Blue (1968)

(mild spoilers)This isn't as bad as its critical reputation, but it isn't very good either. In fact, it's pretty much "not enough one thing or another" in every department-an attempt at a sort of hip new antihero western that nonetheless isn't at all sufficiently committed to that path, as it's far too old-school in execution. The score is a big, traditional, old-fashioned one (despite the odd, gratuitous sitar flourish); the whole look is very much trad Hollywood-studio western (presumably the establishment crew and resources were foisted on director Sergio Narizzano, then hot from the British New Wave hit "Georgy Girl"); the casting conventional apart from Terence Stamp. The latter may indeed be miscast to a degree-yes, his English accent carelessly slips through a lot-but at least he does provide a certain moody outsider coolness that Robert Redford (who dropped out at the last minute) wouldn't have channeled so easily. The racial tolerance theme is "modern," yet the script chickens out by having Blue-who was raised by the Mexican bandidos who killed his Yankee parents-yearn to be "tamed" and "civilized" by the white folk who've taken him in after he's wounded, thus reinforcing all cultural stereotypes. Nor is it credible that the settlers who are suspicious of Blue would so easily accept his command later on when they're under threat. Or indeed that Blue would command forces against his "own people"-it's one thing to reject his Mexican background, another to lead a massacre of those people. Blue gets an eve-of-battle speech trying to explain his contrary psychological makeup, but it's too little, too late. This is a handsomely photographed film with a lot of nice scenery in vivid color, and the climactic shootout is effective enough. But coming out the same year as "Butch Cassidy" and other truly revisionist westerns that embraced a fresher style and sensibility, "Blue" must have felt old-hat in 1968. And it's still a disappointing mediocrity.

In spite of a somewhat interesting premise, this turned out to be completely routine, similar to many westerns of the 1960's. British actor Terence Stamp is completely miscast in the title role, playing a Mexican-raised white bandito (gringro) who is cast into American society after stopping one of his compatriots from raping a woman during a raid. The rest of the cast includes some excellent actors (Karl Malden, Ricardo Montoblan, & Sally Kirkland), but they're stuck in cliché roles and can only go through the motions. The beginning and end of this film feature the usual shootouts and horseback chases, while the middle section is mostly the supporting cast talking. And boy do they talk, and it's the kind of talk you've heard in every western ever made. However, Stanley Cortez's color photography is lovely and it takes full advantage of the scenery. In the romantic lead, Joanna Pettet is also very beautiful, but her romance with Stamp's character is unconvincing. It's hardly worth two hours of melodrama and clichés. I'd call this strictly for hard-core fans of westerns.

For some reason I always looked back fondly on this film that I saw in the theater in the late '60s. However, when I watched it again almost 30 years later on VHS, I was really disappointed. Since I know now that lead actor Terrence Stamp grew up in England, I found his American/ Mexican character accent - at that time - not that believable. A few times he slipped back to his native British accent.This is one of those unusual films in which the good guy dies in the end. Many times, that makes for a more dramatic, memorable ending. Howevr, in this case, all it made for was a very unsatisfying finish. This is not something I'd eagerly wait another 30 years to see!

As a long-time Terence Stamp fan, I finally was able to rent this video after a long search. I don't care if Terence's cockney accent slipped through now and then. It didn't distract me from watching his beautiful performance as Azul/Blue, who finds it difficult to fit into either world: the Mexican world to which he belonged after his parents were killed and he was found by the "bandit" Ortega, or the world of the "gringo" from which he came. There was some residual "Billy Budd" quality in this film which may have been unintended on Stamp's part. It was a delight to see Stamp in this role -he is such a natural. The ending was somewhat enigmatic, but the filming of the last scenes in the river were beautiful, believable, and tragic.