Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Overlooked Movies -- Bronco Billy

Here we  have another of  those movies that I like quite a bit, whereas other people don't like it much at all.  I'm not sure why.  It wasn't as if people expected Eastwood to do dramas forever.  He'd already done the movies with Clyde the Orangutan.  Maybe because he wore cowboy get-up, he was supposed to be the Man With No Name again.  He wasn't.  He was Bronco Billy, a guy who owns a not-very-successful Wild West Show and who seems to be as much a believer in the Code of the West and basic good behavior as the Lone Ranger ever was, so much so that he even wins over the stuck-up heiress played by Sondra Locke.  Maybe I'm just a sucker for movies with Sousa marches on the soundtrack, but if you like movies with a little heart and sentiment, not to mention Scatman Crothers, you should give this one a chance.  

5 comments:

pattinase (abbott) said...

Loved Bronco Billy.

Dan_Luft said...

Thinking back, because of my age and when we got cable, I think this was my first Clint Eastwood movie. The ads made it look more like more Burt Reynolds redux like the ANY WHICH WAY... movies.

It has that late 70s feel of a small budget and a cast of grownups. The plot un-spooled slowly along with some great characterization.

Anonymous said...

Loved Bronco Billy too. When it was first on HBO nearly 30 years ago I watched it over and over.

Jeff

Rick said...

My favorite "light" Eastwood film by far, and in my top five favorite Eastwood-directed starrers.

James Reasoner said...

I like this one a lot, too.