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Show Cinema circuit Legend' dynamic -j ""Tit . , V f . " ; NU -v A- r v; .J li v ' I . C j'""" '''!; 1 I r things to see a good ten-second bronc ride. Superimposed on the dual themes of a disjuncted Indian culture and the limitations of the rodeo circuit cir-cuit is the graphic portrayal of bronc riding. Give yourself plenty of room, an extra empty seat on each side, because you may find yourself trying to ride out the last five seconds on that horse yourself. your-self. To pick the brain of my Cherokee Chero-kee Indian bronc riding friend who understands these kinds of things with the wisdom that rodeo crazies and Indians possess: "The bronc rider is breaking out of the womb of that chute into a new life, and when it is done the way it can be done; when that special crazy dedicated fool cowboy locks himself him-self into that bronc and he has put his life on the line; then a notorious but vital art form is re-captured. For ten seconds Nijinski is a cowboy cow-boy and mad poets are again choreographing the world." Nijinski choreographed me all over those seats while the bronc buster and I did some serious rid-ng. rid-ng. If you are a rodeo freak who has a penchant for. the down-homey hues of golden aspen trees in the fall, some nice and easy guitar pickin', and a scattered shack home or two to screw you into the scenic virtues of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado then "When the Legends Die" is probably for you. By RICHARD BARNUM-REECE Chronicle Staff Rodeo Buffs are riding the cinema circuit this year. Dyed in i tne WOol rodeo crazies have digest-I digest-I ed "J- w- PP" witn Cliff Robertson, Robert-son, "Junior Bonner" starring Steve ' McQueen, and now they are offered up "When the Legends Die," intro-i intro-i (jucing the Ute Indian, Thomas ' Black Bull (Frederic Forrest), who, we are asked to believe, has been beguiled out of the mountains after his parents have died and is in-carcarated in-carcarated at an Indian school where his pet monster-bear is immediately im-mediately re-cycled to the forest sans master. The metaphor is established. Tom Black Bull transfers his attachment from bears to horses while trying I to make the best of the Indian school. He develops an extraordin- ary expertise with horses and soon lis in the legal custody of Red Dillon (Richard Widmark) an ex- , bronc rider with a fast eye for making mak-ing a buck. Tom Black Bull and Red go on the small time rodeo circuit and perform substantial rip-offs while making side bets as to the boy's riding abilities after jacking up the betting odds with a few . carefully performed falls in the . rodeo arena. Tom becomes sick of the con game and makes the break for the big time. It's a refreshing change of pace to see a movie which is more dynamic dyn-amic than the book. "When the Legends Le-gends Die" is such a movie. The book by Hal Boorland is notably improved by script writer Robert Dosier who has taken a class B western novel to the heights of a class A cameo insight into the romanticism ro-manticism of rodeoing (for those of you who think rodeoing is romantic). roman-tic). Also there is a socio-political commentary on the "white" indian who is more adept at selling cigar store Indians to non-smokers than his red brother is adept at stalking the wily trout. The character created by Frederick Forrest as the young man Thomas Black Bull is evocative. Richard Widmark's characterization of Red Dillon, the ex bronc rider on a binge, is questionable. Red swings from a Goliath destroying bar-room King Kongs with one blow to a sniveling alcholic begging beg-ging booze in the space of one shot of whiskey. Nevertheless he did hit that bar-room cowboy hard : and the rodeo cinemaniacs will go a . long way and believe a lot of |