Walker (film) - encyclopedia article about Walker (film).

Walker

Directed by	Alex Cox
Produced by	Lorenzo O'Brien
Written by	Rudy Wurlitzer
Starring	Ed Harris Peter Boyle Alan Bates
Release date(s)	1987
Running time	95 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Walker (1987) is an acid western by British director Alex Cox based on the life story of William Walker, the American adventurer who invaded Mexico in the 1850s and made himself President of Nicaragua shortly thereafter.

The film stars Ed Harris, Marlee Matlin (as Walker's lover Ellen Martin), Peter Boyle (as Cornelius Vanderbilt, his financier), and Miguel Sandoval (as Parker French).

It was written by Rudy Wurlitzer (Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Two-Lane Blacktop), produced by Lorenzo O'Brien, and photographed by Dave Bridges. The art director was Cecilia Montiel. The film was scored by Joe Strummer, who also plays a small role as a member of Walker's army. Sound was by David Batchelor.

Plot

The film, which by the end is intentionally full of anachronisms such as helicopters, Zippo lighters, automatic rifles, and a car passing a horse carriage, was made in Nicaragua during the American-sponsored Contra War.

Historical accuracy of the plot

There is no evidence that Walker ever met Vanderbilt or received his support, as the movie suggests. Rather, Walker was supported by Vanderbilt's competitors, Charles Morgan and Cornelius Garrison, owners of the Nicaragua Transit Company in his time.

Ellen Martin, Walker's fiance, died in 1850. In the movie she is present at his 1854 trial for violating US neutrality laws after he invaded Baja and Sonora Mexico, and died shortly thereafter.

Trivia

In one scene, where Walker and his gang march along a beach, you can see a small graveyard where the name "Sam Peckinpah" is clearly visible on one of the crosses.

External links

Walker page on Alex Cox website

Alexander Cox (b. December 15, 1954) is a British film director and sometime actor, notable for his idiosyncratic style and aproach to scripts. Cox has previously cited Luis Buñuel and Akira Kurosawa as influences.
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Lorenzo O'Brien (born 1955) is a Peruvian-American writer-producer of Irish descent.

O'Brien was born in Lima and attended graduate school at UCLA. He has produced many television films and several features including Walker and El Patrullero
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Rudy Wurlitzer (b. 1938) is a U.S. novelist and screenwriter. His books include Nog, Flats, Quake, and Slow Fade.

Among his many screenplays are:

Glen & Randa (directed by Jim McBride), 1969
Two-Lane Blacktop

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Ed Harris

Birth name Edward Allen Harris
Born November 28 1950 (age 58)
Tenafly, New Jersey

Spouse(s) Amy Madigan (1983-)

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Peter Boyle

Birth name Peter Lawrence Boyle
Born September 18 1935
Norristown, Pennsylvania
Died November 12 2006 (aged 71)
New York, New York

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Alan Bates

Alan Bates as Jennings the butler in Gosford Park (2001)
Birth name Alan Arthur Bates
Born January 17 1934
Allestree, Derbyshire, England UK
Died
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Acid Western is a sub-genre of the Western film that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s that combined the metaphorical ambitions of top-shelf Westerns, like Shane and The Searchers, with the excesses of the Spaghetti Westerns and the outlook of the counter-culture.
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Motto
"Dieu et mon droit" ^[2] (French)
"God and my right"
Anthem
"God Save the Queen" ^[3]
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William Walker (May 8, 1824 – September 12, 1860) was a filibuster, adventurer, and soldier of fortune who attempted to conquer several Latin American countries in the mid-19th century.
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Anthem
Himno Nacional Mexicano

Capital
(and largest city) Mexico City

Official languages Spanish (
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President is a title held by many leaders of organizations, companies, trade unions, universities, and countries. Etymologically, a "president" is one who presides , who sits in leadership (from Latin prae- "before" + sedere "to sit"; giving the term
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Anthem
Salve a ti, Nicaragua

Capital
(and largest city) Managua

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Ed Harris

Birth name Edward Allen Harris
Born November 28 1950 (age 58)
Tenafly, New Jersey

Spouse(s) Amy Madigan (1983-)

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Marlee Matlin

Birth name Marlee Beth Matlin
Born July 24 1965 (age 42)
Morton Grove, Illinois
Died

Spouse(s)
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Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), also known by the sobriquets The Commodore [1] [2] or Commodore Vanderbilt
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Miguel Sandoval

Born November 16 1951 (age 57)
Washington,
District of Columbia, U.S.
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Rudy Wurlitzer (b. 1938) is a U.S. novelist and screenwriter. His books include Nog, Flats, Quake, and Slow Fade.

Among his many screenplays are:

Glen & Randa (directed by Jim McBride), 1969
Two-Lane Blacktop

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All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

This article is about the movie. For the musical album, see Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (album).

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All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

This article is about the film. For the band, see Two Lane Blacktop.

Two-Lane Blacktop
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The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter.
Please help [ improve the introduction] to meet Wikipedia's layout standards.

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John Graham Mellor (August 21, 1952 – December 22, 2002) better known as Joe Strummer, was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and lead singer of the English punk rock band The Clash. He was also a member of the The Mescaleros and (temporarily) The Pogues.
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David 'Dickie' Batchelor (born March 7 1941, died May 3 2005) was a British sound engineer.

He worked for the BBC and Anglia Television, before going freelance. John Lloyd worked closely with him for years.

He worked with Rowan Atkinson on American Express adverts.
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anachronism (from the Greek "ανά," "against," and "χρόνος," "time") is anything that is temporally incongruous—that is, it appears in a temporal context in which it seems sufficiently out of place as to be
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helicopter is an aircraft which is lifted and propelled by one or more horizontal rotors, each rotor consisting of two or more rotor blades. Helicopters are classified as rotorcraft or rotary-wing aircraft to distinguish them from fixed-wing aircraft because the helicopter derives
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Zippo lighter is a refillable, metal lighter manufactured by Zippo Manufacturing Company. Thousands of different styles and designs have been made in the seven decades since their introduction. They are frequently collected.
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CAR is a three-letter acronym that can stand for:

Central African Republic
Action Committee for Renewal, a political party of Togo
Canadian Airborne Regiment
Canadian Atlantic Railway
Canadian Aviation Regulations
Canonical anticommutation relation

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carriage is a four-wheeled horse drawn private passenger vehicle with leaf springs (elliptical springs in the 19th century) or leather strapping for suspension, whether light, smart and fast or large and comfortable. Compare the public conveyances stagecoach, charabanc, and omnibus.
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