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In terms of directors who have become famous not just for their work, but as celebrities in their own right, Quentin Tarantino is up there. Movies like "Pulp Fiction" and "Reservoir Dogs" put him on the map, but his personality made him known in front of the camera as well. Tarantino was even one of the rare directors to host "Saturday Night Live."
One of his other hobbies, if one can call it that, is reviewing movies. Tarantino is a true cinephile, and one who isn't afraid to say precisely how he feels about something. When it comes to Westerns, Tarantino is particularly passionate. Tarantino's highest-grossing movie is a Western, namely "Django Unchained." But when it comes to '70s Westerns, There's one he hates above all others.
Writing for the New Beverly in 2020, Tarantino discussed several entries from the well-trodden genre, including one starring Yul Brynner and "Star Trek" alum Leonard Nimoy. "'Catlow' is my nomination for worst studio western of the '70s," Tarantino began. The director then provided a less-than-favorable synopsis of the film:
"Yul Brynner, in the worst performance of his career, plays Catlow, the leader of a cattle drive of rustled cattle. The cows aren't really rustled, they're maverick steers that the politically connected, greedy guts Cattlemen's Association (boo-hiss) have deemed rustled to squash the little man on the march. So hot on Catlow and his silly cowpoke compañero's trail (including Jeff Corey in the old timer Arthur Hunnicutt sidekick role), are two different lawmen."
Some of the best Westerns of the 1970s rank among the best Westerns ever produced. This isn't one of them. Directed by Sam Wanamaker and based on the 1963 novel by Louis L'Amour, "Catlow" is a little-remembered relic from the genre, but one that Tarantino truly dislikes.
Quentin Tarantino had (almost) nothing nice to say about Catlow
MGM
Anyone unfamiliar with "Catlow" shouldn't be blamed, since it's not a movie people talk about very often. Basically, it centers on a marshal named Ben Cowan (Richard Crenna) and a hired gun named Orville Miller (Leonard Nimoy), who both hunt a post-Civil War drifter (Yul Brynner) as he tries to rob $2 million worth of federal gold.
As Quentin Tarantino pointed out in his review, this is one of Nimoy's few theatrical movie roles after "Star Trek," though certainly not one of his best movie or TV roles outside of "Star Trek." It also gave Nimoy the opportunity to be more of a bad guy, which was compelling. However, as Tarantino sees it, the movie never lives up to that promise:
"For a few moments in the beginning, Nimoy seems promising, if only for the fact it's his lone theatrical movie (till 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' in 1978) post 'Star Trek' fame. Since he's the only character allowed to play dangerous, you keep waiting for Nimoy's more serious movie to take over. But by mid-film Nimoy's character loses his credibility along with everybody else."
This was far from Nimoy's only flirtation with the genre. Before "Star Trek," he guest-starred in the Western series "Tombstone Territory," as well as appearing on shows like "Bonanza," "Rawhide," and "Gunsmoke." Despite Tarantino's negativity toward Nimoy's return to the genre, he did have at least some faint praise for one cast member.
"Highlight, Julián Mateos, Spanish star of Sergio Corbucci's 'The Hellbenders.'" As for the worst of the worst? It wasn't Leonard Nimoy or Yul Brynner. "Lowlight, Jo Ann Pflug, TV mainstay and Lt. Dish in Altman's 'M.A.S.H.,' playing Mateos' supposedly Mexican sister." Yikes.
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