Light Western comedy about the particular relationship between a fur trapper and a highly polish slave , including a colour-coded cultural confrontation . It's an entertaining story with a touch of peculiarity , some great characters , a colorful cinematography , an amazing music and is funny enough . Solid western with interesting events , violent fights , emotions , humor , thrills and spectacular outdoors . Forced to trade his valuable furs for a well-educated escaped slave (Ossie Davis) , a rugged trapper (Burt Lancaster) vows to recover the pelts from the Indians and later the renegades that killed them . As the pair forms an uneasy alliance , as when the pelts are in turn and result to be appropriated , they set off in pursuit a band of cutthroats led by a cynic bandit (Telly Savalas) . The trapper will stop at nothing to take back what's his .
An amusing enough liberal comedy western that has its fun moments , entertainment , action and some violence . Enjoyable as well as amiable screenplay by William Norton , it is exciting enough and glosses both the interdependence among protagonists and their racial antagonism . This plot about a peculiar conflict between a rough , illiterate trapper and a cultured slave is well worked through a chronic circular premise . Very good acting by the great Burt Lancaster as a fur trapper who sets out in pursuit the robbers . Sympathetic Ossie Davis as Joseph Lee , a slave who helps Lancaster to fight enemies and retrieve the pelts . Perfect Telly Savalas as leader of a gang of Scalphunters who has appropriated the furs . Secondary cast is frankly nice such as Shelley Winters as Kate , Dabney Coleman as Jed , Dan Vadis as Yuma , Armando Silvestre as Two Crows and the Lancaster's best friend , Nick Cravat , as Yancy . Splendid cinematography in Panavision and glimmer Technicolor by Duke Callagham and Richard Moore as is reflected on spectacular outdoors filmed in sighting , gorgeous natural landscapes. As it was shot on location in wonderful natural parks from Durango , Mexico . Lively and rousing musical score by the maestro Elmer Bernstein composing one of his best soundtrack .
Professionally produced by a great production company formed by Arnold Laven , Jules Levy and Arthur Gardner . The first Levy-Gardner-Laven movie was 1952's "Without Warning"'; in the decades since, they have produced and directed dozens of additional features and especially Westerns . They are experts on Western genre as cinema as television as they produced and directed several TV series including "The Rifleman," "Law of the Plainsman," , "The Big Valley" . The motion picture was well directed by the recently deceased Sidney Pollack with a thankfully light hand . Sydney was an excellent director , producer and secondary actor with several hits on all kind of genres as ¨The Interpreter¨ , ¨The firm¨ , ¨Out of Africa¨ , ¨Tootsie¨, ¨Yakuza¨ and directed two magnificent Westerns , ¨Jeremiah Johnson¨ and this ¨Scalphunters¨ . Rating : Good , better than average and worthwhile watching . The flick will appeal to Burt Lancaster fans and Western buffs .
