Westerns have always been used, but especially in the 1960s and 1970s, to draw attention to political, social, and social injustices. A good example of this is probably the ultra-brutal “The Wild Bunch – They Know No Law” from 1969. But Sam Peckinpah’s masterpiece had a model: Richard Brooks’ “The Feared Four”, which was published three years earlier.
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That’s what ‘The Dreaded Four’ is about
Extremely wealthy Texan Grant (Ralph Bellamy) hires four mercenaries to rescue his wife (Claudia Cardinale), who has been kidnapped by Mexican bandits. The team consists of weapons specialist Henry “Rico” Fardan (Lee Marvin), explosives expert Bill Dolworth (Burt Lancaster), horse expert Hans Ehrengard (Robert Ryan) and detective Jake Sharp (Woody Strode).
The closer the mercenary quartet gets to the target, the more confusing the circumstances of Mrs. Grant’s disappearance seem: has the woman really been kidnapped? Does she really not want to be saved? And what is behind the actions of the dark Jesus Raza (Jack Palance)? Rico, Bill and Co. soon discover that there is not only good and evil, but also many shades of gray in human behavior…
A layered action western
First and foremost, ‘The Feared Four’ can be read as a pioneer of the mercenary movement, which flourished in the 1980s thanks to male go-getters like Chuck Norris and Dolph Lundgren. In Richard Brooks’s western, the premise also seems to promise simple, restrained genre cinema, in which four tough guys have a job to do – and of course pursue it with the necessary leadership.
But the gunpowder-filled air soon dissipates and “The Dreaded Four” reveals its true nature. To some extent, Richard Brooks doesn’t just want to provide lively, action-packed entertainment. His western is rather an indictment of the government of the 1960s and its military operations in faraway Vietnam.
In “The Dreaded Four,” the four protagonists also invade foreign territory, firmly believing that they are doing the right thing in the name of justice. But they soon realize that they are not the solution, but part of the problem. Jesus Raza, the real villain of the story, but who probably becomes the most tragic figure here, gets to deliver a monologue that burns into your memory – and has lost none of its emotion to this day:
“The revolution is like the story of a great love. First of all, she is a goddess, something sacred. But all love stories have a terrible enemy: time. Slowly we begin to see more clearly. The revolution is not a goddess, but a whore. She was never pure, never holy, never perfect. So we set out again, looking for a new lover, something new. Without love, without purpose, we are nothing. We stay because we believe. We leave because we are disillusioned. We turn back because we are lost. We die because we committed ourselves.”