The McMasters

The McMasters is a 1970 American Western film directed by Alf Kjellin and starring Burl Ives, Brock Peters, David Carradine and Nancy Kwan.

The McMasters
Directed by	Alf Kjellin
Screenplay by	Harold Jacob Smith
Produced by	Monroe Sachson Dimitri de Grunwald
Starring	Burl Ives Brock Peters David Carradine Nancy Kwan
Cinematography	Lester Shorr
Edited by	Melvin Shapiro
Music by	Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson
Production companies	Distrifilm SA JayJen Productions
Distributed by	Chevron Pictures
Release dates	August 7, 1970 (1970-08-07) (New York City) December 23, 1970 (1970-12-23) (Los Angeles)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Producer Monroe Sachson had made The Incident with Brock Peters and the two were looking around for another film to make together. The budget was around $2 million.^[1] The film was shot in New Mexico.^[2]

The film was cut by the US distributors, Chevron Pictures, and Peters, the writer and producer asked to have their names removed from the film.^[3] Ultimately, two versions of the film were released. For its NYC debut, it played in two different theatres, one showing the cut version, the other showing the director's cut.

Plot

An ex-slave is given half-ownership of a farm following the Civil War. He can't find anyone to work for him until Native Americans help. Bigots try to shut him down.

Cast

• Burl Ives as McMasters
• Brock Peters as Benjamin "Benjie"
• David Carradine as White Feather
• Nancy Kwan as Robin
• Jack Palance as Kolby
• Dane Clark as Spencer
• John Carradine as Preacher
• L. Q. Jones as Russell
• R. G. Armstrong as Watson
• Alan Vint as Hank

Novelization

Concurrent with the release of the film, Award Books published a novelization of the screenplay by Dudley Dean McGaughey under his primary by-line, Dean Owen.