Nothing Can Go Wrong...Go Wrong...

I first saw Westworld (1973) at the drive-in, first run (?) with Soylent Green. But Ms. Spenser hadn’t seen it, and what with all the buzz around the new tv series, I queued it up.

Like many 70s movies, it starts with a layer of meta - a commercial for Delos, a compound with 4 adult theme parks: Westworld, Roman world, Medieval world and TBD world. Then we see our cast on the plane (man, do normal planes from the 70s look like luxury today). James Brolin is the cool dude who has been there before, Richard Benjamin is the nervous newbie. The idea is that each park recreates a period in history, where all the NPCs (non-paying customers?) are robots. Therefore, you can do whatever you like - particularly kill or fuck these robots. The “fuck” part is only implied at first - lots of nudge-nudge when discussing the decadence of Romanworld. But first comes the killing.

At a cowboy bar, Yule Brenner comes in and starts trying to pick a fight with Benjamin. Benjamin doesn’t want to fight, but with Brolin’s encouragement, finally blows Brenner away. Then he gets to go upstairs with pretty sex-bot Linda Scott at Majel Barrett’s whorehouse.

In between the guest action, we see the high-tech control center where robots are repaired and re-programmed. We overhear the techs talking high-tech, and also making dentist appointments. But if you listen closely, you’ll hear hints of coming problems.

It all comes to a head when robot Yule Brenner returns for another gunfight. But this time he shoots James Brolin dead. (SPOILER.) It’s quite a moment in what has been more or less a comedy. Cool, savvy Brolin is dead, and nervous, nerdy Benjamin is being pursued by the implacable Gunfighter, Yule Brenner.

I guess you’d have to call the whole movie a black(ish) comedy. It’s based on the Delos spokesperson who says, like the setup to the joke, “Nothing can go wrong.” Brolin and Benjamin do well in their roles, but what really stands out is Yule Brenner. He is so creepy as the strong, silent Gunfighter. Now we’re ready to watch as many of his other movies as possible.