BITE THE BULLET

US, 1975, 131 minutes, Colour.
Gene Hackman, Candice Bergen, James Coburn, Ben Johnson, Ian Bannen, Jan-Michael? Vincent.
Directed by Richard Brooks.

Bite The Bullet looks very good - a beautiful array of Western locations from snowy mountains to blistering desert. It has some good acting, including some moving close-up character speeches from Ben Johnson and Gene Hackman. James Coburn is a pleasant cowboy and Candice Bergen a spirited leading lady. The story is an endurance race of 700 miles in 1906. Some incidents are well thought-out and executed, like the humiliating lesson to the young Jan-Michael? Vincent. Which add up to excellent ingredients for a not-entirely satisfying film. Early continuity is jumpy, the final action twist comes too late. The film is long, and sometimes seems so. Audiences would enjoy it, but not outstandingly.

1. What kind of western was this? Conventional, use of conventions, better than conventions?

2. The film's reliance on colour. varying landscapes, images of the west?

3. The importance of the film being based on fact, the film as history? An exploration of the American heritage? The types of the west? The film's title and its indication of the code of the west?

4. The importance of the film's structure: the race structure, the sense of place, the variety of persons, the interaction of competitors, the difficulties and clashes, the ultimate violence, the winning of the race? How well did this involve audience interest and emotion?

5. How well did the film communicate the experience of adventure: toughness, the riding. the difficulties of the terrain, exhaustion, the competitive spirit, the capacity for survival, endurance, the qualities of the human spirit that keep people going during adventure?

6. How interesting a hero was Clayton? As a type of the west, the initial kindness to the foal, his role as Parker's rider, his relationship with his boss? The human side of Clayton, his tendency to opt out of the race, his dentistry work? His capacity for friendship? His gentleness and wisdom? His friendship with Matthews? His talking to Miss Jones about his family, wife, war experiences? His reactions in the final danger? His decision to walk in? His crossing the line with Matthews?

7. What type of western hero was he? How admirable?

8. The contrast with the mercenary Matthews? Matthews' quality as a hero of the west? His friendship with Clayton? His own self-confidence? His interaction with the other competitors? His persuading Clayton to share the prize? Walking in with Clayton at the end?

9. The contrast with Christie and his work as a rider?

10. The importance of Mister? The old-hand at riding? His story about winning? The pathos of his death? His importance for the themes and issues of the film?

11. Carbo: callow, young, his ignorance, his capacity for violence and clashing, his unwillingness to learn from Clayton, from Matthews? The importance of the sequences in the desert: the death of the horse? The burial? The whipping? What did Carbo learn? His future?

12. The significance of having the Englishman in the race? As a character, as a contrast with the men of the American west?

13. How central was Miss Jones? The initial presentation? The background of the brothel? Her reputation and style? How much of a heroine for the film was she? The good and bad aspects of her character? Her helping and listening to Clayton? The revelation of her role in the prison break? The drama for the chase? Her change of heart?

14. How real was the film? How real were its issues? A romantic picture of the west? The characters of the race as symbols of the west? Adaptations to a changed world? The world of Teddy Roosevelt and 1904, romance and adventure?

15. The importance of visual techniques: the atmosphere of places, the portrayal of people, of the times, trains, towns? The techniques of close-ups, especially for stories, e.g. the story of Mister?

16. How vigorous a western? How soft a western?