A major robbery goes wrong when two young men named Loring Vandervelt (Peter Lee Lawrence) and a mysterious stranger Francis Parker (Luis Davila) join forces and stand in the way of Mexican bandits led by General Valiente (Tanio Cimarosa) and his second in command named Agustín (Jesús Guzmán that in his more than ninety years he continues to interpret) and an evil, corrupt and powerful owner. The rest is about more robberies, thieves, bosses, deceptions, treason, vendetta, etc.
A mediocre, though passable Spanish/Italian co-production in which the director fails to harmonize the various trends presented in the development, in fact it is a serious-comical Spaghetti Western, as the viewer becomes bored at several moments because the film does not have the expository clarity that it would have needed to become a worthy work. The film is based on silly anecdotes and when it wants it flirts with varied and uneven tones without ever revealing firmness. The characters are also too cartoonish and have heavy verbiage. The film is saved because there are other even worse exponents of this sub-genre and there are some nice main and support actors, though interpretations in general are commonplace. The story seems as modest and slight as its twists and turns, so the film splatters inconsequentially, at least until you've mastered the steps towards the final climax. Fernando Cerchio's third work as a Western director makes use of a common S. W. motif : the struggle for a loot. This time, however, it is not a hard precious metal that is in demand, but printed dollars, a not inconsiderable sum of money of $300,000. Effective sight gags, hardworking cast can't overcome pitfalls in the storyline, which indecisively meanders between western and comedy. When played for laughter, this works pretty well, while the action scenes generate an atmosphere of tension and amusement enough, but failing to explore the necessary development of characters, the movie becomes an inflated lightweight comedy whose shortcomings are all too visible. The central characters is Peter Lee Lawrence as Loring Vandervelt, the affectionate young blonde German Peter Lee Lawrence, who made his uncredited debut in Sergio Leone's For a Few Dollars More (1965), was the hero of many Spaghetti or Paella Westerns. His short cinematographic career can be encompassed in nine years of Italian-Spanish co-productions, however he died before reaching the age of 30 due to brain cancer but at least he managed to marry a well-known Eurotrah goddess: Cristina Galbó. On the other hand, the second man in the exhibition group, Luis Dávila as Francis Parker , he was one of the several Argentine performers who settled in Spain during the 60s and who was not lacking in a certain artistic dignity, as he does a good job and is at the same time the acting highlight of a film that reveals some shortfalls and furthermore, Tano Cimarosa as the excessively talkative and foul-mouthed General Valiente. The latter steals the show playing a character similar to the many portrayed by Fernando Sancho as a swaggering and boastful Mexican bandit. This Spaghetti is also not very convincing, their playing seems too uninspired. One of the positive points of the film is the soundtrack composed by Luis Bacalov, he creates a pretty good musical score in Ennio Morricone style. Luis Enriquez Bacalov, who many years later composed ¨Il Postino¨ which won a well-deserved Hollywood Oscar . Bacalov was able to maneuver our hearts and ears into wellness mode with so many excellent melodies, from genre cinema to mainstream. The director of photography, Julio Ortas, does it much better, who is able to convey attractive presentations of the protagonists and the background landscape from semi-close-ups and American shots. Filmed in places in Manzanares del Real, Madrid and Almería, there are beautiful scenes riding in the distance. A film that has just enough to satisfy European Western fans who are not too demanding.
A mediocre, though passable Spanish/Italian co-production in which the director fails to harmonize the various trends presented in the development, in fact it is a serious-comical Spaghetti Western, as the viewer becomes bored at several moments because the film does not have the expository clarity that it would have needed to become a worthy work. The film is based on silly anecdotes and when it wants it flirts with varied and uneven tones without ever revealing firmness. The characters are also too cartoonish and have heavy verbiage. The film is saved because there are other even worse exponents of this sub-genre and there are some nice main and support actors, though interpretations in general are commonplace. The story seems as modest and slight as its twists and turns, so the film splatters inconsequentially, at least until you've mastered the steps towards the final climax. Fernando Cerchio's third work as a Western director makes use of a common S. W. motif : the struggle for a loot. This time, however, it is not a hard precious metal that is in demand, but printed dollars, a not inconsiderable sum of money of $300,000. Effective sight gags, hardworking cast can't overcome pitfalls in the storyline, which indecisively meanders between western and comedy. When played for laughter, this works pretty well, while the action scenes generate an atmosphere of tension and amusement enough, but failing to explore the necessary development of characters, the movie becomes an inflated lightweight comedy whose shortcomings are all too visible. The central characters is Peter Lee Lawrence as Loring Vandervelt, the affectionate young blonde German Peter Lee Lawrence, who made his uncredited debut in Sergio Leone's For a Few Dollars More (1965), was the hero of many Spaghetti or Paella Westerns. His short cinematographic career can be encompassed in nine years of Italian-Spanish co-productions, however he died before reaching the age of 30 due to brain cancer but at least he managed to marry a well-known Eurotrah goddess: Cristina Galbó. On the other hand, the second man in the exhibition group, Luis Dávila as Francis Parker , he was one of the several Argentine performers who settled in Spain during the 60s and who was not lacking in a certain artistic dignity, as he does a good job and is at the same time the acting highlight of a film that reveals some shortfalls and furthermore, Tano Cimarosa as the excessively talkative and foul-mouthed General Valiente. The latter steals the show playing a character similar to the many portrayed by Fernando Sancho as a swaggering and boastful Mexican bandit. This Spaghetti is also not very convincing, their playing seems too uninspired. One of the positive points of the film is the soundtrack composed by Luis Bacalov, he creates a pretty good musical score in Ennio Morricone style. Luis Enriquez Bacalov, who many years later composed ¨Il Postino¨ which won a well-deserved Hollywood Oscar . Bacalov was able to maneuver our hearts and ears into wellness mode with so many excellent melodies, from genre cinema to mainstream. The director of photography, Julio Ortas, does it much better, who is able to convey attractive presentations of the protagonists and the background landscape from semi-close-ups and American shots. Filmed in places in Manzanares del Real, Madrid and Almería, there are beautiful scenes riding in the distance. A film that has just enough to satisfy European Western fans who are not too demanding.