The Brigham Young University Motion Picture Archive Film Series will screen the 1961 John Wayne Western "The Comancheros" in the Harold B. Lee Library Auditorium Friday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m.
Admission will be free, but seating is limited. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. Adults and children 8 years old and older are welcome.
James D'Arc, curator of the Motion Picture Archive, will introduce the film and discuss the Utah locations used during the filming of the movie.
"Movie Westerns derive so much of their epic qualities from their locations," D'Arc said. "'The 'Comancheros' was photographed almost entirely in the scenic area along the Colorado River just north of Moab, Utah, although the film is supposed to be in Texas."
The movie was the last film made by legendary director Michael Curtiz, whose film credits include "Casablanca" and "The Adventures of Robin Hood." Many sequences were also filmed by Wayne himself, as Curtiz was ill during much of the production.
"The Comancheros" co-stars Stuart Whitman, who plays an outlaw gambler arrested by Texas Ranger Wayne. The two team up to infiltrate the Comancheros, a group of gunrunners spearheaded by Nehemiah Persoff.
The BYU Motion Picture Archive Film Series is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Harold B. Lee Library and Dennis and Linda Gibson. The films shown in the series are part of the permanent collection in the L. Tom Perry Special Collections.
A complete schedule of the series can be viewed online by visiting sc.lib.byu.edu. For more information, contact James D'Arc at (801) 422-6371.
