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In March 1969 National General released "Charro!" and earned 1.5 million USD in the US and Canada. Therefore a box office gross of 3 million USD can be estimated. We can translate this figures into the present by using the factor 15. In the present "Charro!" would have grossed 45 million and earned the studio 22.5 million on the domestic market. The western performed as weak as all the other recent movies starring Elvis Presley, so it was obvious that the audience was tired of him. Nevertheless "Charro!" earnend the king a Silver Spur Award in 2016. The Reel Cowboys also honored "Love Me Tender" and "Flaming Star".
Despite the low revenues at home National General released the movie in Germany, too. Here it was also called "Charro!" and premiered on August 15, 1969.
In 1870 a gang of criminals steal a valuable cannon and blame it on Jess Wade (Elvis), a former member of the bunch. When Jess gets hold of the leader's brother and keeps him in a mexican town, the gang starts a private war against the city.
Charles Marquis Warren (producer, director and screenwriter (based on a story by Frederic Louis Fox)), Hugo Montenegro (music), Ellsworth Fredericks (camera), Al Clark (editor).
Elvis Presley (Jess Wade), Ina Balin (Tracey), Victor French (Vince), Barbara Werle (Sara Ramsey), Solomon Sturges (Billy Roy), James Sikking (Gunner) und James Almanzar (Sheriff Ramsey). The German voice of Elvis was dubbed by Michael Chevalier.
Even though three Presley movies in a row had failed miserably at the box office, in November 1967 National General offered $850,000 plus 50% of the earnings for starring him in a western. Therefore half of the budget went straight into the pocket of the principal actor. It was obviously a low-class affair and one needn't to be a genius to realize that without a famous name and face on the poster the film wouldn't earn a single dime at the box office. It was basically a b-movie of Charles M. Warren, who had written the script and also was going to produce and direct. Obviously Elvis felt too good for nothing as long as it meant a lot of money for little effort.
At first "Charro!" was supposed to be an imitation of the hard-edged, violent italian western movies and the stuff people like Clint Eastwood were doing at the time. But after the production had started it was decided to be not all that offensive and most of the violence was abandoned. The movie was shot between July 22nd and August 28th 1968 at Apache Junction, at the Apacheland Studios in Gold Canyon and at the MGM Studios in Culver City.
RCA Victor released "Charro!" in February 1969 on the b-side of "Memories". A tap on the cover leads to the review.
In 2007, to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the singer's demise, Warner released a boxed set called "The Hollywood Collection", which also included a digital version of "Charro!". For a short review just tap on the cover.
Maybe the original concept could have been turned into a tolerable movie, but the final product is boring as hell and Elvis' wooden acting doesn't make it any better.
Movie Poster (C) National General, DVD Cover (C) Warner Brothers, Record Covers (C) RCA Victor and Follow That Dream Records.