A Bullet for the General (1967)

A band of Mexican gun-runners employed by a revolutionary general accept an American into their gang, unaware of his intentions.

Director:

Damiano Damiani

Writers:

Salvatore Laurani (story and screenplay), Franco Solinas (adaptation)

Stars:

Gian Maria Volontè, Klaus Kinski, Martine Beswick

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Gian Maria Volontè	...	El Chuncho Muños / El Chuncho Niños (as Gian Maria Volonté)
Klaus Kinski	...	El Santo
Martine Beswick	...	Adelita
Lou Castel	...	Bill 'Niño' Tate / Taylor
Jaime Fernández	...	General Elías (as Jaime Fernandez)
Andrea Checchi	...	Don Felipe
Spartaco Conversi	...	Eufemio
Joaquín Parra	...	Picaro (as Joaquin Parra)
Aldo Sambrell	...	Lt. Alvaro Ferreira
José Manuel Martín	...	Raimundo (as José Manuel Martin)
Santiago Santos	...	Guapo
Valentino Macchi	...	Train Engineer

Storyline

In the rough years of the revolution in Mexico, the hardened bandit chief, El Chucho, is in need of arms, ammunition, and a much-sought-after machine gun to support the leader of the revolution, the rebel General, Elías. With this in mind, Chucho attacks a government supply train and gets an unforeseen assistance from Bill Tate--the American gringo in the impeccable suit--with whom will soon become friends. Now, Bill is truly indispensable to the gang, however, could he be hiding his true objective behind a boyish and calm face?

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Plot Keywords:

bandolero | spaghetti western | mexican revolution | mexican general | sonora mexico | 

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Taglines:

A Band of Killers Stalk the Countryside ... LOOTING ... KILLING ... LOVING ... Everything in Sight!

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Genres:

Action | Western

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Certificate:

M

Did You Know?

Trivia

It is rumored --to the point of almost being a legend--that director Damiano Damiani became so frustrated with Gian Maria Volontè and Klaus Kinski, two actors who were notorious for being difficult to work with, that one day they pushed him so hard that he beat them and whipped them on the set until they finally behaved and did as they were told.

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Quotes

[International version]
El Chuncho: [after learning how Tate manipulated him] Niño, you're a very intelligent boy. And you never make mistakes, huh?
Bill 'Niño' Tate: You can save the compliments. Jump on, the train's leaving.
El Chuncho: You've been a... very good friend to me, haven't you? Isn't that true? I like you.
[Tate chuckles]
El Chuncho: And it's a shame I have to kill you.
Bill 'Niño' Tate: Will you stop...?
El Chuncho: [grunting while trying to pull his gun out of his suit] No, no, Niño. I'm finishing.
Bill 'Niño' Tate: But Chuncho, that's nonsense. I made you into a rich man. Why do you have...
[...]

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Connections

Featured in The Spaghetti West (2005)

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Soundtracks

Heraclio Bernal
(uncredited)
Performed by Gian Maria Volontè

User Reviews

Well regarded spaghetti western lives up to its reputation

In revolutionary Mexico American John Tate hooks up with a band of outlaws lead by Chuncho. They are "collecting" guns for the revolution. Tate, called Nino by his new friends, tags along as they get guns, free the poor and attempt to get paid for their efforts.

Thats wildly simplified and doesn't do the complexity of this film justice. What is going on in the film is often not apparent until you get to the very end of the movie. No one is who they seem to be and everyone has some sort of other motive for what they are doing. Its a complex film that you have to stay with since you can never be certain what is going on.

For a long stretch of the film I wasn't certain what I thought of it. As I said, this is a story that is ever changing and evolving as it goes, and which you can't say whether you like or not until you get to the very end. It seems like an enjoyable mean but slightly confused western for most of its running time. Our nominal hero, Nino, rapidly evolves into something else. He is always up to something and rarely is it any good. He's hard to root for, or even to like. You instead you have to root for Chuncho, which is a bit odd at first since he's a "bandit" and the "bad guy". By the end you're rooting for Chuncho, while you're still not sure about Nino. In the end though it all comes together, and it reveals itself to be a quite special movie.

This is a movie to see if you like westerns, or even good movies for that matter. Its a film that engages you and moves you and your emotions. Its nice that an entertaining film such as this can also have other things on its mind yet not get lost on those other things or lose the enjoyment factor (there's a good deal of political satire woven into the story).

Definitely recommended.

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian Spanish English

Release Date:

September 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Bullet for the General

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

M. C. M.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min (International Cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1