Letās start with Weisserās first line - āAntonio Sabato is Minnesota, a dressed-in-black, man of few words bounty hunter ā¦ā
ā¦ and letās dismiss Weisser now.
In fact it is Chris Avram that opens up the shooting in this - and he is the afore-mentioned Minnesota. And it looks like itās gonna be a goody - over 6 minutes in and not a word has been spoken and already heās shot somebody in the back to show what a heartless bastard of a bounty hunter he is and cashed him in with a pill-popping sheriff.
7 minutes in and weāve got a gang of Mexican banditos led by a crusty olā dog with a pocket watch for a best friend, robbing a bank. Still looking highly promising, you have to agree?
The story mainly revolves around Minnesota striking up a deal - with a desperado called El Santo, who IS played by Sabato (in a āMark Damon-ly open-shirted-bare-chestedā performance) - and the two of them go after crusty olā Corbancho and his gang, in the hope of finding his hidden cache of $400,000, not realising (as I did) that if he actually had this gold then he wouldnāt be risking life and limb holding up small-fry banks.
Of course thereās double dealing a-plenty and all is not as it seems.
Meanwhile Minnesota and El Santo get a sort of āchummy/save-ya-life/double-cross-yaā relationship that hinges on El Santo not yet being worth the $10,000 that Minnesota deems a minimum to work for. (In fact, confusingly, Minnesota deals with a lot less of a bounty at times throughout the film). This story also revolves around us realising that El Santo was framed for a bank-job, but we also find out he is a āson-of-a-bitchā and that he also has a nasty torturous āhold a candle to ya feetā aspect to his personality that contrasts with an inner do-goodiness.
Without giving too much away, this is O.K. stuff - better than the comedy shit that oozed out of the genre at about this time but falling short of the grittier stuff that epitomised the neo-nihalism of the twilights.
It does possibly try to be too much of a hybrid maybe, a bit on the āchurned-outā side, and does not seem to be allowed to develop its own ācharacterā (Iām thinking of the earlier El Puro here, where a potentially mediocre western āfindsā something special from the characters being allowed to find their own āpathā).
This could/should have been a much better film. There is a spark of potential that glistens occasionally from individual performances - this is a film that relies on relationships - and these donāt really gel satisfactorily for most of the time.
There is, however, a bit of the nastiness that youād expect from the genre - and this includes a teenage boy being hung from a bell-rope - the banditos betting on when he loses his footing and the bell will ring. And thereās more āhomageā besides this. Thereās a barberās chair scenario; the afore-mentioned pocket-watch (couldnāt bring on a red-hazed flashback, could it? ā¦ Oh yes it could ā¦); and a counting of the bounty as the bodies are piled in the wagon ā¦ and (bang) ā¦ hereās another. Itās not a rip-off though - it is meant to be a homage - (it couldnāt be anything else). Despite good individual performances from the leads (and Erika Blanc and Pilar Velasquez in it), and it having a smidge of charm and style of itās own, it ultimately doesnāt sparkle enough to put it in the same league as some of the other lesser-knowns that turn out as diamonds. High hopes at the start were somewhat let down - but having said that - it still kept me there til the end and I (pretty much) enjoyed the ride.
Worth a look.
The copy I watched was a dvd-r (video copy) - widescreen/English language/Dutch subs./A bit soft and washed-out, but emminently watchable all things considered.
[N.B. - This database, and imdb, has this down as its filming location as Almeria (ā¦must go one day ;)), but the credits, despite saying a āLuis Film, Romeā and āDauro Film, Madridā only mentions in regard to location - āFilmed at Elios Studios, Romeā - and makes no mention of Almeria.]
First a quote from Erika Blanc, who says that Pilar Velasquez really was a stunning beauty. She, Erika, was rather popular in Spain and had thought that during their nights out, Spanish man would have much attention for her, but they had only eyes for Pilar. She talks about Antonio Sabato as a very nice man, who had eyes for all ladies.
By the way, Erika talks about nights out in Madrid, so maybe the Spanish scenes were shot near Colmenar Viejo, in the Madrid area (?)
Second a quote (found in the DIZIONARO) from a 1972 interview with Pilar Velazquez in the magazine āTempoā:
<< Iām sick of playing a gipsy with castagnets. As you can see Iām not fat, Iām not timid and Iām not sentimental. I do not like bullfights and hate Andalusian folklore. On the contrary I am a very modern person: I take the pill, I am in favour of abortion and fight for women liberation >>
Quite a type, this Pilar
There is something missing from this like you say. Cannot seem to get into the story or care about it. Whether it is because of the two leads. But I am not really the biggest fan of Antonio SabĆ to so that may be why for me.
Nice review. In my opinion the landscape does look spanish, too.
I really enjoyed watching this one (German TV), nevertheless there are some lenghts. But I would say itās absloutely above average.
6,5/10
Watched this one this afternoon and my thoughts pretty much echo those of rhe Rev. (see opening post)
A lot better than much that came out around this time but could have been improved nonetheless. I enjoyed it though and is one of Sabatoās better outings in my opinion. The girls look great in this too. Worth a viewing for them alone.
And, for the record, I would side with Scherpās suggestion that this was shot around Madrid. Not Almeria and certainly not Italy. Iām not even sure it was Elios town. Far too many Spanish regulars in tiny roles here to have been shot in Italy. (Robledo, Israel et al) Great use of Israelās eyes in this one by the way. ;D
Iām going to have to watch this one, again.
I have only seen it once beforeā¦probably about 7 years ago.
I recall enjoying it at the time; but, frankly, the events of the film have become a blur in my mind.
As I am snowed in here at the Casey Casaā¦I might as well add this flick to my viewing queue, today!
Apart from the fact that Elios is mentioned in the credit sequence, it was the water tank that told me it was Elios. Itās always used to write the name of the town on it. Here it says āCanyon Cityā, in The Specialists, which I rewatched a few days ago, it says āBlackstone, Nevadaā. There are also a few buildings (notably a small church and a barn) that are, so to speak, very Elios.
Iām not too familiar with Spanish landscapes. I visited Madrid and surroundings only once, but I remember the landscape looked a little like the landscape in this movie. Would be interesting to hear what Julio Alberto has to say about it. Maybe the Portuguese know the landscape of the their fellow Iberians better than I do (it wasnāt Flanders, by the way)
From Database Review Thereās some confusion as to where the film was shot. The credits mention only the Elios studios, but in an interview Erika Blanc refers to her nights out in Madrid with some members of the cast, which would suggest that the outdoor scenes were shot in central Spain. The western town, is that of the Elios studios (for the occasion called āCanyon Cityā), but some of the landscape doesnāt look Italian to me, so I guess Erika is right.
There are two western towns in this one and the majority of the scenes were shot in Golden City (Hoyo de Manzanares, Madrid), known for A Fistful of Dollars.
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