Le gaucho

Gorgeous location photography of Argentina and the subtle, lyrical direction of Jacques Tourneur are the main reasons for watching this story of a gaucho who becomes first outlaw and then revolutionary, in an attempt to preserve his way of life from encroaching foreign influences and money. The acting is somewhat uneven - Calhoun and especially Tierney are somewhat miscast, though Richard Boone and others in smaller roles come off as more authentic.

Rory Calhoun is found guilty of murder. His sentence, a term in the army. This is 19th Century Argentina, however, so he prefers to turn bandit and court aristocratic Gene Tierney. Sounds like a good idea to me, particularly the part about Miss Tierney. I was expecting one of those Shaky A westerns that Calhoun starred in, but that's not what I got. This was originally planned for Henry King to direct Tyrone Power Jr. in, so Fox went all in. After King and Power walked, Rory Calhoun took the lead role, and he does a surprisingly good job with it. If you think that Fox Technicolor is all overlit and bright colors like a Grable musical, you'll be surprised too. DP Harry Jackson, who shot a bunch of those Grable pix offers a color palette with lots of black in it, offering a richness rarely seen outside of British Technicolor. After shooting in Argentina wrapped, the crew was getting ready to head back to the US when Eva Peron died and they stayed to shoot her funeral.