Line #81 Film/MackennasGold


1	[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mackenna.jpg]]
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3	A 1969 {{Western}} film, directed by J. Lee Thompson and based on the novel of the same name by Heck Allen (billed under the penname of Will Henry), which involves the legend of a lost canyon of gold and the diverse group of people who join forces to go in search of this untold wealth.
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5	Creator/GregoryPeck stars as Sam Mackenna, marshal of the town of Hadleyburg, who takes the secret of "Canon del Oro" into his hands when a dying old Apache shaman leaves behind a map that details the route to the Apache territory. Mackenna unexpectedly finds himself captured by the Mexican bandit Colorado (Creator/OmarSharif) and his cutthroat gang of Apaches and outlaws; Colorado has long sought Mackenna's death since he drove him out of the state many years ago. But, when he finds out that only Mackenna knows how to reach the infamous canyon of gold, he has no choice but to keep him alive. Along the way, many infected with "GoldFever", including renegade soldiers and gentlemen from town, are caught up in the adventure.
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7	Also starring Creator/TellySavalas, Camilla Sparv, Creator/JulieNewmar, and Creator/TedCassidy, as well as a stable of Hollywood veterans in supporting roles, including Creator/KeenanWynn, Creator/LeeJCobb, Creator/RaymondMassey (in his last big screen role), Creator/BurgessMeredith, Anthony Quayle, Creator/EliWallach, and Creator/EdwardGRobinson (in one of his last movies).
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9	''Mackenna's Gold'' was made during a period when the traditional Hollywood Western was losing popularity. Therefore, unless a Western was a magnificent feat such as ''Film/TheWildBunch'' or ''Film/OnceUponATimeInTheWest'', or appealed to "modern" sensibilities like ''Film/ButchCassidyAndTheSundanceKid'', it was quite forgotten. Originally intended as a roadshow picture, ''Mackenna'' was filmed at an overall length of three hours, and cut down to just a little over two hours by a nervous studio, who felt these kinds of movies were going out of fashion. Amongst the footage included for this alternate version (currently unavailable) is an entr'acte, intermission, and closing music.
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11	----
12	!! Provides examples of:
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14	* AdaptationalBadass: In the book, Hachita, only started attacking everyone else in the canyon after Colorado goaded him onto killing anyone not of pure Apache blood there, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard before Hachtia pointed out that Colorado was only half-Apache himself]]. In the film, he does so on his own accord (albeit after an attempted betrayal), has apparently been planning this for some time and [[ItWorksBetterWithBullets removed the bullets form Colorado's gun the previous night]].
15	* AdaptationNameChange: In the book, Colorado was "Pelon", Inga was "Francelia", Ben Baker was "Ben Call" and Mackenna's first name was "Glen".
16	* AgeLift: Sgt. Tibbs is nineteen in the book but played by a 47-year-old actor.
17	* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler:Only Mackenna, Inga, and Colorado survive the film.]]
18	* AndStarring: "in alphabetical order, the Gentlemen from Hadleyburg..."
19	* BerserkButton: Mackenna and Colorado like to push each other's. For Mackenna, it's harming Inga, and for Colorado, it's telling him there's no gold.
20	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Although the Canon del Oro collapses (and thus buries the gold fortune), as Mackenna and Inga ride away at the end, the saddlebag on Mackenna's horse is shown to be full of the large golden nuggets that Sergeant Tibbs had been loading into it.]]
21	* BlastingItOutOfTheirHands: When Colorado and Mackenna first encounter each other in the desert, [[spoiler:Colorado shoots Mackenna's gun out of his hand.]]
22	* BookEnds: The film opens and closes with a shot of Canon del Oro.
23	* CavalryOfficer: Sergeant Tibbs and the United States Cavalrymen.
24	%%* CoolOldGuy: Old Adams.
25	* DisguisedHostageGambit: [[spoiler:The drunken Pima Squaw is dropped off in Sergeant Tibbs' camp as a distraction so that the rest of the gold hunters can ride by unseen.]]
26	* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler: Hesh-Ke falls off a cliff during a mountainside horseback fight with Inga]].
27	* DroppedABridgeOnHim:
28	** You have a delicious ensemble cast, which is only made better when the veteran actors playing the townsfolk enter the movie about 45 minutes in. You expect each of them to get a few rather terrific scenes. [[spoiler:Nope. About fifteen minutes later, anyone who isn't Mackenna, Colorado, Inga, Hesh-Ke, or Hachita is killed off rather anti-climactically.]]
29	** [[spoiler:Hachita, a hulking Apache warrior who appeared to have Colorado in a ''very'' bad spot after he revealed he unloaded the bullets in his gun, is killed by Colorado a few moments after revealing this when Colorado stabs him in the back with a single hidden dagger.]]
30	%%* EvilIsHammy: Omar Sharif, naturally.
31	* EvilMinions: Sanchez and Avila. For the Apaches, Hachita.
32	* FaceDeathWithDignity: After the preacher is dismounted he sits there, calmly praying, and doesn't try to outrun the Apaches or beg for his life.
33	* FauxAffablyEvil: Colorado, who addresses Mackenna like an old friend and graciously invites Ben Baker's group to have some breakfast before hinting to Mackenna that he plans to do away with all of them before they reach the canyon. The same with Sergeant Tibbs, who kills his own men but spares Inga as a means of inviting himself into the group for a share of the gold.
