Walker
Walker is a 1987 American-Mexican historical, hybrid/weird western film directed by Alex Cox and starring Ed Harris, Richard Masur, René Auberjonois, Peter Boyle, Miguel Sandoval and Marlee Matlin. The film is based on the life story of William Walker, the American filibuster who invaded and made himself president of Nicaragua. It was written by Rudy Wurlitzer and scored by Joe Strummer, who has a small role as a member of Walker's army.
Plot
In 1853, soldier-of-fortune William Walker flees Mexico, after a failed attempt to incite an armed insurrection. He is placed on trial by US official for breaking the Neutrality Act, but wins on acquittal after giving a rousing speech to the jury. Walker has plans to settle down and start a newspaper, however, his fiancée Ellen Martin dies of cholera. Afterwards, American multimillionaire Cornelius Vanderbilt offers a job to Walker to bring stability to Nicaragua by assisting the Democratic Party in its civil war against the Legitimists. Doing so would secure Vanderbilt's rights over an overland shipping route between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Walker, who is a firm believer in Manifest Destiny, accepts and hires 60 mercenaries to join him on his mission.
Cast
- Alfonso Arau
- Ben Guillory
- Biff Yeager
- Blanca Guerra
- David Hayman
- Dick Rude
- Ed Harris
- Edward Tudor-Pole
- Gerrit Graham
- Joe Strummer
- John Diehl
- Kathy Burke
- Keith Szarabajka
- Marlee Matlin
- Miguel Sandoval
- Milton Selzer
- Norbert Weisser
- Pedro Armendáriz Jr.
- Peter Boyle
- René Auberjonois
- Richard Edson
- Richard Masur
- Richard Zobel
- Sy Richardson
- William O'Leary
- Xander Berkeley
- Zander Schloss