The Desperados


1h 30m 1969
The Desperados

Brief Synopsis

A son attempts to distance himself from his ruthless family.

Film Details

MPAA Rating
Genre
Western
Action
War
Release Date
Jan 1969
Premiere Information
Houston opening: 30 Apr 1969
Production Company
Meadway Productions
Distribution Company
Columbia Pictures
Country
United States

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 30m
Sound
Mono
Color
Color (Technicolor)

Synopsis

In the closing days of the Civil War, fanatical Parson Josiah Galt and his three sons, Adam, Jacob, and David, are leaders of a gang of southern marauders. Josiah, driven by his lust for revenge for the death of his Indian wife, attacks the Kansas town of St. Thomas. David, recalling his dead mother's prophecy of doom upon the family and repulsed by the carnage caused by his father and brothers, breaks with the gang after his brother Adam tries to rape one of the town's young girls. David is captured by his own men and brought before his father, who accuses him of treason and sentences him to be executed. David escapes, joins his wife, Laura, and together they flee to Texas, where they live for 6 years under an assumed name. After the war, Parson Galt and his sons continue to loot and pillage, and they eventually reach the Texas town where David, Laura, and their young son, Pauly, live. David recognizes the wagons of Carlin's Entertainers, a band of prostitutes who also serve as Galt's spies. Knowing that an attack is imminent, David reveals his true identity to Sheriff Kilpatrick, and together they set a trap for the Galts. David kills Adam, thereby setting off a chain of events that destroys nearly the whole family. To avenge Adam's death, Josiah abducts Pauly and tramples Laura, who dies in David's arms. Setting out on his father's trail, David hunts down Carlin and forces from him facts about a train robbery his father is planning. David helps to foil the robbery but in so doing kills his other brother Jacob. In a final confrontation with his father, David saves Pauly's life, but in the struggle over his son, both David and Josiah fall to their deaths.

Film Details

MPAA Rating
Genre
Western
Action
War
Release Date
Jan 1969
Premiere Information
Houston opening: 30 Apr 1969
Production Company
Meadway Productions
Distribution Company
Columbia Pictures
Country
United States

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 30m
Sound
Mono
Color
Color (Technicolor)

Quotes

Trivia

'Jeffrey Hunter' was originally signed for the George Maharis role, but died shortly thereafter.

Miscellaneous Notes

Released in United States on Video August 11, 1988

Released in United States Spring May 1969

Released in United States Spring May 1969

Released in United States on Video August 11, 1988