Just as they did for 1965's Shenandoah, director Andrew V. McLaglen and screenwriter James Lee Barrett team up with actor James Stewart for this classic 1968 Western about a band of ex-convicts trying to go straight.

The film begins as Dee Bishop (Dean Martin) and his gang are about to be hanged. The Scripture-spouting executioner turns out to be Dee's brother Mace (James Stewart), who helps the desperadoes escape. They are pursued by a sheriff (George Kennedy), whose lady friend (Raquel Welch) is infatuated with Dee.

The brothers try to go straight, but before they can make up their mind they find themselves surrounded by Mexican bandidos and are forced to team up with the sheriff to fight them off.

Review by DVD Verdict

“In 1968, Bandolero! seemed dated and routine to audiences accustomed to traditional Westerns. The year before, United Artists released the classic "Dollars” trilogy, directed by Italian master Sergio Leone. Right around the corner were the revolutionary Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Wild Bunch. Those films forever changed the definition of what a Western could be. By comparison, Bandolero! looked awfully undistinguished indeed.

Fast forward to 2004. With few notable exceptions (Unforgiven, Open Range), the modern Western is pretty much dead in the water. Now that we can approach it with a less jaundiced point of view, we can see that Bandolero! is one of the finest examples of a traditional Western available. Director Andrew V. McLaglen manages to combine good old-fashioned filmmaking with great performances to make a Western that actually works. In part, what killed the Western was its tendency to present the world as good guys versus bad guys. Bandolero! is unusual in that the heroes are just as immoral as the villains and the lone law figure is a corrupt sleazeball.

The acting is the main attraction here. After making a series of lighthearted, often silly family comedies, James Stewart entered a new, Western period of his career. Firecreek was the first of these Westerns to be released. After our film, he would make The Cheyenne Social Club, released in 1970. While those pictures were routine, Bandolero! features one of Stewart's very best performances. He has the challenge of making a hero out of a character that is technically a villain. He makes it look so easy that one may think he is phoning in the performance, but if there's one thing Jimmy Stewart never did, it was phoning in a performance. He gives Mace many of the admirable, likable qualities he gave his full-fledged heroes. Dean Martin may seem like an unexpected casting choice, since one looks at him and sees the “drunken singer” persona he made his own during this period of his life. However, Martin could act with the best of them when he wanted to. The Young Lions, Toys in the Attic, and Kiss Me, Stupid are proof of that, and Bandolero! can be added to that list. As with Stewart, Martin was given the challenge of making a good guy out of a heel. He succeeds with conviction. As for Raquel Welch, no one will ever mistake her for a great actress. While she has been in some good films, her thespian abilities often seemed nonexistent. Imagine my surprise when I saw her give a fine, textured performance as the Widow Stoner. And George Kennedy follows up his Oscar-winning work with another strong portrayal of a man on the opposite side of the fence…"