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Demas Harrod( Tom Tryon), a US cavalryman, guides a rookie group of motley individuals out west with the purpose of battling Native American ‘hostiles’. At the cavalry outpost, he is overjoyed to be reunited with his partner, the stunning widow Lou Woddard (Senta Berger). To his dismay, he finds out that Sol Rogers (Harve Presnell), a rough scout of the frontier, is also in love with her. Things become worse as the unit is now under the supervision of Fredrick McCabe (Andrew Duggan), a pompous general who lacks any credibility. Just like the previous unit he was a part of, it looks like he is about to bungle Harrods men as well.
The Glory Guys was adapted to film by the innovative Western master Sam Peckinpah, who also wrote the screenplay, alongside Hoffman Birney, based on the novel ‘The Dice of God.’ Peckinpah was set to direct the film, however, Arnold Laven, the co-producer, did so instead because of the major failure that was Major Dundee (1965), which was released the same year. Arnold Laven had an equally extensive career directing episodes of popular television shows from Gunsmoke to The Rockford Files and The A-Team and The Greatest American Hero. Laven started out by co-founding his production company Levy-Gardner-Laven with Jules V Levy and Arthur Gardner in the fifties and maintained a steady pace until the early eighties. He is well known for the sci-fi classic The Monster That Challenged the World (1957), but he was also quite skilled with Western films such as Geronimo (1962) and Sam Whiskey (1969). Sadly replacing a visionary such as Peckinpah with a journeyman proved to hurt the final product.
The place, the cast, and the events were altered by the producers against Peckinpah’s will, who wanted to focus on the love triangle instead, which intends to be an acerbic description of Little Bighorn.
The Glory Guys has a very similar plot to that of Major Dundee as it too is a modification of Fort Apache and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon – Peckinpah’s unique style John Ford cavalry film. With the aid of Ford’s style, The Glory Guys has a mix of real and imagined plots and depicts the life of immigrants in America. With respect to the hostile terrain and war, the immigrants merge into a cohesive group and are able to survive. For Ford, this American experience is one of a communal nature. Nonetheless, Peckinpah leavens this with his trademark cynicism. The vain McCabe sees their battle-weary troops as tools to be used in the pursuit of their glorious goals. However, there is no room for triumphalism. Saul’s remark, “Drink deep, ride hard don’t look over the horizon,” in contrast, depicts a romanticized perspective that is fatalistic. Whenever there is such a statement, it is clear that deep thought and concern for humanity are lacking. Inevitably, the great director would approach the topic of the arrogant officer striving for glory at the expense of his men in his important World War Two film Cross of Iron (1977).
The forthcoming stars include a cast of poorly drawn supporting characters, such as Caan’s broad accent as a lovable rascal: in the future, he will be a MAS*H star, Wayne Rogers. Without question, there was a young James Caan who played Private Dugan, and Michael Anderson Jr. played naive Private Hale in Duques’s movie. Hale’s story arc was sweet as he fell in love with a girl – who later on turned out to be a nurse (Laurel Goodwin) and picked him up. In Truly, Slim Pickens took a stab at a role under Ford. Gregory gained fame as a staunch sergeant. The characters are simple with no sophistication which, as shown in the screenplay by Peckinpah, is the default. And so too are his soldiers. In Harrod’s case, his character is restrained, unlike the rogers who get to play out as heroic movie characters on some strange, yet Morgan like, superhero movie. And this leads to unsatisfactory results in which neither of them are carefree because the performances of Tom Tryon and Harve Presnell are lackluster. After some time, both of these men were able to prove themselves in different roles. In the case of Tryon, this came from a career change.
Later came Fedora (1978) and the television miniseries The Dark Secret of Harvest Home (1978). Presnell finished the decade with a remarkable musical performance in Paint Your Wagon (1969), where he won an award for best song of the year. Then he celebrated a golden jubilee with am unexpected comeback, this time with meaty roles in Fargo (1996) and Saving Private Ryan (1998). In The Glory Guys, however, it appears as if it’s a bit beyond the range of what both lads could do since the characters required a more commanding presence than is available from people like Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster. Consequently, the macho brawling that occupies a great deal of screen time is proven to be a mere time-wasting exercise and the romance just doesn’t lift off. On the other hand gorgeous Senta Berger facilitates a characterization which oscillates between normal and suggestively un-normal in a manner that is satisfying. Strangely, the film’s perception of the cavalry, much like the rest of the endeavours, lies in the grey area where there is celebration interspersed with pessimism.
Howe’s craftsmanship takes us far too into the future with stylish, evocative cinematography that captures stunning vistas of an old west painting. The primary skirmishes, though devoid of the graphic bloodletting characteristic of Peckinpah’s subsequent masterpieces, carry the very same visceral intensity. In point of fact, some cuts, depicting the furious brigade of cavalry Union in contrast with the peaceful nature, are masterpieces of editing. They sparkle oddly like a vision of the world through mortars, leaving the spectators stunned. Taking the issue of the Vietnam War, The Glory Guys does seem a little outdone, but it still serves as a potent allegory. This means that one does feel sympathy toward the soldiers and their intention of suppressing the Native Americans.
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