Desesperados, Los (1969)

Directors:

Julio Buchs
Lucio Fulci (co-director)

Writers:

Julio Buchs (screenplay)
Julio Buchs (story)

Release Date:

May 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

A gritty story of seething hatred and thrilling adventure.

Plot:

Three bankrobbers find shelter in an isolated farm where an old man lives together with his granddaughter. |

Plot Keywords:

Spaghetti Western | Army | Bullring | Cholera | Civil War

Cast

Ernest Borgnine	...	Don Pedro Sandoval
George Hilton	...	John Warner
Annabella Incontrera	...	Rosa
Alberto de Mendoza	...	Lucky
Leo Anchóriz	...	Monk
Gustavo Rojo	...	Guadalupano
Manuel de Blas
Manuel Miranda	...	Francisco
José Manuel Martín
Antonio Pica	...	Sam
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Andrea Aureli	...	Morton
Luis Barboo
Charly Bravo
José Guardiola
Andrés Mejuto
Antonio Molino Rojo
Mary Paz Pondal
George Rigaud
Alfonso Rojas
Adalberto Rossetti
Claudio Trionfi
Dan van Husen	...	Mestizo

Also Known As:

A Bullet for Sandoval (USA)
Desperate Men (UK)
Quei disperati che puzzano di sudore e di morte (Italy)
Those Desperate Men Who Smell of Dirt and Death (USA)
Vengeance Is Mine

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for western violence. (orginally rated GP in 1970)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

Italy | Spain

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (1971) | Sweden:15 | USA:GP (original rating) | USA:PG-13 (re-rating) (2005)

Company:

Atlántida Films

Movie Connections:

References The Wild Bunch (1969)

Bullet for Sandoval

Bullet for Sandoval, A (1969)

*** (out of 4)

Interesting Spaghetti Western takes place during the Civil War when a soldier (George Hilton) gets word that his pregnant girlfriend is dying. By the time he reaches the house she has died and her jealous father (Ernest Borgnine) makes him leave with their newborn son. Without the resources to take care of the child, it dies and soon the soldier sets out for revenge. This film has a great revenge story going for it but by the time it ended I was pretty mad at the movie because it could have been so much better. The film has several subplots and none of them are as interesting as the revenge story so these subplots get in the way and in the end they really pull the film back some. The film's main story is still good enough to make this worth watching as it features some great action sequences as well as two good performances by the leads. Hilton is very good in his mainly silent role and Borgnine delivers a maniac style performance. The ending is very strange and bizarre but it works well with the film even though the revenge takes a few different turns.