Ramon the Mexican / Ramon il Messicano (Maurizio Pradeaux, 1966)

Canā€™t find much information about this, I see someone put in it their top 20. One of my favourites Claudio Undari in the main role.

Database page: Ramon il Messicano - The Spaghetti Western Database

Yep, I also remembered seeing this in someoneā€™s top20 so I was expecting something special. But the film isnā€™t that good, main actor is uncharismatic, plot doesnā€™t know where to go, music is boring and too repeative. Film tries to achieve some moody atmosphere but fails. Undari is good though as the villain, Ramon. My rating: 2/5

Ramon the Mexican has potential. I liked it to a certain degree. Enough to give it a 3/5.

Itā€™s not easy to talk about the film as the copy I have is terrible bad.

I have downloaded this one but I havenā€™t seen it yet.

Just saw the opening credits and appears that Antonio Casale (Bill Carson) was an assistant director on this film. Will report back on how the film is.

Was expecting a little more screen time with Robert Hundar. Hundar seemed a bit to tall and his eyes were not right for a mexican. But he does what is expected which counts. Enjoyed some of the other supporting roles better, especially in the shape of the quirky old guy who rides a donkey. The love interest played it a bit to heavy. The style of the film reminded me of a western made a year or two than it actually was. Nothing ground breaking here, but kept me watching.

We canā€™t expect too much from this one, Ramon the Mexican is a minor SW.

Worthy of note is the presence of unusual elements such as an invocation / prayer (answered!), the explosion of a wagon and a rather drastic method to quicken the drawing of the gun. The scenes I prefer are the ending, which is also fairly unusual, the captivating flamenco sequence and to a lesser extent the beginning with the introduction of Esmeralda and the Baxter.

Around 163.000 views on YouTube, still awaiting 5 votes on IMDb!

LOL :smiley:

I watched Ramon the Mexican last night after a coupla scoops and pretty much enjoyed the experience.

A few notesā€¦
Iā€™d forgotten Iā€™d gotten a better version than the particularly shitty ā€˜surfā€™ version that Iā€™d given up on before and is painful to try and watch. Although the newer version shows a remarkable leap in quality, it is still pretty bad ā€“ a fuzzy vid-rip with a ā€˜wonkyā€™ soundtrack - but nonetheless watch-able with a couple more brews to help meet the blurriness halfway.

The wonky music comes from the quill of Felice di Stefano and is suitably spaghetti-trumpety for the most part ā€“ and suitably absent for effect at other times - particularly so for a when the Mexicans are gathered around the dead brother of Ramon, which helps you notice those little quirky details in folksā€™ behaviour (and spag-ugly faces) more ā€“ maybe?
The filmy bits are well framed at times - the aforementioned bit - and the opening shots as Esmeralda is seen washing at the river (and practically falling out of her blouse), :o and who is seen by us through the spread legs of said brother - who arriving on the scene has the idea of spreading her legs as well. This is very naughty, not just because Esmeralda isnā€™t happy about this arrangement, but she is promised to another ā€“ Slim Baxter ā€“ whoā€™s family are involved in an historical feud with the Mexicans (excepting Esme). And all this behaviour ainā€™t gonna be helping mend any bad blood between 'em at all I reckon.
Another bit, that pans down from clacking castanets to a pretty flamenco-gal beneath 'em who is dancing on a table surrounded by some mexi-mayhem adds to the fun, in what is for the most part a pretty grubby slice of revenge-y spaghetti-pie.

The only comedy in this isnā€™t overdone and is welcome as it traditionally comes in the form of a drunken olā€™ scrote (oh joy!) just as we like 'em. He gets some good lines and, in reply to a question about why a ā€œfoolish priestā€ would want to come to town, says ā€œHe comes to marry those that wants it, and bury those that needs it, and baptise babies that neither want it or need itā€¦ā€ ;D

The film now revolves around the aforementioned tit-for-tat feud, and how Esmeralda tries to do the right thing, selflessly putting her own happiness and honour to one side, in an attempt to save the man she loves from the superior gunswirling antics of Ramon.
When she stares up, ::slight_smile: and silently offers a prayer to a picture of the Madonna and child, I gotta tell ya a lump formed in the throat of this old reverend :stuck_out_tongue: ā€“ which of course I quickly washed away with a slug of holy water. :slight_smile:

Thereā€™s plenty of traditional (and a bit of somewhat quirky) spag-fare here to please for the most part - an in-the-pocket sheriff, pistol twirling and bottle shooting a-plenty, a near-dead protagonist being nursed back to health, Aldo Berti (looking as deranged as ever) teaching an unusual way to improve gun technique, and a climatic final shootout that doesnā€™t disappoint.

