The Great Chihuahua Treasure Hunt / Monta in sella, figlio di …! (Tonino Ricci, 1972)

[Mickey13]

Copied from the Spagvemberfest 2022 thread:

@Mickey13

This having been made as late as 1972 and having been directed by Tonino Ricci would lead one to believe this is likely to turn out a turkey, but such is not the case. As a matter of fact, this one is not bad at all and has a decent story to boot; its primary strength dwells in its adequately delineated characters and the fact that it keeps comedy within reasonable limits, thus, at no point does it get too zany or devolve into an orgy of slapsticks like many a flick would at that period of time.

The directing by Ricci is surprisingly good for somebody with such a bad reputation; that is not to say it is anything exceptional, but the action is handled reasonably well and the slightly leisurely pacing tallies with the disposition of the narrative. This is nothing along the lines of genre’s greatest entries, but it works great as a solid mid-tier outing and I am happy to report that this is definitely no disaster. This one genuinely deserves a proper release. If fucking Django’s Cut Price Corpses can get a spanking new release, so can this little flick.