Director Richard Brooks makes sure that this story of an endurance race on horseback across south-west America in 1908 keeps going at a gallop, crammed with action and incident.

For once, Gene Hackman, as the sensitive man who loves horses more than he wants to win the race, seems slightly at sea - perhaps at having to express so much humanity in one soul.

But James Coburn and Candice Bergen sit more easily in the saddle.

That menacing actor Paul Stewart, familiar from such Hollywood films as 'The Window' and 'Champion', makes a welcome film appearance as the man behind the race.

The best performance of all, though, comes from that craggy, Oscar-winning character star Ben Johnson, as the veteran rider of the group.

He has a magnificent final scene that tops anything else in this hell-for-leather film.