Yes, enjoyed the whole thing as well… Rosalba Neri is so good, and the action scenes are well done … by the end of it you feel like you’ve been through everything with the characters, it has that epic feeling.
Top of my list for 70’s Spaghetti westerns that deserve a decent english friendly dvd release.
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After reading the new review this went from a movie I hadn’t even really registered to going straight into my Top 3 Want to Watch List.
Voilà, the new review:
http://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/The_Great_Chihuahua_Treasure_Hunt_Review
Anyone know where to get the French TV print?
cinemageddon
Well then I’m screwed.
Awesome, thank you.
You’re welcome. Featuring a fine performance by Mark Damon, Monta in sella, figlio di …! (literally meaning “Get into the saddle, you son of a …!”) is a buoyant, light-hearted movie, notable for Rosalba Neri’s role as fortune-seeker Agnes, an emancipated, strong woman, who – unusual for a female character in the Spaghetti Western subgenre – fights, cheats, shoots, schemes and drinks on a par with her male companions.
I have no idea why critics tore this movie apart. It’s one of the most enjoyable spaghetti western of 70s I have seen. It’s about half serious / half comedy, maybe that was the problem? Well, it’s actually more adventure than western. Anyway, Dean Madison wants to free his brother who was caught robbing the bank. But firstly he needs some distraction, so he finds pair of former bank robbers Andre and Agnes who now make they living by cheating in poker. When they manage to free Dean’s brother Stan, a blind Mexican Felipe “ask” them to help him to steal the great Chihuahua treasure… The really cool thing about the movie is that is brilliantly switches from light hearted stuff to more serious, it’s coherent and never feels like two movies. The first scene with Andre, Agnes and Dean Madison in saloon illustrates this perfectly. Andre and Agnes try to cheat two local guys in poker, Agnes distracting players, while Andre cheats. However this time it did not work because one of the guys was gay. 
Now you think there’s going to be some silly slapstick scene. That’s not the case. They actually want to hang Andre and rape Agnes! It’s exciting and dramatic twist and things turn violent in the end. This kind of trick is used few more times and it always works. Actors are simply great and there is some sparkling between Damon and Neri. I’d almost suspect they had some affair. 
Alfredo Mayo who plays the Frenchman Andre delivers some very good and funny acting. It must be said that the comedy elements of the movie always stop before they could become embarassing. I also liked the soundtrack, especially the appergios section, which creates epic feeling and thus helps the movie to distinguish itself from other westerns. I really did not mind the credit song. The direction is pretty good and there is some good camera work here and there, plus some original ideas like the Felipe’s picture storytelling and the use of a bird. The only real problem is that the second half of the movie is not as good as the first half. My favourite line from the movie: Agnes, usually I hate to ask about favours, but this is different, we could die. 
Ahh and english dubbing is excellent.
Yes it becomes too lighthearted. It’s a pity they didn’t use some of the fine music themes more than around 28-30 minutes into the film. The rest of the music is without one exception not in SW style.
Otherwise, with a more constant serious mood it could have been a good SW. Now it maybe is worth 5/10 or so IMO.
There is a copy on Youtube which I watched on my TV screen with rather fine image quality.
That little peace of music is the best thing with this SW (but the musical theme during the credentials is horrible), together with the beautiful appearance of Rosalba Neri as one of the leading characters,
But the scenes with lightheartness or comedy including the end make it difficult to rate this over 5/10 so it will not be included in my current Top 85 with only 6/10 or higher rated SWs.
Otherwise the story is not so bad nor is the acting. Mark Damon’s character is probably a little bit more serious than in the higher rated Dead Men Don’t Count (6/10) - that rating in spite of some lightheartness/comedy.
The Great Chihuahua Treasure was mostly shot in Spain, at least the outdoors, for example in Colmenar Viejo and probably Aldea de Fresno. The western towns were probably all Italian near Rome. The Mexican town most likely was located in the middle of Spain south of Madrid (Aranjuez ?) .
At the end of next week the movie will be aired on Italian TV channel Cine34.
Good quality and uncut, hopefully (the French print is missing part of a scene and the closing credits).
The Great Chihuahua Treasure Hunt has been updated to the new layout (3.0). Let us know if you can add anything: pictures, posters, trivia, facts, figures, links, etc…
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Is ‘Saloon Patron 2’, the same guy at the beginning of, ‘Light the Fuse … Sartana is Coming’, who is dragging the girl (the judge’s daughter) by the hair ?
- He’s seen with Luis Induni and Dan Van Husen as Sheriff and Deputy of Sandy Creek … but he’s not listed even in the non credited actors on IMDB … he’s also wearing a deputy sheriff badge.
Seen him in minor roles quite a few times … wonder who he might be
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Good question Aldo. That is a question I ask all the time. There are so many actors that show up in multiple films that we can not positively identify.
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