Cheap Louis L'Amour's The Sacketts (DVD) (Robert Totten) Price

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Customer Reviews of Louis L'Amour's The Sacketts

"You play the harp, mister? You keep pushin, you'll end up learnin'."
Warning: SPOILERS scattered all over. <
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>To this day, Louis L'Amour remains my favorite western wordsmith. And, amongst his many protagonists, my preference lies with the Sackett family. Which leads me to this two-part television mini-series. In 1979, Louis L'Amour's THE SACKETTS came aroaring to the small screen and brought to gritty realization some of my favorite Western characters of all time. There are 17 Sackett novels in all (19, if you count minor roles by a Sackett in BENDIGO SHAFTER and in DARK CANYON), and the mini-series chose to base itself on two early novels, SACKETT and THE DAYBREAKERS. Screenwriter Jim Byrnes had to somehow combine the two books into one cohesive screenplay and, thus, had to make some changes. But it's all good as Louis L'Amour read the screenplay and gave his blessing. In fact, L'Amour provides the opening voice-over intro for Parts 1 & 2. <
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>So, the plot: After fatally gunning down a feuding man, young Tennessee gunfighter Tyrell Sacket (Jeff Osterhage) hightails it to the untamed west, trailed and then accompanied by his level-headed older brother Orrin (Selleck). First hiring on as cowhands in a cattle drive to Kansas, Tyrell and Orrin then make their way to New Mexico. In Santa Fe, they get caught up in a bitter feud between a hidalgo, whose people have long held the territory, and a land-grabbing Anglo encroacher named Jonathan Pritts, who aims to push the Mexicans out. With Pritts bent on achieving his goal come hell or high water, it's only a matter of time before them hillbilly boys from Tennessee find cause to slap leather. <
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>Meanwhile, William Tell Sackett (Sam Elliott), a Civil War veteran and the oldest Sackett brother, gets drawn into a slanted poker game and has to kill a cheatin' cardsharp, an act which promises dire consequences for Tell. Weeks go by and Tell is now prospectin' for gold and finds himself fending off an unkempt but plucky girl, greedy varmints, and grim-lookin' folks bent on a reckonin'. Undermanned and outgunned, Tell looks to be in a spell of trouble. But, then again, when you fight one Sackett, well, you fight 'em all. <
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>There've been quite a few movie renditions of L'Amour's novels, including the pretty great HOW THE WEST WAS WON, the little known but still nifty THE BURNING HILLS (with Tab Hunter), and THE SHADOW RIDERS, which reunites Elliott, Selleck, and Osterhage. But, to me, the finest L'Amour film adaptation is THE SACKETTS. At 3 hours and 20 minutes long and shifting back and forth between the two story arcs, the film captures the personalities of the three Sackett brothers and conveys a certain down and dirty realism, all the while espousing that old-fashioned Western code of honor and delivering its share of frontier justice. The sets are peopled by actors who appear genuine in their patina of dust and grime. In striving for an authentic depiction, the filmmakers had to fight just to keep the horse dung intact on the dusty streets (the movie backers were appalled). Present also is the authentic-sounding, colloquial frontier speak which, naturally, heavily sprinkles L'Amour's books. <
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>Sam Elliott has his character down pat, a natural as the "rawboned and ugly lookin'" Tell Sackett, with his tangled beard and ferocious handlebar mustache and feral, ill-tempered eyes. So convincing is Elliott as the laconic Tell that it's almost a surprise whenever he parts his lips to speak. Tom Selleck, still one year away from his iconic, star-making turn as Thomas Magnum, had to come in 5 times before he was signed on. As Orrin Sacket, the most erudite and learned of the three brothers, Selleck brings to the screen his charm, warmth, and heartthrob smile. Orrin supposedly can "talk a squirrel out of a walnut tree" or "a pump handle into believing it was a windmill." And, as embodied by Selleck, one can fair believe it. Little known Jeff Osterhage does just fine as the shy and earnest, but oh-so-deadly Tyrell Sackett, who, along with the legendary Barnabas Sackett, is one of my all time favorite L'Amour creations. <
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>The supporting cast is uniformly solid, with veterans Glenn Ford and Ben Johnson as standouts. Ford adds depth to the canny Tom Sunday, who starts out as Orrin and Tye's mentor but eventually metamorphoses into a bitter and hard-drinking man. The grizzled Johnson exudes experience and world-weary wisdom as Cap Rountree, whose "wrinkles are war maps." Old oater reliables Jack Elam and Slim Pickens ride up as the vengeful minded Bigelow brothers. <
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>While there is a smattering of action throughout, which culminates in the three brothers engaging in a furious shootout at the livery stable, the movie takes its time with its thoughtful, wide ranging character development. It pays off later as I feel the saddest part of the film is actually the downspiraling turn of once friend and ally Tom Sunday and his inevitable fate. In the relatively short passage of time covered by the film, Orrin and Tye grow from raw Tennessee boys to adults who've planted roots and become men of means and responsibilities. However, from beginning to end, the grim-visaged Tell Sackett is seemingly immutable, although he seems to have gained a lady friend at the end there. While, in my opinion, Orrin and Tye's story is more engrossing, Tell's story arc is noteworthy in that it bespeaks the often solitary life preferred by a certain hardy breed of men who lived back then, when the country was spacious enough to give a man room to breathe. <
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>There are several highlight moments which I savor. There is Tye's showdown with Carney. Tell's shaving demo with the wicked-looking Arkansas toothpick. Tye overcoming his shyness with the hidalgo's daughter. Tell facing down Kid Newton, a would be gunfighter. There is Tom Sunday's last stand. And the climactic shootout between the Sacketts and the Bigelows. <
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>Part One of the mini-series is on the first disc. The 2nd disc has the conclusion, as well as a 12-minutes-long featurette "The Sacketts Go West" which presents fairly informative interviews with Jeff Osterhage and writer Jim Byrnes. <
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>With TNT foremost, but also other cable networks, having championed the movie western down thru the years, here's hoping Ted Turner or whoever sees fit to adapt more of L'Amour's work, and specifically, the Sackett books, and, even more specifically, SACKETT'S LAND (with Barnabas Sackett) and THE SACKETT BRAND (with Tell Sackett and a passel of other Sacketts). Here's hoping.

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Major Letdown
This was not the complete series. Editing left a major hole in the story line. I would strongly suggest getting the full length version.

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Brother Protects Brother!
This movie is so great because you would think that these men are really brothers! It has a family oriented theme. Each brother goes their separate way to do what they want. But through the trials of life they end up back together each one protecting the other. It shows that family is very important!