Mon 2 Dec 2019
CHUKA. Paramount Pictures, 1967. Rod Taylor, Ernest Borgnine, John Mills, Luciana Paluzzi Luciana Paluzzi, James Whitmore, Victoria Vetri (as Angela Dorian), Louis Hayward, Michael Cole. Screenwriter: Richard Jessup, based on his own novel. Director: Gordon Douglas.
No one has ever asked me about anything like this, even if I’d been handy at the time, but if they had asked me, I’d had told them flat out, ditch both the prologue and epilogue that open and close this movie. The prologue tells the viewer too much, and the epilogue way too little.
It’s a shame. Without the prologue and epilogue. there’s a decent western movie in between, trying to work its way out.
It doesn’t quite succeed, mind you, but it’s there. Almost all of the action takes place at one of those forts in the Old West that seem to attract all of the misfits and rejects, officers and soldiers alike, that no other outfit wants or can tolerate for very long. This includes its commanding officer, played by John Mills, and whose fear of being thought of as a coward again prevent him from doing the obvious: abandoning the fort in the face of an impending — and non-defendable — Indian attack.
Ignoring the advice of another outcast, a wandering gunman called Chuka (Rod Taylor), who stays on hand only because of the presence of Luciana Paluzzi as Señora Veronica Kleitz. an aristocratic Mexican lady whom Chuka loved when he was younger, but whom he could not pursue because of the social gap between them.
The weaknesses and character flaws of the others are revealed gradually, but while I won’t go into them all, trust me, all of their flaws are considerable. You may be thinking that you have seen this movie before, and I cannot lie to you. I’m sure you have.
The story is capably told, however, cleanly and sharply, and Rod Taylor us, well, tailor-made, to play a big burly western frontier hero. And yet. And yet. If I were to be asked (and in this case, someone already has) what the movie adds to the overall panorama and lore of western movie-making, given that it was made in in 1967, I’d have to reply, in most definitive fashion, “Not much. Not very much at all.”
December 2nd, 2019 at 8:11 pm
Rod Taylor is a puzzling actor to me. He could certainly play a role with gentleness and restraint whenever called upon –he seemed to know how to portray a calm, reserved, gent –nevertheles he sure was a strappin’ hunk of beefcake and that was sometimes difficult to overlook.
He’s in a handful of wonderful movies I feel are very fine indeed; even personal faves. But in so many other assignments he is just a beast. And his sheer size was part of that.
But despite my own mixed reaction to his work I’ve met legions of action fans who revere him for three specific choreographed film brawls. One of them is in this very movie. He has a brutal head-to-head with Ernest Borgnine, if memory serves. The other two are, ‘Darker than Amber’ and ‘Dark of the Sun’.
Overall: I think Taylor is reliable and fun to watch in almost anything but most of his stuff is “middling fare” like this western. For laughs, pair it alongside ‘Shalako’ or ‘Chino’.
December 2nd, 2019 at 8:34 pm
I really liked Rod Taylor in:
The Time Machine (1960)
The Birds (1963)
The V.I.P.s (1963)
The Glass Bottom Boat (1966)
Zabriskie Point (1970)
He seems to be one of the major movie stars of the 1960’s.
Have never seen Chuka.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:02 pm
Richard Jessup wrote a wonderful script, that Rod as producer and leading player manipulated as he saw fit. Jessup, of course, had just come off The Cincinnati Kid, which he wrote as a novel. A troubled production, in which directors were changed after production had started, but still turned out well. Now I know about some of this because I knew jack Jessup and Howard Gotbetter the guys who optioned Jessup’s novel Chuka and commissioned the screenplay.
Initially, and I was tot involved in any of this, just on the periphery, Fox was interested, but Jack took Chuka to Paramount and they gave him a list of bankable leading men, anyone of which, would be acceptable to them. Rod was on the list, read the script and agreed to do it, but as soon as he gave, he took away, with the proviso that he could produce.
The script was reworked. Hayward was cast as Major Benson, and I went out there for a few weeks. The cast was relatively expensive, but, and I only believe this, do not know for sure, the fort was a standing set used mainly for A. C. Lyles programmers.
The fight was marvelous, and everyone around, cast members and the crew gave Rod and Ernie applause. Chuka did not go out as top of the line project, but with a second feature, and it was generally not well received, however, Daily Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and Life Magazine heaped tons of praise in its direction. As for Rod, it marked his decline as a leading star, and within a few years, lower billing and lots of television.
As for me, I was well thought of, and had several opportunities to cash in, but screwed the works up.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:30 pm
Wow. Tough industry. I sure admire that script for Cincy Kid though.
By the way, how many times has John Mills played a troubled, self-doubting base commander? More than a few, right?
December 2nd, 2019 at 10:31 pm
Yes, that was one humdinger of a brawl between Rod Taylor and Ernest Borgnine in this film. The latter really holds his own, though. You’d have to call it a draw, as they do in the movie as well.
Another terrific movie fight scene that Rod Taylor was part of was in DARKER THAN AMBER (with Taylor playing the role of FDM’s Travis McGee).
There’s a clip of it at the end of this review of the book, by Marcia Muller:
https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=3581#comments
December 2nd, 2019 at 10:37 pm
I liked this film and Jessup’s novel more than most. The Beau Geste setup was effective for me and it is a relatively sympathetic look at the Indian side since their near starvation and mistreatment trigger the crisis.
The fight between Taylor and Borgnine is indeed a notable one.
Hayward gives a good performance much of it suggested by his face as much as his words, and Mills has that wonderful dinner scene where he “outs” himself and everyone at the table.
Not a great film, but one I enjoyed.
As he ages Taylor’s features grew more coarse and he moved into more character roles. This is right at the teetering point for that career change. This is around the same time he replaced Rock Hudson and James Garner as Doris Days leading man in a series of lesser films.
December 2nd, 2019 at 11:51 pm
Agree on all points, David.
December 3rd, 2019 at 8:52 am
My favorite Rod Taylor movies are definitely Alex Hailey’s “Hotel” and the wonderful Irish saga, “Young Cassidy” which I believe was directed by Jack Cardiff as was ‘Dark of the Sun’ (Wilbur Smith story), which is my third fave.
I’m quite glad I never had to make my living on the strength of *my* face. Whew.
December 3rd, 2019 at 9:02 am
Since James Garner receives a mention above, I’ll vouch for a western of his I very much admire, which stars him and Sidney Poitier (shot the year before ‘Chuka’). “Duel at Diablo” –now that is some fun entertainment. Scottish officer in charge of the regiment in peril, that time. A UK accent is a nice addition to a western. Brian Keith did one as well, in ‘Rare Breed’.