Savage Pampas (1966)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Hugo Fregonese

Writers:

Homero Manzi (novel) and
Ulises Petit de Murat (novel) ...

Release Date:

July 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Western

Plot:

In the late 1800's, an army captain tries to tame the open plains of Argentina which are dominated by Indians and bandits. To help do this, the captain brings in a party of women to keep his soldiers happy. |

Plot Keywords:

Staked Out | Remake | Tragicomedy | Based On Novel | Independent Film

Cast

Robert Taylor	...	Captain Martín
Ron Randell	...	Padrón
Marc Lawrence	...	Sargent Barril
Ty Hardin	...	Miguel Carreras
Rosenda Monteros	...	Rucu
Ángel del Pozo	...	Lt. Del Río (as Del Pozo)
Felicia Roc	...	Camila Ometio
Charles Fawcett	...	El Gato, Private
Enrique Ávila	...	Petizo (as Henry Avila)
José Jaspe	...	Luis, Private
Julio Peña	...	Chicha, Private
Laya Raki	...	Mimí
Laura Granados	...	Carmen
Ingrid Ohlenschläger	...	The Old Woman
José Nieto	...	Gen. Chávez

Also Known As:

Pampa salvaje (Argentina) (Spain)

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

Spain | Argentina | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track

Certification:

West Germany:18 (nf) | Spain:18

Filming Locations:

La Pampa, Argentina

Company:

Bronston International S.A.

Movie Connections:

Remake of Pampa bárbara (1945)

Soldiers on the Pampas have needs

Savage Pampas is a film with an unusual setting for the English speaking world, the pampas plains of Argentina at the end of the 19th century. The film is based on a novel Pampa Barbera and was filmed in Argentina before.

Robert Taylor is a captain in command of a garrison on the frontier, a whole lot like the American West. But he's having some big troubles. Taylor has a morale problem at the fort, the men are deserting him bit by bit because outlaw chief Ron Randell gives them an outlet for their sexual frustration, women. It's strictly stag at Taylor's post no matter how much he tries to convince the high command in Buenos Aires that his men have needs. It's also to be remembered that most of the men aren't the best quality around. They're not king and country volunteers as Clark Gable put it in Mutiny on the Bounty. In fact a whole lot of them are criminals and were given the choice of the army or prison.

Finally he does convince higher ups that some women are essential for morale, so Taylor is given an assignment of escorting some prostitutes let out for that purpose. Of course all this leads up to the inevitable showdown between Taylor and Randell.

Taylor in his one and only appearance in a spaghetti western covers some familiar ground. In Westward the Women he escorts some brides to be across the American west. He's the stern and rugged Taylor we've come to know in his later films, tough, but compassionate.

The film was photographed in Spain and two other American actors appear in it with Taylor. Marc Lawrence is a sergeant in Taylor's command and Ty Hardin plays an anarchist newspaper editor who accompanies the prostitutes because he's been given a choice, army or jail. Hardin has some biting lines, some of the best in the film and he makes the most of them.

It must have been an interesting set on Savage Pampas. On one hand we have Robert Taylor who was a friendly witness at the House Un American Activities Committee. And also Marc Lawrence who's career suffered the effects of the blacklist. I imagine things must have been tense.

Other than knowing about Evita Peron and her husband, Argentina or for that matter Latin America in general, is not a history that most Americans are taught. It's still said that Argentina is a frontier country built around a capital city. This picture shows a slice of their frontier life you might not normally be exposed to.

For that reason I recommend seeing Savage Pampas. For that reason and because it's one of the last films of one of Hollywood's truly great stars who in his last years was somewhat at sea due to the decline of the studio system.