1969 Western: Mackenna's Gold

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If your looking for a good older Western movie, available on Netflix:


"Mackenna's Gold is a 1969 western film directed by J. Lee Thompson, starring Gregory Peck, Omar Sharif and Camilla Sparv. It tells the story of how the lure of gold corrupts a diverse group of people.

The film was photographed in Super Panavision 70 by Joseph MacDonald, with original music by Quincy Jones. The story is very loosely based around the legend of the Lost Adams Diggings.

The gangster Colorado kidnaps Marshal McKenna. He believes that McKenna has seen a map which leads to a rich vein of gold in the mountains and forces him to show him the way. But they're not the only ones who're after the gold; soon they meet a group of "honorable" citizens and the cavalry crosses their way too - and that is even before they enter Indian territory.

The opening song, Old Turkey Buzzard, is a recurring background theme. It was sung by José Feliciano and was composed by Quincy Jones with lyrics by Freddie Douglas. The theme was used on the Late Show with David Letterman in 2007. A 19 second clip is played after Dave throws his cue card through the glass window behind his desk. While Letterman has shown irritation with the sound clip, he has also at the same time called it both "amazing and inspirational". Feliciano made a guest appearance on the Late Show on October 16, 2007, singing a longer excerpt of the song. "



Mackenna's Gold - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia