I've Traveled Back in Time to Slay Circle of Iron

The Silent Flute (1978)
directed by Richard Moore
rating: 1 out of 5 cravats
on DVD from Netflix

I can only assume that James Coburn's contribution to the original draft of this screenplay was the orgy that Cord the wandering warrior stumbles upon in the desert, just after a man in a barrel of oil (Eli Wallach's "Man-in-Oil") has told him that he can never hope to overcome the "pull" of his libido. Whatever Coburn, Bruce Lee, and Stirling Silliphant intended the first time around - when Lee wasn't an international star and had time to flatter the egos of Hollywood's leading action men with one-on-one martial arts instruction - was pointless without that initial spirit of good will. Carradine's mustachioed desert king might be a manageable substitute for Bruce as a wandering sage, but Canadian muscle man Jeff Cooper is no Steve McQueen, no James Coburn, and - Dallas or not - a real sap. What Gimme Shelter is to the end of the 60s, The Silent Flute does for the decade that everyone thought would make the independents kings. Put an amen to it.