Chino (1973) Charles Bronson as half-breed horse rancher Chino Valdez. Based on the novel, "The Valdez Horses", Chino was billed as an action western, but is much more a character study of a lone rancher in the end days of the old west as land barons encroached upon their way of life.
Valdez befriends a young teen drifter (Vincent Van Patten), whose circumstances are never explained, teaching him his way of life. Bronson's wife Jill Ireland is the unlikely love interest, their budding romance drives the storyline.
Filmed in Spain, this is hardly a spaghetti western, with high production values. Partially directed with longtime Bronson collaborator, John Sturges (his final western), Chino has few action sequences. Two fistfights and one gun battle. His valley ranch is beautifully photographed, as well as the surrounding landscapes. The herd of horses shimmer onscreen.
Some may find the ending unsatisfying, but it concludes the only way it can. A lone rancher is no match for the changing west.
Valdez befriends a young teen drifter (Vincent Van Patten), whose circumstances are never explained, teaching him his way of life. Bronson's wife Jill Ireland is the unlikely love interest, their budding romance drives the storyline.
Filmed in Spain, this is hardly a spaghetti western, with high production values. Partially directed with longtime Bronson collaborator, John Sturges (his final western), Chino has few action sequences. Two fistfights and one gun battle. His valley ranch is beautifully photographed, as well as the surrounding landscapes. The herd of horses shimmer onscreen.
Some may find the ending unsatisfying, but it concludes the only way it can. A lone rancher is no match for the changing west.