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 (as Gian Maria Volonté)
Klaus Kinski	...	El Santo
Martine Beswick	...	Adelita
Lou Castel	...	Bill 'Niño' Tate
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 | revolution | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Action | Western

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Certificate:

M

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Damiano Damiani: A (possibly American) journalist who shakes hands with General Elias shortly after Chuncho and Tate's arrival. He is present in the Italian and "International" versions, but is cut from AVCO Embassy's American version.

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Quotes

El Santo: Christ died between two thieves, didn't he? Christ was always with the poor and downtrodden!

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Connections

Referenced in Fassbinder in Hollywood (2002)

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Soundtracks

Ya Me Voy
(uncredited)
Written by Luis Bacalov
Performed by Ramon Mereles
Courtesy of EMI General Music srl

User Reviews

Above average and over-looked

Damiano Damiani's 1966 film 'A Bullet for the General' is one of the first examples of the Zapata Western, a sub-genre of the Spaghetti Western that mostly dealt with political themes during the Mexican Revolution of the early 20th century. Gian Maria Volontè plays El Chucho, the leader of a Mexican bandit gang who earn their pay selling arms to revolutionaries - he meets with a suave gringo named Bill Tate (played by Lou Castel) who claims to be on the run from the law and soon finds himself inducted into the group and deep in the heart of the Mexican revolution.

Despite the simple sounding premise 'A Bullet for the General' displays a great depth of character as the protagonists relationships shift with the plot before inevitably exchanging roles. The first hour or so seems like a standard western affair with lots of the usual train hi-jacks and bandit raids, but as the characters develop and their relationships become more strained we see some marvellous performances from the suspicious El Chucho, his brother El Santo (a fanatical Christian revolutionary played by Klaus Kinski) and the cool and un-flustered Bill 'Niño' Tate.

The doubt displayed by El Chucho towards Tate really sets up the finale, and as the film nears the heart of the revolution Tate's motives become clear - but that doesn't stop Damiani pulling a nice twist at the end, endearing Volontè's character and providing a juxtaposition to the characters he made famous in some of Sergio Leone's classic Spaghetti Westerns. In a film dealing largely with role-reversal this is particularly apt.

I didn't quite know what to expect from 'A Bullet for the General', I hadn't previously heard of the director and apparently this was his first foray into the Western genre - but I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. Providing a good mix of action and politics with commendable performances from Volontè, Kinski and Castel 'A Bullet for the General' is an intriguing and unique example of the Spaghetti Western and well worth your time whether you're a fan of the genre or not.