Barquero (1970)

Jake Remy leads a gang of outlaw cutthroats making their escape toward Mexico from a successful robbery. Barring their way is a river–crossable only by means of a ferry barge. The barge operator, Travis, refuses to be bullied into providing transport for the gang and escapes across river with most of the local populace–leaving Remy and his gang behind, desperately seeking a way across. A river-wide stand-off begins between the gang and the townspeople, both groups of which have left people on the wrong side of the river.

Finely crafted production by Aubrey Schenck, with most of its action confined to a spot on the Rio Grande where a bunch of "squatters" have set up a primitive frontier town and a man (the "barquero", Van Cleef) has built a barge connected by rope to cross the river. When a bandit leader (Oates) and his group plunder and burn a nearby town, killing everyone, they make fast tracks to the barge, only to find the town evacuated and the barge on the other side of the river, with Cleef and his woodsman friend (Tucker) reluctantly defending the mostly nebbish townspeople. The script's sardonic tone is probably indebted to contemporary Italian oaters, but its ferocious drive and its focus on a personal confrontation between to determined, opposed strangers is very effective. Cleef is good at showing that he has no real concern for the villagers, but is absolutely set on not letting Oates' bandits burn his barge. Oates is a bit over the top (method acting is the worst type to go over the top with), especially in the poorly-conceived scene where he shoots the river. Solid action film with a significant difference going for it.