While the American Civil War rages, Apache warriors raid a homestead, killing most of the people there and abducting three young boys. Though it's not his job or responsibility, Major Amos Dundee, the commander of a local army prison decides to put together an expedition to track the Apache, kill their leader, and recover the boys.
Dundee's motivations for this expedition are not altruistic. He's resentful over being relegated to his current role, and is gambling that success will make his superiors forget the sins that got him assigned to it in the first place. His gamble faces fairly serious challenge though: he has nowhere near enough men in his garrison to actually do it.
His solution? To take volunteers from the pickpockets, thieves and Confederate soldiers that are the inmates of his facility (interestingly, recruitment of Confederate troops to fight native groups is something that actually happened in real life). Of course, this is a movie so that can't be complication enough: it also just happens that the most senior Confederate officer in the camp is an old friend, and now bitter rival, of Dundee's.
Production on Major Dundee was notoriously troubled, and the film sank badly at the box office upon release. I think that's a shame, as the performances are strong and director Sam Peckinpah (who would later go on to fame with The Wild Bunch and Straw Fogs) has an eye for great visuals, particularly in the outdoor scenes. Still, it's easy to see that the final film is a compromise and patchwork affair, with a wonky sense of pace and subplots that don't really seem to develop as they were intended. Tonally, it's also not likely to be to all tastes: the central characters are not very nice people, and don't behave like they are.
A flawed but interesting film, worth checking out if you are interested in Peckinpah's career, or in westerns that try to break out of the standard mould.
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