THE TONTO WOMAN & "HURRAH FOR CAPT. EARLY"

Two Elmore Leonard Westerns are a cut above the usual. TONTO WOMAN concerns a romantic bandito who discovers a spirited woman in the desert whose face has been tabooed by the Indians who once held her captive. Alfred Molina delivers a superb, nuanced rendering; dramatic and poetic, it vividly conjures a trio of unforgettable characters. Joe Morton (THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET), a likable if colorless presence in his film appearances, outdoes himself in "Hurrah for Capt. Early," a short story in which local bigots refuse to believe that a black man saved their hometown hero, one of Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders. Normally flat vocally, Morton makes the most of the "stage wait," or attenuated suspense, preceding Captain Early's arrival and then pounces on the payoff with satisfying vigor. Y.R. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award © AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 99]