El chuncho, quien sabe? (1966)

Director:

Damiano Damiani

Writers:

Salvatore Laurani (story)
Franco Solinas (adaptation)

Release Date:

September 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

Like the Bandit... Like the Gringo... A bullet doesn't care who it kills!

Plot:

El Chuncho's bandits rob arms from a train, intending to sell the weapons to Elias' revolutionaries...

Plot Keywords:

Mexican | Revolutionary | Spaghetti Western | Assassination | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Gian Maria Volonté	...	Chuncho Munos / 'El Chuncho'
Klaus Kinski	...	El Santo
Martine Beswick	...	Adelita
Lou Castel	...	Bill 'Niño' Tate
Jaime Fernández	...	Gen. Elías
Andrea Checchi	...	Don Feliciano
Spartaco Conversi	...	Cirillo
Joaquín Parra	...	Picaro
Aldo Sambrell	...	Lt. Alvaro Ferreira
José Manuel Martín	...	Raimundo
Santiago Santos	...	Guapo
Valentino Macchi	...	Pedrito - Durango train engineer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sal Borgese	...	Bandit
Carla Gravina	...	Rosario
Guy Heron	...	Pedrito
Richard McNamara	...	English narration

Also Known As:

A Bullet for the General (USA)
Quién sabe? (Italy) (short title)

Runtime:

135 min | UK:77 min | Spain:107 min | Argentina:120 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:18 | Spain:18 | UK:15 (DVD rating) | UK:18 (re-rating) (1986) | UK:X (original rating) | Singapore:PG | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Argentina:13 | West Germany:18 (nf) | Finland:K-18 | Sweden:15 | USA:M | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Company:

M. C. M.

Quotes:

[last lines]
El Chuncho: [to a beggar he gave money to earlier] Don't buy bread with that money, hombre! Buy dynamite! Dynamite!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Denn sie kennen kein Erbarmen - Der Italowestern (2006) (TV)

A terrific film

Always been a big spaghetti western fan and this is one of the best. Damiano Damiani's 1966 film is set against the Mexican revolution and tells the story of a bandit - the wonderful Gian Maria Volonté and his gang who terrorise the Govt troops and relieve them of their weapons that they sell to the revolutionary general.

They meet up with an American (Lou Castel) who joins them but whose motives they suspect.

There are spectacular train attacks , mega-massacres and piched battles along the way but the film has a strong moral sense allied with an almost Marxist viewpoint.

On several occasions we see Volente wrestling with doing the right thing and doing the thing that will pay him. The script is exellent and although most is dubbed (as always with these movies)the storyline is as engrossing as the action. Klaus Kinski has fun as the mad priest/bandit and the whole thing looks terrific in a 2:35 print really utilising the huge landscapes.

There is a terrific moment at the end where one character does a simple thing and the other character suddenly realises what has been going on all along.

A truly terrific picture and in feel not that far away from Leones'later Fistful of Dynamite.