A Bullet for Sandoval / Quei disperati che puzzano di sudore e di morte / Los desesperados (Julio Buchs, 1969)

Yes, thats correct Stanton it is a Pal running time.

Ok, thanks!

great info about those bandoleros, scherp - do you know about some movie(s) depicting this guy Tragabuches

No, I donā€™t. Apparently heā€™s a well-known person in Spain, but not that known elsewhere. Wiki has only a page for him in Spanish and French. I had never heard of him, just stumbled upon his name and reputation while checking the info on these Siete niƱos de Ecija.

Iā€™ll go looking, you never know.

Road bandoleros were common those days and before both in Portugal and Spain some like Tragabuches or ZĆ© dos telhados (Joe from the roofs) in Portugal became quite famous, a kind of Land pirates, or a variation from the sea ones, most times they werenā€™t the Robin Hood type, they all had origins in the lower class people not in the blue blooded nobilty.

During the French invasions some of those guys assalted the French not for militar reasons but for their own profit (soldiers always were a good target for a good profit intention) French Spanish English they couldnā€™t care less on choosing the ones to be robbed, but there were indeed true patriotic guerrilas formed only to fight the French with militar objectives.

Also famous and with a big account of violence and destruction in the peninsula during the French invations and after, were the several bands of soldiers who deserted their armies and formed theyā€™re own armies of bandoleros. English Irish French, Portuguese, Spanish and even Germans (fighting on both sides) all gathered together after desertion, those were very dangerous and violent groups, normally the armies in conflit didnā€™t mess with them if they could, because they were well equiped, and after all they werenā€™t the enemy (the bandoleros also didnā€™t attack regular armies if they could), only after the war ended they could be desmantled after some mayhem with entire villages being attack by them

I thought so, El Topo. Robin Hood-like folk heroes eventually resulting in the formation of the Guardia Civil - sounds like the hroes werenā€™t real Robin Hoods.
But then again - all people need folk heroes, donā€™t they (I donā€™t think Robin Hood was such a noble guy either)

Nice and useful addition to what Iā€™ve said about those bandoleros

Studing the period of the french invasions in the Peninsula is a hobby of mine. Actually it was the only time after our birth as a country in 1147 that we were invaded by a foreign power that was not Spain (and Spain as neighbours donā€™t count).

Anyway Bullet for Sandoval alwayas was a fovourite of mine, not a great film per si, but a great exemple of how a SW works, Iā€™ve put it among the 10 SW of my life in Pereiraā€™s blog. Itā€™s also one of the best Spags with a Spanish flavour.

Borgnine was in other SW (and Iā€™m not couting Annie Caulder), or maybe not, Rain for a Dusty summer aka Guns of the revolution, got some SW credentials even if an US prduction I, got Sambrell, Sancho Garcia, most likely it wasnā€™t suppose to be SW, but an American western filmed in Spain, but just looks like any other SW made in the same period.

It is not even a real western imo. Odd film

Itā€™s in the database:

http://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Guns_of_the_Revolution

Never seen it, looks like an ā€˜odd filmā€™ indeed.
Itā€™s a pity Borgnine wasnā€™t in more SWs. I donā€™t always like his acting style, but in Sandoval it works very well. For me he was completely believable as the Don, in spite of his very American accent.
Saw him in TV series the other day, ER or something similar. Seems to have survived all storms, like Eli. Great guy.

Guns of The Revolutionā€¦what can I sayā€¦a boring mess of a film.

Have changed the synopsis a bit on the filmā€™s page. It wasnā€™t totally weisserish, but gave an false impression.

About the titles:
It wasnā€™t raining in the film, but at least it was dusty. And it wasnā€™t about any guns for the revolution, more about godā€™s word (a gun for some).

Btw Borgnine is merciless overplaying the role in a painful way.

He does that more often, in Sandoval heā€™s overacting too, but it works.

He looks almost ridiculous on that poster for Guns of the Revolution. I must admit that I had never heard of this movie.

No wonder, it is a more or less forgotten film

I have had the 107 min. copy of Sandoval for awhile now, just never got around to watch it. Looks like iā€™m going have to watch now! :o

Watched it for the first time last night (VCI DVD, widescreen).

