Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here **** (1969, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross, Robert Blake, Susan Clark) – Classic Movie Review 9,474

As director or screenwriter, witch-hunt victim Abraham Polonsky was the auteur of three of the great film noirs: Body and Soul (1947), Force of Evil (1948) and Odds Against Tomorrow (1959).

McCarthy witch-hunt victim Abraham Polonsky’s first film as director in 21 years is understandably a biting attack on America’s rightist values, intolerance and the persecution of minorities. The undervalued 1969 anti-Western film Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here tells the real-life tale of a Western manhunt in 1909.

Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969, Robert Redford, Robert Blake).

Robert Blake plays renegade Native American fugitive Willie Boy, who is tracked down by deputy Sheriff Christopher Cooper (Robert Redford) after Willie Boy kills the father of his Indian fiancée, Lola (Katharine Ross), in self defence. The two go on the run, pursued by Cooper’s search posse.

For all its significance and notable qualities, Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969) is perhaps a little too preachy, self-consciously arty and low on popular entertainment value. However it is very carefully constructed, and lovingly made, with expert attention to music (Dave Grusin), photography (Conrad L Hall) and acting, all of them of the highest quality.

Redford makes a very strong impression, while Blake and Susan Clark as a liberal doctor, Dr Elizabeth Arnold, give most capable performances, with only Ross seeming at a slight loss.

Polonsky’s screenplay is based on Harry Lawton’s novel Willie Boy… A Desert Manhunt, based on true events.

Also in the cast are Barry Sullivan, Charles McGraw, Charles Aidman, John Vernon, Shelly Novack, Robert Lipton, Lloyd Gough, Ned Romero, John Wheeler, Erik Holland, Gerry Walberg, Jerry Velasco, George Tyne, Lee de Broux, Wayne Sutherlin, Jerome Raphael and Lou Frizzell.

Polonsky’s only two other films as director are Force of Evil (1948) and Romance of a Horsethief (1971). He wrote the screenplay for Body and Soul (1947) and Madigan (1968). He co-wrote the screenplay for Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) using a front (John O Killens).

Polonsky never hid his membership of the Communist Party, which was known by the US government during World War Two, when he was a member of the OSS working in France with the Resistance. After being named by fellow OSS member Sterling Hayden, Polonsky was arraigned before House Un-American Activities Committee in 1951. After refusing to name names, he was blacklisted for 17 years by the US film industry. Body and Soul was directed by fellow Communist Party member Robert Rossen, who kept his career by naming names.

American actor Robert Blake (born Michael James Vijencio Gubitosi; September 18, 1933 – March 9, 2023) was known for the 1967 film In Cold Blood, Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969), and the 1970s US TV series Baretta. He played the Mystery Man in David Lynch’s Lost Highway (1997), his last film role.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9,474

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