Der Gehetzte der Sierra Madre (1966)

Unofficial lawman John Corbett hunts down Cuchillo Sanchez, a Mexican peasant accused of raping and killing a 12-year-old girl.

Director:

Sergio Sollima

Writers:

Franco Solinas (story), Fernando Morandi (story)

Stars:

Lee Van Cleef, Tomas Milian, Walter Barnes

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lee Van Cleef	...	Jonathan 'Colorado' Corbett
Tomas Milian	...	Manuel 'Cuchillo' Sanchez
Walter Barnes	...	Brokston
Nieves Navarro	...	The widow
Gérard Herter	...	Baron von Schulenberg (as Gerard Herter)
María Granada	...	Rosita Sanchez
Roberto Camardiel	...	Sheriff Jellicol (as Robert Camardiel)
Ángel del Pozo	...	Chet Miller (as Angel del Pozo)
Luisa Rivelli	...	Willow Creek Prostitute
Tom Felleghy	...	Father of Chet Miller (as Tom Felleghi)
Calisto Calisti	...	Mr. Linch
Benito Stefanelli	...	Jess, Widow's Ranchero
Nello Pazzafini	...	Ex-Union Outlaw
Antonio Casas	...	Father Smith & Wesson
José Torres	...	Paco Molinas

Storyline

Jonathan Corbett is a gunman so brave to have eliminated all the bandits of Texas. For this he is proposed for the candidacy to the Senate of the United States. In exchange he has only to support the construction of one railway line. Only after he accepts does he come to know that the Mexican Cuchillo has raped and killed a 12 year old girl. Corbett leaves on a long manhunt during which he gets to know his adversary better and discovers a variation on the crime for which the accused Cuchillo may not be as guilty as he first thought.

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Plot Keywords:

mexican | manhunt | texas | sling | knife in the head | 

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Taglines:

Mr. Ugly hits town! BIG action! BIG excitement!

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

Italy Spain

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

27 June 1967 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

The Big Gundown

Filming Locations:

Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Company Credits

Production Co:

Produzioni Europee Associati (PEA), Tulio Demicheli P.C., Rome Produizone Cinematografica

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min 80 min (edited) 89 min (original U.S. theatrical release) 95 min (Blu-ray extended special edition)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is one of Quentin Tarentino's favorite spaghetti westerns.

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Goofs

At around an hour and twenty minutes into the movie there is a scene where a girl is carrying a tray with 6 glasses of which 5 are full and 1 is empty. In the next shot however there are 7 glasses on the tray of which 3 are full and 4 are empty.

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Quotes

Baron von Schulenberg: When you are about to kill a man, what do you look at? I've asked this question of other men, and do you know what they always say? They look at his hands. I don't. I look at his eyes
[pause]
Baron von Schulenberg: because a moment before he moves his hand, his eyes betray him. And you can always read death in them: yours or his.

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Connections

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

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Soundtracks

Run, Man, Run
Music by Ennio Morricone
Lyrics by Audrey Nohra
Performed by Maria Cristina Brancucci (as Christy)

User Reviews

Excellent "Spaghetti" Western

This is absolutely one of the best so-called spaghetti westerns ever, after Sergio Leone's films of course, and it rates very highly among all westerns. Unlike many other non-Sergio Leone westerns, the cinematography, camera-work, etc., are all very good and some scenes are very artistic and even worthy of Leone himself.

Lee van Cleef is excellent as the pseudo-lawman/bounty hunter with integrity who believes in "justice" and "progress" for society.

Ennio Morricone, as usual, provides a great score for the film. The song is rousing, while the music for the chase scenes is excellent. Morricone also does a folk-music/square dance version of the theme for the wedding party, which is a neat touch.

The story is interesting and well-developed, as well. In its full-length version, it is in fact somewhat deep, with van Cleef's Corbett being a fairly complex character who undergoes a significant character development in the course of the film. In the abridged American version, unfortunately, he is shown as simply bounty hunter who mercilessly kills all before him in cold blood, who never bats an eye at his job, making his character two-dimensional and making the end more flat, more perfunctory, and less convincing or meaningful. In the full-length version, though, he cares about justice, gives outlaws a choice (and a chance), and there is significant development on how he becomes so obsessed with finding Cuchillo that he crosses the boundary between justice and personal obsession. He then re-examines himself and the events in which he finds himself to come to a significant realisation near the end.