The vultures are already waiting
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The vultures are already waiting |
| Original title | Showdown |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1973 |
| length | 99 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | George Seaton |
| script |
Theodore Taylor Hank Fine |
| production | George Seaton |
| music | David Shire |
| camera | Ernest Laszlo |
| cut | John W. Holmes |
| occupation | |
| |
The vultures are already waiting (Original title: Showdown ) is an American western directed by George Seaton for the production company Universal Pictures from 1973 with Rock Hudson and Dean Martin in the leading roles. The film is based on a story by Hank Fine .
action
Billy Massey and Chuck Jarvis have been good friends since they were young, but they last saw each other two years ago when Billy left the farm that Chuck runs with his wife Kate near the town of Cumbres.
The film begins when four bandits make an ingenious robbery on a train to Cumbres. Billy plays a sheriff who has one of the bandits with him in handcuffs on the train. The attack succeeds without anyone being injured and the bandits escape with plenty of loot, but several passengers have recognized Billy. Chuck, who has meanwhile become sheriff in Cumbres, only takes up the pursuit of the bandits with Indian trackers .
When the bandits split up the booty, Billy should only be given a small part. It comes to an argument, whereby Billy shoots one of the buddies and flees with all the booty. Now he is also pursued by the two remaining train robbers, who he first gets rid of with a wrong lead towards Mexico. Since he believes that he is also holding up the sheriff by faking a fall into a ravine for two days, he turns to his friend Chuck's farm, where he initially believes he is safe. However, he learns from his wife Kate that Chuck is the sheriff who is chasing him. Chuck arrives a little later and when the two face each other with their revolvers drawn, Kate intervenes and makes Billy give up. Together they come up with a supposedly believable story that is supposed to give Billy mitigating circumstances in the event of a conviction.
While Billy is in custody awaiting trial, Chuck drives his wife to Santa Fe to recover. During his absence the situation changes, as the prosecutor now wants to see Billy hanging on the gallows and Billy says so too. Thereupon Billy frees himself and flees again with the booty of the attack. Sheriff Jarvis sits down again, this time alone, on his trail. But a group of men that the prosecutor has hired also tries to catch Billy. Among them are his two former cronies who still want the booty from the train robbery.
After Billy lost his horse, Sheriff Jarvis turned him over. Together they fend off an attack by the pursuers, in which they are killed. But Billy also got it fatally. Sheriff Chuck Jarvis then buried him in the river.
Reviews
“Two friends meet again after years, standing on different sides of the law, but ultimately defend themselves together against unscrupulous bandits. Hollywood westerns at a leisurely pace, psychologically unconvincing and implausible in resolving conflicts. "
Production notes
The screenshots are from Henry Bumstead and Alexander Golitzen , the costumes gave Edith Head . The film was set in Abiquiú , New Mexico in the USA.
literature
- The vultures are already waiting . In: Film Service . No. 18–26, Catholic Institute for Media Information, 2004, p. 26 (Google Books) .
Web links
- The vultures are already waiting in theInternet Movie Database(English)
- The vultures are already waiting in the online film database
- The vultures are already waiting in: Cinema
Individual evidence
- ↑ The vultures are already waiting. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .