100 Rifles (1969)

In 1912 Sonora, Mexico, native revolutionary Yaqui Joe (Burt Reynolds) robs a bank to buy arms for his oppressed people, but finds himself sought by an American lawman and the Mexican Army.

Director:

Tom Gries

Writers:

Clair Huffaker (screenplay), Tom Gries (screenplay)

Stars:

Jim Brown, Raquel Welch, Burt Reynolds

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jim Brown	...	Lyedecker
Raquel Welch	...	Sarita
Burt Reynolds	...	Yaqui Joe
Fernando Lamas	...	Verdugo
Dan O'Herlihy	...	Grimes
Eric Braeden	...	Von Klemme (as Hans Gudegast)
Michael Forest	...	Humara
Aldo Sambrell	...	Sgt. Paletes
Soledad Miranda	...	Girl in Hotel
Alberto Dalbés	...	Padre Francisco (as Alberto Dalbes)
Charly Bravo	...	Lopez (as Carlos Bravo)
José Manuel Martín	...	Sarita's Father (as Jose Manuel Martin)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Akim Tamiroff	...	Gen. Romero (scenes deleted)

Storyline

Yaqui Joe (Burt Reynolds) is an Indian who robs a bank in order to buy guns for his people, who are being savagely repressed by the government. Set in turn-of-the-century Mexico, it tells the story of his flight into Mexico and his pursuit by an American lawman. They eventually become allies and team up with Sarita (Raquel Welch) to take up the cause of the Indians.

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Plot Keywords:

yaqui indian | ambush | mexican revolution | train | rifle | 

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Taglines:

All they need is . . . 100 RIFLES

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Genres:

Adventure | Romance | War | Western

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Though this movie has often been called a "spaghetti western", it actually isn't. That term is applied to westerns that were filmed by European companies (usually Italian), with a European (usually Italian) cast and crew and shot in Spain, because its terrain closely resembles the northeast Mexico/southwest U.S. area. Although this movie was shot in Spain, it was filmed by an American studio (Twentieth Century Fox) with an American director, producer, writers and mostly American crew. Burt Reynolds' previous movie, Navajo Joe (1966), is properly regarded as a "spaghetti western", but not this one.

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Goofs

Jim Brown goes around with a torn sleeve on his shirt, then the sleeve was sewn up. During the interrogation of the American businessman, the sleeve is again torn.

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Quotes

Lyedecker: I thought I outta go back and give it one more shot.

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Alternate Versions

All UK releases are cut by 4 secs to remove 2 horsefalls.

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Connections

Featured in A Century of Black Cinema (2003)

User Reviews

The film makes a little sense but a lot of amusing noise

The movie takes place during a bloody time period of Mexico history… At that time, anyone coming to Mexico ought to be speaking Spanish… But Lyedecker (Jim Brown) didn't speak the language… He was a black policeman looking for a valuable man, a bank robber named Joe Herrera (Burt Reynolds), who looks Mexican but doesn't talk Mexican… Herrera is a half-breed, whose mother was a Yaqui Indian and his father was from Alabama…

General Verdugo (Fernando Lamas) is sure that the money was not spent on women or on Whisky… For him, Joe stole the $6,000 from the Citizen's Bank in Phoenix, Arizona to buy 100 rifles for his people, the Yaqui Indians…

Verdugo—a murderer and an assassin who runs the State of Sonora—have orders to get rid of the Yaquis any way he could, and he took the easy way by killing everybody… He even kidnapped Yaqui children to regain the rifles… And now he wants Lyedecker's head on a stick in the middle of the plaza for everyone to see…

Lyedecker doesn't care about nothing and nobody… He took a job that nobody else wanted… His intentions are to take Joe back for the $200 reward and a permanent job… The policeman rejected any deal in spite of all the atrocities he witnessed like executing Indians or hanging them up like a side of beef…

Steven Grimes (Dan O'Herlihy)—who runs the railroad— doesn't want his train to be a small sacrifice to the mean general… The German military adviser Lt. Von Klemme (Eric Braeden) thinks that the Indians must be finished off as quickly as possible before more guns come through… Raquel Welch's most audacious moment comes out when the Indians attack a well-guarded train carrying troops and supplies, and she was openly showering in the flat part, under a water tower…

With a very nice score by Jerry Goldsmith, "100 Rifles" is a slam-bang action epic, with loads of explosions and gory fighting, making little sense but a lot of amusing noise

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

26 March 1969 (USA)

Also Known As:

One Hundred Rifles

Filming Locations:

Villamanta, Madrid, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

$3,920,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Marvin Schwartz Productions, Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1