The Caper of the Golden Bulls (1967) User Reviews

Watchable.

[bombersflyup · 6/10 · 1 June 2020]

The Caper of the Golden Bulls has quite an elaborate heist, but it and its characters flimsy.

Two much effort and risk involved to just be laughed off and not followed up I think. Lead character Peter looks like he could be a member of the Wiggles. Both female characters likable enough.

not much chemistry between the actors.

[ksf-2 · 7/10 · 9 August 2023]

Stephen boyd is peter, who confesses to his girlfriend that during the war, he was part of the crew who robbed banks to rebuild cathedrals which had been destroyed by the enemy. It's no coincidence that his last name is "churchman". Grace and angela (yvette mimieux, giovanna ralli) have reasons of their own for being involved. Mimieux was in SO many euro films. This must have been a pretty big budget film, since the wardrobes are by edith head. The story is pretty good, but there's just some chemistry missing between the actors. Some twists and turns. Boyd has a rather cardboard delivery, which takes away from the film. They DO show the running of the bulls in pamplona, which is exciting. Directed by russell rouse...he had won his oscar for pillow talk. Novel by william mcgivern. Music by vic mizzy, who had done the music background for so many tv series, like green acres. Stephen boyd died quite young at 45 from a heart attack. It's a pretty good film. Not terrific, but good.

Bulls don't give alibis.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 5 November 2023]

A minor 60's caper comedy has some nice location footage, a few amusing sequences involving the running from the bulls challenge in Pamplona and a clever plot involving the attempt to steal royal jewelry during the run. But there's that bouncy musical score written by Vic Mizzy heard over and over and over, amusing at first but tedious after the tenth time you hear it. The events leading up to the demand that former allied pilot Stephen Boyd are complicated so the film takes a while to get going. But once the bulls start running, the action takes off a bit.

Sexy Yvette Mimieux and Giovanna Ralli are certainly alluring and exotic, with Mimieux more of a lady than the femme fatale Ralli, and Vitto Scotti provides mild comic relief, and Walter Moss, Clifton James, Walter Slezak and Leon Askin have amusing chatacter roles. The caper itself is pretty standard, very typical of the mid to late 60's, and I wonder if audiences were getting tired of it. But it's a nice little exotic trip to pass the time and take the viewer on a little video vacation. Boyd shows off a nice physique and plenty of package in his loose fitting pants while committing the crime.

Serviceable caper for a rainy afternoon

[Guy Grand · 11 January 2002]

If you enjoy your heist pictures with an excess of fluff and an absence of moral dilemmas, this mid-60's romp is the perfect pillow propper for the weekend.

Stephen Boyd is a handsome, stoic thief who's inevitably drawn back into a life of crime by a former tantalizing flame. Together with her weasly playboy sweetheart, on the run from a pair of Turkish hitmen (one being played by 'Live and Let Die's' down-home sheriff, Clifton James) Boyd's former gal pal and her friend mandate he enlist a team of crack heist men to break into a bank vault in Pamplona.

Did someone say the 'running of the bulls would be a fantastic diversionary tactic?' Well, if you did, then you too can be a heist caper writer! Between the noise of the bulls and the musical gala of the town's festival, our boys figure they'll be well-concealed in their quest to obtain Spain's finest jewels that are supposedly being held in the bank that week. But, of course, there's always complications...

Harold Stine's enriching colors bring this confection a glossy '60s cinematic sheen, and as always, Vic Mizzy has both melodic and comedic elements in his wonderful score.

After "Ben-Hur," Boyd rarely found much of a chance to exude depth in his characters, and this popcorn-light characterization does not allow him much elbow room to emote. Still, he's a commanding enough protagonist to keep our interest. The kittenish Yvette Mimieux is all blonde hair and smiles as his (seemingly) unsuspecting girlfriend. Although she receives second billing, the lovely Ms. Mimieux is only on-screen for less than a third of the picture.

With a wonderful shot of the Rock of Gibraltar and intimate locales around Pamplona, the scenery plays like a nostalgic postcard your folks might have sent you while on vacation to Europe in an earlier era. The inevitable heist twist, a la "Rififi," "The Hot Rock," on up to 2001's "The Score," take place here, yet the ending can easily be discerned. However, if all you seek is an easy-to-digest caper, sans humor and complex ingenuity, by all means, swipe this bull from your neighborhood rental shelf. My rating ** out of ****.

Spanish heist

[searchanddestroy-1 · 9/10 · 4 May 2020]

I love this movie from the sixties, plenty of charm, not a bloody crime film, but a good old days heist flick, another version of RIFIFI or TOPKAPI, the heist scheme with the fewest talk whilst the robbers operate. Yes, this is a film which is not comedy, no sir, but light heart oriented, not a dark and downbeat film noir as RIFIFI was. I read the Bill Mc Givern's book and this film is rather faithful to the novel spirit. I watch it for the third time in decades and am surprised not to have been bored at all. I would say that kind of films never grow old; but that's my own opinion. Maybe the setting and the bull run sequence contribute to this feeling; not so many features provide such an atmosphere, so particular, so specific. A good old gem from a lost era.

Tunnelling into the vault of memories

[tomsview · 8/10 · 22 January 2022]

If like me, Stephen Boyd and Yvette Mimieux ignite a sense of nostalgia then it's enough of a reason to watch this film.

