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      Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here

      PG 1969 1h 36m Western List
      73% 15 Reviews Tomatometer 49% 250+ Ratings Audience Score While confronting the disapproving father of his girlfriend, Lola (Katharine Ross), Native American man Willie Boy (Robert Blake) kills the man in self-defense. Forced to go on the run, the couple is pursued by Deputy Sheriff Christopher Cooper (Robert Redford), who is somewhat empathetic to their plight, and a group of cold, calculating bounty hunters. As the pursuit continues, the situation grows increasingly tense, with Willie Boy and Cooper headed for a standoff. Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

      View All (19) audience reviews
      KB B This was just okay but not nearly my favorite Redford movie. Watch if there's nothing else on and see what you think. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 04/15/24 Full Review Shioka O Maybe not that bad, but I simply needed several times to finish it. This 90min felt like much longer. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 10/22/22 Full Review delysid d this is a great movie. robert blake was a great actor who also was in the films IN COLD BLOOD and ELECTRA GLIDE IN BLUE. yeah, he's not really a native american but if you can get past that it's a compelling watch. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 04/11/22 Full Review Audience Member The Paiute Native American outlaw Willie Boy (Robert Blake), escapes with his lover, Lola (Katharine Ross), after killing her father in self defense. According to tribal custom Willie can then claim Lola as his wife. According to the law, Deputy Sheriff Cooper (Robert Redford) is required to charge him with murder. Willie Boy and Lola are hunted for several days by a posse led by Cooper. Willie manages to repel the posse's advance when he ambushes them from the top of Ruby Mountain. He only tries to shoot their horses, but ends up accidentally killing a bounty hunter, resulting in another murder charge. Days later, as the posse closes in, Lola dies by a gunshot wound to the chest. It is left deliberately ambiguous whether Lola shot herself in order to slow down the posse's advance or whether Willie killed her to keep her out of the posse's hands. Cooper is inclined to believe the latter and then goes off ahead of the posse to bring in Willie dead or alive. As soon as Cooper catches up, he comes under fire from Willie, who is positioned at the top of Ruby Mountain... This western is based on the true story of a Chemehuevi–Paiute Native American named Willie Boy and his run-in with the law in 1909 in Banning, California, United States. We get a solid main cast with Robert Redford, Robert Blake and Katharine Ross. However, "Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here" is quite slowpaced and not really engaging nor entertaining. The most exciting part in this film is how utterly lovely Katharine Ross is. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Audience Member Loved this movie. Robert Redford was so handsome, Kathryn so beautiful. Great cinematography and great performances by Barry Sullivan and Robery Blake Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Am I missing something? The story behind this picture - both of the director and of the real Willie Boy - is FAR more fascinating than this snoozefest. Robert Blake and Katharine Ross cast as Native Americans in brown face is cringeworthy, though what do I expect from 1969 I suppose? But they both play it without dignity - two flat characters with absolutely zero charm. Robert Redford, arguably a tertiary character in this whole thing, is far more interesting and nuanced (and bizarrely the star of the poster). That's a testament to Redford's acting talent, but also kind of insulting to the story they're trying to tell here. The female characters in this are also intriguing and disappointing. Katharine Ross comes across as childish and empty juxtaposed with violent and creepy Blake. What's the appeal for her at all with this dude??? She's quite literally an object and one that, when disposed of later in the film, inspires no emotional reaction. (Perhaps because she also looks like a doll in that stupid bottle tan makeup.) Meanwhile Susan Clark as Dr Elizabeth Arnold has a bizarre masochistic sexual relationship with Redford's sulking-jock sheriff that actually is an interesting look into sexual power dynamics - but seemingly unrelated to literally anything else in the damn movie. Perhaps she's meant to be a parallel to the type of powerlessness native americans have against white rule but its far too uneven when Willie Boy, as a man, has more sexual and physical power than she does; whereas she has other freedoms as white that he does not but still a second-class citizen as a woman... the whole thing is too muddled. I will say the settings are beautiful and you definitely get a beautiful portrait of the west. I just wish they would have taken more care with the native american characters as people instead of just flat symbols. This would be an excellent candidate for a remake. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here

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      Critics Reviews

      View All (15) Critics Reviews
      Don Druker Chicago Reader A thoughtful, intelligent film that nearly makes up in style and conviction what it lacks in dramatic substance. May 1, 2013 Full Review Variety Staff Variety Redford's 'presence' is magnificent, always suggesting the classically-structured, powerful-but-weak American. Jul 6, 2010 Full Review Geoff Andrew Time Out A powerful film, even though the script wears its liberal conscience on its sleeve (and further hedges its bets by casting nice Robert Redford as the sheriff), directed with austere authority in desert landcapes marvellously shot by Conrad Hall. Jun 24, 2006 Full Review Harvey G. Cox Tempo (National Council of Churches) What's so great about Willie Boy? Nothing. Jan 7, 2021 Full Review Paul Schrader Coast FM & Fine Arts The cynicism of Willie Boy is inorganic and self-consciously anti-romantic. The principals do not arise ingenuously from their environment, but seem set consciously upon it, like the clowns in Waiting For Godot. Jun 30, 2020 Full Review Richard Whitehall Los Angeles Free Press Abraham Polonsky's Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here... brings its director back to the very center of American movies. Jan 16, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis While confronting the disapproving father of his girlfriend, Lola (Katharine Ross), Native American man Willie Boy (Robert Blake) kills the man in self-defense. Forced to go on the run, the couple is pursued by Deputy Sheriff Christopher Cooper (Robert Redford), who is somewhat empathetic to their plight, and a group of cold, calculating bounty hunters. As the pursuit continues, the situation grows increasingly tense, with Willie Boy and Cooper headed for a standoff.
      Director
      Abraham Polonsky
      Production Co
      Universal Pictures
      Rating
      PG
      Genre
      Western
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Nov 5, 2019
      Runtime
      1h 36m