The Appaloosa (also known as Southwest to Sonora) is a 1966 American Western film starring Marlon Brando, Anjanette Comer, and John Saxon, who was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of a Mexican bandit. The film was directed by Sidney J. Furie, and shot in Techniscope in California, Utah, and Arizona.
Plot
Based on the 1963 book by Robert MacLeod,[2] the title character is a beautiful horse (a breed, the Appaloosa) belonging to Matt Fletcher (Marlon Brando), a Mexican-American buffalo hunter who returns home, only to have his beloved horse stolen by a powerful bandit, Chuy Medina (John Saxon) with the help of the bandit's girlfriend, Trini (Anjanette Comer) in the border town of Ojo Prieto. Trini was sold to Chuy at the age of 15, but has been brutalized and effectively discarded.[3]
Fletcher begins to hunt down the bandit to recapture the horse, but finds matters more complicated than expected when he meets the bandit's girlfriend. Fletcher is subjected to torture and humiliation by Chuy and his minions.
A later foray into Medina's camp results in a brutal arm wrestling match in a bar between Fletcher and the bandido. Fletcher loses and is stung on the arm by a scorpion. Again left to die, Fletcher is rescued by Trini, who despises her "lover", Chuy, and prefers Fletcher's company. She gets him assistance from a kindly old peasant, which later costs the old man his life.
During the violence-laden climax, Fletcher is forced to choose between Trini and his beloved Appaloosa. Fletcher, realizing that Trini means more to him than the horse, sends out the Appaloosa to draw Chuy's fire. As the bandit prepares to aim for the horse, sunlight glints on his gun barrel, revealing his position. Fletcher fires and kills him. Fletcher and Trini then cross the border with the Appaloosa to start a new life.[4]