34	* FullFrontalAssault: A SkinnyDipping Hesh-Ke tries to drown a fully-clothed Inga.
35	* GoldFever: The driving force of the plot.
36	* HeelFaceDoorSlam: After Weaver hears that Colorado murdered the judge and Mackenna urges him to leave and get help, he does seem swayed for a moment before Fuller starts accusing Mackenna of just trying to get them killed or get more gold for himself.
37	* HostageSituation:
38	** Mackenna himself is Colorado's hostage throughout the entire movie.
39	** [[spoiler:Again, the scheme involving the Pima Squaw.]]
40	* TheLoad: Inga and the townsfolk are this, and Mackenna makes it clear to them they're out of their element. He's proven right when [[spoiler:all except Inga are killed in a cavalry ambush or by Apaches a short while later.]]
41	* MsFanservice: Hesh-Ke's buckskin jacket has a few buttons undone around her chest and goes SkinnyDipping.
42	* NearDeathExperience: The whole movie story is this, mainly for Mackenna. Had it not been for an empty bottle he had with him by chance, he likely would have been dead. Had he not examined the map in all details right at once, and had he not burnt it, he would have been soon killed by Colorado. Throughout the whole film Mackenna is at the mercy of Colorado's gang, and many events happened that could result in his instant death and there was little to nothing he could do about it like trying to remain on horseback while being all tied up and crossing a flimsy rope bridge above an abyss. Or provoking Colorado all the time. Or escaping an ambush. Or trying to survive using horses as a living shield on a river. Or climbing a mountain. Or outlasting an armed enemy, while himself barehanded. Or being in the epicentre of an environment disaster. Old turkey buzzard seems to be no joke after all of this.
43	* OnlySaneMan: Mackenna considers himself this because of his apparent immunity to GoldFever.
44	* PreacherMan: The Preacher.
45	--> ''My share (of gold) will build a tabernacle to the Lord. A temple of the true Gospel. Maybe a whole strong of them throughout the territory!''
46	* TheQuietOne: All of the Apaches count as this.
47	* RaceLift: Sgt. Tibbs is half Native-American in the book but entirely Caucasian in the movie.
48	* ReadyForLovemaking: After Inga (briefly) leaves the group, Hesh-Ke makes a beckoning sign at Mackenna, pointedly picks up her bedroll, unrolls it, and sits down, staring at Mackenna intensely.
49	* RewardedAsATraitorDeserves: [[spoiler:Colorado to Laguna, after the latter reveals that he double-crossed Colorado in disclosing the entire gold hunting scheme to Ben Baker. Colorado welcomes him back with a fatal gunshot.]]
50	* RightUnderTheirNoses: [[spoiler:How the gold hunters get past Sergeant Tibbs and the cavalry.]]
51	* SameLanguageDub: Ted Cassidy and a handful of other performers are dubbed by Robert Rietty.
52	* SayYourPrayers: [[spoiler: Reverend Massey]], does this, combined with FaceDeathWithDignity, as he's wounded and an apache warrior is charging at him.
53	* SceneryPorn: Some of the beautiful Arizona scenery during the opening credits. Canon del Oro also counts.
54	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: [[spoiler:Mackenna, Inga, and Colorado when the canyon is collapsing at the end. None of them stops to retrieve any of the gold; they simply rush to their horses and dodge the falling rock as they make their way towards the exit.]]
55	* ShootTheHostage: [[spoiler:Subverted, as it is never quite clear what happened to the hostage squaw that was dropped off in Sergeant Tibbs' camp.]]
56	** [[spoiler:Swapped around later as well when, rather than shoot the captive Inga, Sergeant Tibbs kills his two troopers instead.]]
57	* ShowDontTell: Hesh-Ke. She makes it pretty clear without words that she wants Inga dead so she can have Mackenna all to herself.
58	** Vice versa, Monkey wants Mackenna dead so he can have Inga all to himself.
59	* SkinnyDipping: Colorado and Hesh-Ke do this at the pond Mackenna shows them. (Newmar was supposed to be topless but wearing a loincloth, but decided at the last minute she should be fully nude. No one on set tried to talk her out of it.)
60	* SparedByTheAdaptation: [[spoiler:Colorado.]]
61	* ThemeSong: "Old Turkey Buzzard, flying, flying high..."
62	* TitleDrop: The Narrator at the beginning -- ''"then for a while back in 1874, they called it Mackenna's Gold."''
63	* ToxicFriendInfluence: Fuller the newspaper editor is the least sympathetic of the townspeople struck by gold fever and implied to be a driving force behind their joining Colorado.
64	* UnrelatedInTheAdaptation: Colorado and Hesh-Ke are siblings in the book, but not in the movie.
65	* TheVoiceless: Hesh-Ke (a mute).
66	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: It's not shown if [[spoiler:Adams or the Older Englishman]] survived the cavalry ambush.
67	* WhenSheSmiles: Gloomy Hesh-Ke looks a lot less threatening the very few times she smiles throughout the film (always at her former lover Mackenna).
68	* TheWildWest: AND HOW. Apache Indians, United States Cavalry Soldiers, and deadly spirits.
69	* WithFriendsLikeThese: Colorado and Ben Baker seem to be this.
70	* XanatosGambit: On the part of the old turkey buzzard in the story told by the narrator.
71	* {{Yandere}}: Hesh-Ke wants Mackenna back ''badly''.

Context Film / MackennasGold