Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Abraham Polonsky directs. Conrad Hall behind the camera. Melvin Shapiro cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 157 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 2Directed by Abraham Polonsky, shot by Conrad Hall. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 3Editor Melvin Shapiro shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 4Robert Redford and Katharine Ross and Robert Blake carry the top of the cast.
• 5Marketing tagline: "Tell them that old Indian fighter got his. Tell them I'll kill if I have to. Tell them they'll never take me alive.".
• 6IMDB entry: tt0065079 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 7Only 88 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
• 8Classified under 10 themes, including "california", "deputy sheriff", "native american", "based on true story".

The technical file

Cinematography

Conrad Hall

Editing

Melvin Shapiro

Costume design

Edith Head

Makeup / hair

Bud Westmore

Runtime

98 min · 1h 38m

Status

Released

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

PG

IMDB

Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969) ↗

Also by

Abraham Polonsky

• 
  Force of Evil

  1950 · ★ 6.6
• 
  Romance of a Horsethief

  1971 · ★ 4.0

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Tell Them Wille Boy Is Here Trailer

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Wuchak2018-09-11
  ★ 5/10

  Great desert scenery, modern filmmaking and great cast, but it absurdly rewrites history Loosely based on the true story of the West’s last famous manhunt in 1909, a Chemehuevi-Paiute Indian named Willie Boy (Robert Blake) kills a man in self-defense and escapes into the desert wilderness with an Indian woman (Katharine Ross). They are pursued by a posse led by Sheriff Cooper (Robert Redford). Meanwhile, residents of the region are preparing for a visit from President Taft. Redford was in his prime after his breakthrough success with “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (1969) and the outstanding “Downhill Racer” (1969). “Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here” came out next and was critically acclaimed. While a modest hit, it failed to achieve the success of the other two films, especially “Butch Cassidy.” It has since fallen into nigh obscurity and is almost never mentioned in ‘Best Western’ lists. Along with “Hombre” (1967) and “Butch Cassidy,” and soon-to-come Westerns like “The Missouri Breaks” (1976), “Willie Boy” ranks with the breakthrough ‘modern’ Westerns of the 60s-70s. The movie is polished and hardly seems to have dated after all these decades. The director was an admitted communist who was blacklisted by the McCarthy squad in the late 40s and “Willie Boy” was his big return to filmmaking. The cast is great, also including the stunning Susan Clark as a patronizingly liberal white missionary, and the desert scenery is spectacular. But the first half is dull and the story doesn’t perk up until the 50-minute mark. Still, this is a worthwhile late 60’s Western if you like the style of the others noted. What lowers my grade is the LIEberal rewriting of the historical facts in order to gel with the Indian-as-tragic-victim theme that was fashionable at the time. The real Willie Boy was in his mid-20s and kidnapped the 15 year-old Isoleta, his second time, after murdering her father in his sleep. Willie Boy used Isoleta as a pack animal and, when she couldn't walk any more, shot her in the back. Her clothes were shreds while her skin had swellings & bruises and there were cactus needles in her body. Her shoes were worn out and her feet bloodied. Willie Boy ultimately committed suicide with his last bullet and his corpse was found after the part-Native posse chased him for eleven days and over 500 miles in the picturesque wasteland. In short, Willie Boy was a piece of sheet who executed two of his own; and yet this movie has the audacity to make him out to be tragic figure oppressed by righteous authorities. Why Sure! The film runs 1 hour, 37 minutes and was shot in the deserts of S. Cal (Banning, Pioneertown, Joshua Tree, Riverside, Palm Springs, Whitewater and Lake Sherwood). GRADE: C

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Universal Pictures

  US

• JE

  Jennings Lang Productions

  US

• PH

  Philip A. Waxman Productions Inc.

Key crew

• SoundDavid H. Moriarty
• Assistant DirectorJoseph E. Kenney
• Second Assistant DirectorTed Swanson
• Makeup ArtistBud Westmore
• Set DecorationJohn McCarthy Jr.
• Set DecorationRuby R. Levitt
• SoundWaldon O. Watson
• Unit Production ManagerHal W. Polaire
• HairstylistLarry Germain
• Makeup ArtistMarvin G. Westmore
• Costume DesignEdith Head
• Art DirectionHenry Bumstead
• Art DirectionAlexander Golitzen
• NovelHarry Lawton
• ProducerJennings Lang
• EditorMelvin Shapiro
• ProducerPhilip A. Waxman
• Music SupervisorStanley Wilson
• MusicDave Grusin
• Assistant CameraRobert C. Thomas
• StuntsWilliam H. Burton Sr.
• StuntsJohn Daheim
• StuntsRunning Deer
• StuntsMickey Gilbert

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• california
• deputy sheriff
• native american
• based on true story
• on the run
• desert
• native american reservation
• posse
• manhunt
• 1900s

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1969-12-18PG· New York City, New York

Also known as

International titles

• Ucciderò Willie KidIT
• Indián magány - Halál a Rubin hegyenHU
• 내일을 향해 달려라KR
• Tell Them Willie Boy Is HereUS