Itā€™s a slow and slightly broody film, maybe along the lines of Bullet in the Forehead. But itā€™s not as good as that one ā€“ for if it has all the right main ingredients for the most part, it is still (as others have mentioned) lacking something. The garnish isnā€™t quite bitter enough, or indeed maybe sweet enough, at times. For bitter/sweet is the flavour we most like in our spaghetti-pie I reckon.
Ramon (Hundar) is a big muscle-y o.k. (but isnā€™t as mexi-madly animated as he was in ABITF) - Esmerelda is heavingly-busom-ly o.k. - and Berti and scrote are great in their supporting roles - but the other leads are all a bit uncharismatic.
I could sum it up by saying that the background folk have the best faces in this.

But, overall this did the job for this reverend on this occasion - but yet again is another film thatā€™s crying out for a better print to help us more fully appreciate it.
Half marks rounded up to 3 for the scrote and Berti.

Worth a look for sure.

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So we will very soon have a Wild East release, Iā€™m looking forward to that.

i the meantime I re-watched it the other night on YouTube. Impossible for me to follow, as it has an Italian audio, but I really like the mood of it, slow paced and with a nice score. By the way, Ramon and his brothers versus the Baxters, hmm, where did I hear something like that before?

Yes this one is not so easy to find in good quality, but The Wild East disc should solve this.

Watched the Wild East disc tonight. Good picture quality, but the English dub is a little out of sync.
What saves this one for me is Claudio Undari as Ramon, Dis Stefanoā€™s lamenting main theme and some good cinematography. Six out of ten points.

Probably, Pradeeaux meant us to sympathize with Slim Baxter, but for me something went wrong along the road and I ended up sympathizing with the bad guy.

I often sympathize with the bad guy. Always good films when I do that.

Thanks to @Tom_Bā€™s edit Iā€™m reconsidering my opinion of the credited Honil Ranieri as Howard Nelson Rubien. Rubien is certainly present as the doctor and with a credit as Honard Nelson Rubien, I concluded Honil = Honard.


Since learning of the presence of Lino Ranieri in Sicario 77, vivo o morto (1966) I checked for a shared role without success. IMDB has also listed an acting credit in Le belle famiglie (1964) and as Ho[a]nil Ranieri as writer/director of Gli angeli del 2000 (1969), neither of which I can find. So I took another look at Sicario 77. @JonathanCorbett, do you think this might be the same person as the sheriff?


The scene is a short throwaway one but one that might get a credit as Number 2 seems to think the person is a statue and then apologizes when he realizes he is real.

Iā€™d say the two photos of Lino you posted are the same guy. The nose and mustache look pretty much the same only the eyebrows look different but that might because the sheriffā€™s hat covers that part of his face. Iā€™m 90% sure they are the same actor.

Same guy, yes. Look at the nose and the ears.

The chin is very similar, but thereā€™s a problem: the sheriff is totally incompatible with the guy in the 2nd segment of Le belle famiglie (see Pollanetsquad pic).

Iā€™ll check the other three segments as soon as possible, since IMDb could be wrong (in both Le belle famiglie and Gli angeli del 2000 heā€™s credited as Honil and not Hanil, for example).

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Ah good, so you have Le belle famiglie.[quote=ā€œJonathanCorbett, post:18, topic:1595ā€]
the sheriff is totally incompatible with the guy in the 2nd segment of Le belle famiglie (see Pollanetsquad pic).
[/quote]
The pic on Pollanetsquad on the Gli angeli del 2000 entry is from Le belle famiglie? :slight_smile:

Yes. At first I thought it might be a pic from the early 1950s like the Roberto Mauri one on Wikipedia but no, it comes from the 2nd segment with Nanni Loy and Susy Andersen.