Gene Hackman....Bite the Bullet: "The people some people marry"

One of our top-10 films of all time.  

    .....and one we watch over and over (and will again tonight)

It's not one that is coming up on anyone's list of favorite Gene Hackman films, much less on anyone's list of favorite all time films, but it would top my favorite Hackman list....with Hossiers in second place.  Vicky might put Hoosiers above it.

Bite the Bullet is about a group of riders participating in a long-distance horse race.  Two of them (Hackman and James Coburn) were ex-Rough Riders.  Then there is  a group of other great actors and actresses (Candace Bergen, Ben Johnson, Ian Bannen, Jan-Michael Vincent, etc).

Beautiful scenery.  A small shoot-out.  

And Gene Hackman talking about his deceased wife who, along with others, were tied by the Spanish outside the Spanish fort so Teddy Roosevelt and the Americans wouldn't fire on the fort.  His wife and the others tied to the fort yelled for the Americans to fire anyway.

She died.

Gene Hackman's lines about his deceased wife who he obviously still loves:  "I'm not worth her spit."   and "The people some people marry." 

The ending of the race is absolutely terrific and rousing.

His death and his real wife's deaths two days ago appear, at least right now, to have been accidental.