Barbarosa (1982)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Fred Schepisi

Writer:

William D. Wittliff (writer)

Release Date:

19 February 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Plot:

A young cowboy hooks up with a legendary outlaw, and before long both are on the run from the law. |

Plot Keywords:

Cowboy | Law | Outlaw | Character Name In Title

US TV Schedule:

Fri. Nov. 20

2:00 AM

TCM

Cast

Willie Nelson	...	Barbarosa
Gary Busey	...	Karl Westover
Isela Vega	...	Josephina
Gilbert Roland	...	Don Braulio
Danny De La Paz	...	Eduardo
Alma Martinez	...	Juanita (as Alma Martínez)
George Voskovec	...	Herman Pahmeyer
Sharon Compton	...	Hilda
Howland Chamberlain	...	Emil
Harry Caesar	...	Sims
Wolf Muser	...	Floyd
Kai Wulff	...	Otto
Roberto Contreras	...	Cantina Owner
Luis Contreras	...	Angel
Itasco Wilson	...	Mattie

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:13 | UK:PG | Australia:M | USA:PG | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Alamo Village - Highway 674, Brackettville, Texas, USA

Company:

Incorporated Television Company (ITC)

Goofs:

Continuity: (At 05:00) Willie meets Gary for the first time with his gun drawn on him. Seconds later a gunman charges Willie and Willie has to draw his gun to shoot the man down.

Quotes:

[Morales is talking to his parents]
Angel: [to Karl] My father says you stopped Barbarosa from robbing him.
Barbarosa: Yeah, I was goin' to rob your pitiful old daddy and then shoot that squawkin' old woman just for spite!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude (2004) (VG)

Intertwining Family Feuds

The title role of Barbarosa is played by Willie Nelson and he's a former Texas Ranger turned outlaw who's on the run from his various crimes and from his in-laws who don't like him very much. They resent this Anglo marrying into their family and family patriarch Gilbert Roland got his leg shot off while trying to break up that marriage. He's lost several other family members in trying to kill Nelson to avenge that.

But Nelson picks up Gary Busey a farm kid on the run from a feud himself because he accidentally killed his brother-in-law. Busey takes up with Nelson and his outlaw ways and the two become an amiable pair.

Judging by the other reviewers Barbarosa seems to have a bit of a following. I wouldn't call it great by any means, still it's certainly entertaining enough for the discriminating western fans.

Barbarosa's significance to me is that it is the farewell performance of Gilbert Roland whose career went back six decades into the silent era when he was touted as a would be Valentino successor. His career never quite fit that mold, but he was always a favorite of mine. The part as the family patriarch is not the usual carefree, but tough Gilbert that we usually see. He's an understandably bitter man in this film and it was a good performance to go out on.

Western fans won't mind this one and Nelson and Busey have a nice chemistry between them.