile an accomplice is killed by sheriff Gifford ( Jack Weston), after that he tracks the thieves and capturing Billy(Desi Arnaz Jr). Then grizzled Deans is shot while breaking Billy out. But Deans is wounded and must rely on Billy . The half-breed not wishing to abandon his veteran partner builds an Indian cot to drag him. Meantime they're pursued by the Sheriff and Copeland (David Huddleston) and hot on the trail. They spend most of it running throughout the desert, being pursued and chased.This is a Western-pursuit, in that a pair of bandits pull off a failed heist ,confronting many obstacles and risks threatening their lives . The two leading men are quite well in the hostile environment with the flick is set in. There are still nice scenes to watch such as the final images when Gregory Peck is besieged below a cart by Indian warriors that hold a remarkable resemblance to Burt Lancaster surrounded in 'The Ulzana's raid (1972)' by Robert Aldrich. The actors supporting the lead roles are very fine as Jack Weston , David Huddleston and Barbara Allen playing a stuttering young wife. However , the cinematography ,filmed in Israel, is lousy and in faded colors, for that reason is urgent a necessary remastering. Atmospheric and rare musical score , including some of guitar sounds by John Scott. This first Western shot in Israel is professionally directed by Ted Kotcheff and skillfully written by Alan Sharp. Kotcheff got great success on action cinema ( First blood, Uncommon valor, The shooter ) and comedy (Switching channels, Fun with Dick and Jane ). Nevertheless , today he only realizes TV episodes (Law and order, Family of cops, Red shoes diaries). Rating : Acceptable and passable. If you are fan of Gregory Peck, you will want to see this one.

This is a very different type of western film although the main premise of the story sounds very routine. One has to wonder why it was filmed over in the Middle East instead of a closer location here in America. If anyone finds out please let me know. This story is about a bank robber named Arch Deans (Gregory Peck) who has an accomplice that is half Indian named Billy (Desi Arnaz Jr.) and Billy has been captured by Sheriff Henry Gifford (Jack Warden) who plans on taking him back to be hanged even though it was Arch who killed someone during the hold-up. Arch sneaks up on Henry one morning and shoots him in the shoulder to wound him. He and Billy ride off to Mexico but they are unaware that Henry's friend Copeland (David Huddleston) has a buffalo rifle and he uses it to shoot Arch's horse that collapses and breaks Arch's leg. *****SPOILER ALERT*****Because of his shoulder it takes a day or two before Henry can ride and this gives Arch and Billy a head start but with his broken leg they are slowed down as well. They come across a home owned by a man named Spencer (John Pearce) who is abusive to his stuttering wife Esther (Sian Barbara Allen) and Arch tells him he'll pay him 100 dollars for a ride in his wagon. Spencer agrees and Billy is told to stay with Esther until her husband comes back. While on the road Arch and Spencer are ambushed by Indians and Spencer gets killed while Arch is mortally wounded. Meanwhile, Billy and Esther get very friendly and sleep together until Henry comes barging in and handcuffs him to take him back for his hanging. This film was directed by Ted Kotcheff who is a very good and capable director in both film and television. Somehow this film ended up in Israel to be made and even though you can say all deserts look the same the truth is that it does look a bit off and different. Some of the clues that it's not America is that there are no cactus to be found and whatever vegetation that is seen is definitely not from our region. The lack of other actors and extras in small roles also is missing and the whole film has a very remote and distant feel to it. This isn't meant as criticism but the mood and tone of the film is not like any other western I have seen. Peck seems to be genuinely having fun in his role and it's probably because he's getting a rare opportunity to play a character that can be described as a cad and a rogue. Arnaz doesn't have to do much since his character is suppose to remain relatively stoic. Warden is well cast as the hard and tough racist sheriff but for me the best performance in the film comes from Allen as the lonely wife. We understand her loneliness completely and Allen shows some real despair in her beautiful brown eyes. Even for a western this film moves along very slowly and there are several gaps where Peck and Arnaz are separated. This is definitely a different film for the genre but I found the uniqueness compelling for some reason. I am recommending it although if your tempted to view it just be reminded that this is definitely a curio.