As I did this review, I learned that Yvette Mimieux had died a few days before. Stars pass away each year, but this one hurt. I remember the effect she had on me as a 12-year old in 1960 when she played Weena in "The Time Machine". It's the sort of thing that stays with you.

Stephen Boyd also takes me back. He was the charming spy in "The Man Who Never Was", and Messala in "Ben Hur". The guy had presence. When you see how fit and agile he is in "The Caper of the Golden Bulls", it's hard to believe he would die of a heart attack 10 years later aged 45.

But there is another member of the cast that glows in this film: Giovanna Ralli. How did Hollywood let her go so easily? Maybe Claudia Cardinale got the roles. They look similar and both have those fabulous accents, but anyone seeing her here would ask the same question.

A crew of retired safecrackers led by Peter Churchman (Stephen Boyd) is blackmailed into pulling off one last job by Angela Tresler (Giovanna Ralli).

They break into a bank in Pamplona during "The Running of the Bulls" to steal jewels that are the centrepiece of the upcoming parade of giant figures during the Festival of San Fermín. Although Peter's girlfriend, Grace (Yvette Mimieux), is against the whole thing, she gets on board mainly to stop him becoming more involved with Angela.

There are subplots involving Walter Slezak's police chief and ex-members of the OAS (more relevant in 1967), but there is almost too much happening.

The director Russell Rouse was a well-regarded writer of Noir thrillers. This film was the last of his few directorial efforts. A more visually inspired director would have made more of the Spanish location, however it was probably a tricky shoot, especially as Boyd and other members of the cast actually ran with the bulls in Pamplona. Nevertheless the whole robbery sequence is exciting, and the shirtless Boyd impresses doing some of his own stunts.

Vic Mizzy's Mancini-like score sets the tone of this film. Although it isn't a spoof, it's lighter than a plate of frisuelos. But I find the combination of Stephen Boyd, Yvette Mimieux and Giovanna Ralli irresistible.

An enjoyable 1960's caper film set in Europe

[shakspryn · 8/10 · 1 May 2021]

This is a very enjoyable movie, especially for fans of Stephen Boyd and Yvette Mimieux. It isn't grim or gloomy or dark; it has that polish and cheerful charm that distinguished a number of fine 1960's films, such as Charade, Arabesque, Our Man in Marrakesh and The Prize. It may not be quite at the level of the best of those, but it was made in the same spirit: some adventure, a handsome leading man and lady, but without the huge, over-the-top effects, big budgets and set piece scenes of the James Bond movies, with which other films such as this could not compete.

Fans should know that as of now, there is both a Blu-ray and dvd available of this movie. This is especially welcome news for Stephen Boyd fans! Boyd is very good in his role here and is a pleasure to watch. This is a classy movie worth seeing.

Entertaining Film from Start to Finish

[RogerMooreTheBestBond · 10/10 · 17 May 2020]

Stephen Boyd and Yvette Mimieux star in this wonderful action film with some comedy thrown in. The musical score is a delight and keep the viewer upbeat. Music is so important to me. The story involves Boyd getting sorta of forced into robbing some jewels from a bank by Giovanni Ralli. She is the only one I did not care for in the cast. I am not a big fan of Italian actresses. Boyd is reunited will his war buddies that pulled off a heist robbing the Germans back in their war days. Yvette Mimieux plays Boyd girlfriend /Fiancee. Her first scene is memorable. She is wearing a white bikini and her body rates a 10! The new transfer I just watched on the new blu ray is crystal clear. Blu ray quality makes pretty people prettier and ugly people uglier. Yvette definitely looks even prettier. I had to hit the pause button to admire her in that white bikini!. Her next scene is good too. She wears an outfit with a bare midriff while talking on the phone. She is perfect. Anyway, Boyd tells her of the robbery plan, so she joins in, reluctantly. The movie really gets good when they actually start the heist. It is planned around the Running of the Bulls. They join in the running of the bulls in an exciting sequence. They use that as a diversion to break in the bank and steal the jewels. The plan has them handing them out to Giavanni as they are disguised as a large walking puppet for the parade that follows the running of the bulls. She arrives early, but they just have time to hand her the jewels. You only see her hands. Later after the heist they find out she never got them. Turns out Yvette Mimieux got a replica of the large puppet and got the jewels instead. She ends up turning them in, so Boyd will not ever have a chance to be caught. They end up staying their to spend their honeymoon as the movie ends. I loved the movie all the way thru. I was very pleased top see a movie I had never seen be so good. And I will never forget Yvette in the white bikini! Wow!

Charm, fun, romance, beauty, and burglary in Pamplona

[emdragon · 8/10 · 5 July 2021]

I was quite surprised to see a 6.0 IMDB picture with so much real quality. I thought it was quite excellent and very well crafted for a heist picture. The 2 female leads are really visually stunning and do their part to enhance this picture with quality performances. In fact, Giovanni Ralli really has the most essential role in the film as the beautiful seductress and recruiting specialist for this team of ex-WW2 compatriots who re-unite & plan a heist at the Pamplona Nationale Bank. Stephen Boyd is debonair and very charming in the lead as the man sort of blackmailed into leading the old team by the former beauty, Ms Ralli. Yvette Mimieux is luxuriously lovely playing his girlfriend, who gets pulled into the plot when Boyd's character let's the cat out of the bag. The entire cast of characters from many former film adventures keep a light comedic balance, while the beautiful Spanish setting in fabled Pamplona comes off perfectly. Easily 8 stars. Anyone should really enjoy this one!