I found the movie to be very good and entertaining from the beginning to the end. Although I saw the ā€œshortā€ version, I thought it was very coherent and well-written for the most part. Iā€™ve seen some terrible SWs lately, and anytime I come across an obscure one thatā€™s actually good, Iā€™m always pleasedā€¦movies like this one are why I enjoy the genre. The were times when I thought the disc might be headed for the eject button (such as when heā€™s toting around the baby), but the movie always seems to right itself just in time.

The movie is very well cast, down to the bit playersā€¦lots of good character actors in this one. Good story, good music, good acting, etcā€¦but the best thing about the film is the directing itself. There are a LOT of great scenes in the film. A few are taken directly from Leone (and who better to borrow from?), but there are so many others that are just amazing. One of my favorites is the scene involving the shoot-out, with the camera showing only the guns firing. Here the weapons are the actors and their shots are the dialogue; when a man falls, the gun is on the ground as well and just as dead. Another great scene (small and perhaps easy to miss) is right before the gang approaches the village where the Confederate cavalry is waiting to ambush them. The gang is aligned, looking at the villageā€¦and itā€™s shown as jump-cuts to the rhythm of the music track, transforming a static scene into a tension-building experience.
Thatā€™s just two examples, but the entire movie is sprinkled with scenes that were shot in unique and imaginative ways. Perhaps that is another reason that Fulci often gets credit for working on the film (even though he didnā€™t). Itā€™s just to too good for this ā€œunknownā€ Buchs to have done it himself. Iā€™ll just say that it should be remembered that Buchā€™s father was a director himself, and itā€™s obvious that a son might learn a few tricks from his dad, especially when it comes to filmmaking.

It is indeed a bit unusual that Borgnine plays his part without much of a Spanish (or Mexican) accent. Borgnine is certainly capable of playing ethnic characters with the appropriate voice (as in Ice Station Zebra). Did the lack of an accent come about by the directorā€™s (or even Borgnineā€™s) suggestion? Who knowsā€¦but itā€™s played in a consistant manner (Sandovalā€™s sons speak in the same way!) Perhaps itā€™s a symbol that Sandoval is above his peersā€¦a very educated man, perhaps of nobility. What is his backstory? Weā€™ll never know, and maybe thatā€™s the key to understanding exactly why he speaks that way. Borgnineā€™s presence in itself adds a lot of positive weight to the filmā€¦itā€™s easy to say that heā€™s an underrated actor, but itā€™s also a silly thing to sayā€“after all, he won an Oscar. Perhaps heā€™s undervalued as an actor simply because he had no regrets about about starring in silly TV shows such as McHaleā€™s Navy. His appearance in this film makes it very unique for the genre and should be appreciated.

Iā€™ll definitely watch this one again, even if only for the great direction by Buchs. Four stars and in my Top Twenty. Iā€™m hoping to someday see a more restored version, as it could only be better.

If you have atop 20 post it in our top 20 thread.

I just watched it a few weeks ago (VCI copy of course). I really enjoyed it. Hilton was great! He started out sympathetic and quickly betrays genre conventions by quickly becoming villanous. The ends justify the means for his character. Borgnine took some getting used to, but put on a fine performance. I liked Alberto De Mendoza and Leo Anchorizā€™s characters and the finale in the bull fighting arena was spectacular. 3 and a half stars.

Finished this last night - really enjoyed it. Thought the cast was excellent and the music was good. Some nice directorial touches but apart from a few moments e.g. the bull ā€œfightā€, there wasnā€™t any real standout pieces for me (I felt I was watching a normal western at times rather than one full of spaghetti goodness).

I loved the fact that as Hilton became more jaded his character dresses more and more like a classic spaghetti protagonist. Would definitely like to see an uncut version of this though as it was a good story.

A good healthy example of the genre - coolest part is the fantastic opening scene (Brutal and stylish!) 8)

7/10 for me

Saw this tonight. Thought it was awful. Really bad acting from Borgnine and George Hilton. Unconvincing plot, terrible set pieces (the bull-goring scene, laughable ā€œknife fightā€ between the leads). Very odd film indeed. Unsure if id watch it again, if yes then not for a long, long time.