MovieChat Forums > Shalako (1968) Discussion > the fearless huntress, Brigitte Bardot

the fearless huntress, Brigitte Bardot

posted 15 years ago by pathfinder616
12 replies | jump to latest

Brigitte Bardot is widely known as one of the leading animal rights activists in the world and the head of "Fondation Brigitte Bardot", which is a foundation dedicated to animal rights.

Shalako begins with a rather disturbing hunting scene where the aristocratic hunters and their hired guides are harassing a beautiful mountain lion which is cornered with no escape and is ultimately killed by the fearless huntress, Brigitte Bardot at close range with one shot.

it makes one wonder, was this film the turning point?

"only one food for the rest of my life? That's easy, cherry-flavored Pez. No question about it."

[–] rooprect 15 years ago

I haven't seen this film, but I was surprised to read your post about Brigitte because it seems like such an unlikely role for her. In all the films of hers I've seen, she always plays a character with a soft spot for animals--more often a fearless protector rather than a fearless huntress.

In The Night Heaven Fell (1958), there's a powerful scene where she & her lover are starving to death, and her lover decides to butcher a piglet for food. Brigitte turns into a wildcat and practically claws the guy's eyes out, saving the piglet. (Great fight scene. I wonder if the poor guy got seriously hurt!)

In Les Novices (1970?) again there's a scene where she is starving to death but refuses to butcher a chicken, instead opting to keep the chicken as a pet.

My only guess was that Shakalo was a big budget film w/ Sean Connery & a great opportunity for her to break onto the American scene. So that's why she took the role, despite its obvious clash with her personal attitudes.

I guess it wouldn't be the first time an actor played in a film so contrary to his/her beliefs. I still can't believe Charleton Heston agreed to play in Planet of the Apes, a film that blatantly mocks the establishment of religion & conservativism. But he does shoot a lot of guns in it, so maybe that's why he took the role! ;)

[–] pathfinder616 15 years ago

i'm not quite sure this was an American production. i think it was produced in the UK. Shalako's trivia section reads:
"Brigitte Bardot was an early choice to portray Tracy (Mrs. James Bond) in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). She was unable to do so because she was shooting this movie (Shalako) with Sean Connery, on a temporary retirement from 007."

so the real goal here was teaming these two stars in a western film. in addition, i believe this was Connery's only western genre film and when you see it you will see why.

"only one food for the rest of my life? That's easy, cherry-flavored Pez. No question about it."

[–] rooprect 15 years ago

so the real goal here was teaming these two stars in a western film. in addition, i believe this was Connery's only western genre film and when you see it you will see why.

Haha, I'm not sure I'll see it now. I've read a lot of bad reviews, and I'm not really a fan of Westerns to begin with. I was only interested because I'm a fan of Bardot (and to a lesser degree, Connery) ...and someone's selling Shakalo on ebay for $2.30. Worth it?

Aside from the mountain lion scene you described, are there any disturbing animal scenes? With some of these old westerns you never know what you're going to get. They didn't have any laws regulating animal cruelty back then (especially in Spain, Italy, etc).

[–] pathfinder616 15 years ago

$2.30 for Bardot! go for it! the scene with Bardot bathing by the waterhole is worth $2.30, trust me.

they kill a rattlesnake and that is not faked. i don't recall if there are any other disturbing animal scenes as the mountain lion was quite a shocking opening. i'm quite sure the mountain lion was not injured but they certainly pissed her off.

as far as westerns go this one is unique.

"only one food for the rest of my life? That's easy, cherry-flavored Pez. No question about it."

[–] Satantangoandcash 10 years ago

The rattlesnake killing scene was as fake as they get. Like most westerns made in Spain where there are no rattlesnakes, first they show a stock shot of a live rattlesnake filmed in the US, then they use a fake snake for the rest of the scenes. Connery whips a rubber snake then tosses a painted fake snake onto the ground that looks nothing like the stock rattlesnake. Even if you have to kill a rattlesnake (which you never do) throwing your hat on it then grabbing it is the stupidest thing you can do! That is a thousand times more dangerous than just shooing the snake away with a stick or the barrel of a rifle. It's a snake, not a time bomb. Thanks to stupid scenes like this and so many other movies, real rattlesnakes are continually slaughtered for absolutely no good reason.

[–] pathfinder616 9 years ago

dear satan, excellent reply. i will have to look more closely in slow motion to see the fake snake.

i have only seen one rattlesnake in the wild. it was almost 5 feet long crossing a mountain road at night. i stopped my truck blocking both lanes. by the time this beautiful snake made it to safety there were three other cars stopped and six people standing there watching this scene. i was glad i stopped because that snake would certainly have been roadkill had i not.

We deal in lead, friend.

[–] AWaite4 12 years ago

It wasn't Brigitte Bardot that shot the mountain lion - it was the Countess - the part she was playing. Try to remember that acting is not real.

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Tenser, said the Tensor.
Tension, apprehension, and dissension have begun.

[–] pathfinder616 11 years ago

AWaite4, point well taken. my original post was questioning if Bardot's role as 'Countess' had an influence on her activism on animal abuse. seeing this film now, knowing who the person Bardot emerged as later in life one has to wonder.

"We deal in lead, friend."

[–] jimmypage195 11 years ago

Bardot is full of *beep*

[–] pathfinder616 11 years ago

jimmypage195, aren't we all full of *beep*? would you care to elaborate and back up your criticism of Bardot?

not to digress but if your alter ego is jimmy page (and i can certainly relate) what's with the Al Pacino as Serpico profile pic?

"We deal in lead, friend."

[–] jimmypage195 11 years ago

she's a racist old hag who tends to think that she's better than the immigrants and muslims and as for the pic and the name i guess i like them both.

[–] BigBadEd 10 years ago

She IS better .... France knows it, the world knows it but I presume your a radical who supports the shooting of journalists.