El Condor (1970) User Reviews

Van Cleef's performance is worth the view

[mgtbltp · 5/10 · 25 October 2006]

Saw this 36 years ago on Times Square in NYC. Got a tolerably Good VHS of it on Amazon.com for about $5.

It was directed by John Guillermin, and stars Lee Van Cleef, Jim Brown, Patrick O'Neal, Marianna Hill, Iron Eyes Cody, Elisha Cook Jr., and Dan Van Husen. It was made around the Blaxplotation Era, its not great but its not bad as far as an action flick goes. The score by Jaffe is nothing to get worked up about, Its supposed to take place at the end Maxamilian's Mexico reign (1867) , but all the Colts are vintage 1873 Peacemakers, so any historical reality is lost with this film at the git go. Check your brains at the door.

Its highlight for me (and the reason for any Lee Van Cleef fan to get this film) is Van Cleef's turn as a character named Jaroo.

Jaroo is as far from Van Cleef's Mortimer as you can probably go. Here he plays a somewhat shallow, alcoholic, happy go lucky Indian Trader, an Apachero so to speak, who has lived on and off with the Apaches. He's a dusty, scrawny looking saddle bum, his trademark hawk like face in this film is transformed more into a beady-eyed weasel. He wears a two bear claw necklace around his neck and a small poke that holds two gold nuggets. We first meet him as he guzzling down some whiskey in a bar.

But this is more a vehicle for Brown, and we meet him first at a prison camp, he plays a character named Luke & he is shackled to Elisa Cook Jr. Cook tells him about El Condor fort sort of the Ft. Knox of Mexico. Luke is summoned to the commandants office and offered a pardon if he would join up with General Sherman. But he escapes and heads for the gold of El Condor. Brown is average in this too.

Luke teams up with Jaroo since Jaroo can get Apache Chief Santana and an army of Apache Warriors to attack the fort for plunder rather than the gold and then Luke & Jaroo can split the Mexican Treasury.

Patrick O'Neal is the Mexican General in command of El Condor and knockout Marianna Hill his mistress. O'Neal is OK in the role and Hill does a full frontal striptease at a crucial plot point, wow. She's got quite the rack , and all of us Clint fans will recognize her from her role of town tramp Calle Travers from High Plains Drifter.

Now I know why we never see this film on TV, lots of bare flesh throughout.

There is a great sequence in a Mexican town where Jaroo has a scene with a small Mexican boy that is pretty touching. Later there is another good sequence when Jaroo gets "gold fever".

Shot in Almeria. Just treat this more as mindless entertainment, with a very good performance by Van Cleef. It could have been way better than it is but it was made to just cash in on the SW craze.

Its better than I remembered.

A pair of drifters in search for millions of dollars in gold buried under an impregnable fort

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 30 September 2009]

Two men, a two-fisted Jim Brown as escaped prisoner and an humorous Lee Van Cleef as ambitious drifter, join forces to rob a lot of gold located into an impressive Mexican fortress (commanded by Patrick O'Neal) where is supposedly hidden the treasure. They're accompanied by an Indian tribe (led by Iron Eyes Cody, usual in Indian roles but he's Italian origin).

It packs shootouts, action western, tongue in cheek, thrills, violence and some of nudism in charge of a gorgeous Marianna Hill . This American-Spanish co-production paints an ironic, cynic portrayal of two rough bandits , following their exploits about an attack over an heavily armed fortress . The film results to be another action/adventure /humor Western that during the 60s and early 70s were ordinarily shot . Likable support cast by prestigious actors as Elisha Cook Jr and full of secondaries from Spaghetti Western as Dan Van Husen, Ricardo Palacios, Angel Del Pozo, Charly Bravo, Rafael Albaicin, among others . The film is well shot in Texas Hollywood-Fort Bravo, Almeria, Spain with a breathtaking production design by Julio Molina who made the great fortress , one of the best ever created and where were posteriorly filmed several Spaghetti as ¨ Blind man, Massacre at Fort Holman, A man called Noon¨ and ¨Conan the Barbarian¨. Nevertheless, today the fort has been partially crumbled and only remain some ruins . Atmospheric and lively musical score by the classic Maurice Jarre (Zivago, Lawrence of Arab ). Evocative and colorful cinematography by Henry Persin . The motion picture is lavishly produced by Andre De Toth ( who directed good Western) and professionally directed by John Guillermin, a super-productions expert ( King Kong, The towering inferno, Skyjacked) and warlike specialist(The bridge of Remagen, Blue Max) . Rating : Acceptable and passable. The picture will appeal to S.W. buffs and Lee Van Cleef fans.

A really impressive fortress

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 26 January 2018]

The plains of Spain was where this European western was shot with Americans Jim Brown and Lee Van Cleef who team up to take a really impressive fortress entitled El Condor. It's commanded by General Patrick O'Neal with all the comforts of home including mistress Mariana Hill. The rest of the troops get an occasional peak and then make their trips to the bordello for relief.

Brown is an escaped convict and Van Cleef is a rogue of a prospector who has an in with the local Apaches whose chief is Iron Eyes Cody. There's reputed to be a vast fortune in gold bullion in the fort, the Mexican version of Fort Knox. The French want it, the Juaristas want it, various bandits want it, but it's O'Neal who has it and guards it zealously.

It's almost comical the way our heroes and the Apaches take the place. O'Neal and his troops behave like the stupid Germans did in a ton of World War II era propaganda flicks. In fact it's one of those trips to the bordello for the troops that's the start of their undoing.

The best thing that El Condor has going for it is the easy chemistry between the leads. Both of them rarely did any comedy, Van Cleef was almost always a bad guy in the 50s and 60s. Other heavies from that era, Lee Marvin, Claude Akins, Jack Elam, Neville Brand to name a few started doing more roles spoofing themselves, Van Cleef rarely did. As for Jim Brown, the former Cleveland Browns running back could lay claim to being the first black action/adventure star in film.

El Condor is a nice action/adventure western that's laced with some humor for the two stars. And fans of one or both should see this film.

An Exciting good old style film

[vad-2 · 15 December 1998]

I enjoyed this film which I saw on television, but I did see it originally at the cinema long before IMDB or its directors were in existence.

Vintage Lee Van Cleef and Jim Browm acted out their parts well. I always like these type of Westerns, they never date, but then I grew up on them. The stories always have the same theme but, coupled to the acting and stunning western scenery, they always capture me. Having been fortunate enough to visit the scenery in the US in Arizona, New Mexico and California, the films give me added pleasure. Hope they go on remaking them so as to benefit from the new technology

El Condor

[Scarecrow-88 · 6/10 · 26 November 2011]

"What am I doin' here?"

Those are the last dying words of someone who expected a whole bunch of gold bars in the bleak conclusion of this entertaining, if really simple-plotted (but with a funny, if tragic, considering all the lives lost because it, twist) and rather forgettable (if not for the casting of Lee Van Cleef, I imagine this film would probably remain buried even further in obscurity than it already is) spaghetti western, set in Mexico (but shot in Spain). Jim Brown—AKA the greatest running back to ever step on a football field—convinces Lee Van Cleef (filthy, poor, and desperate, with his background and strife in the old west, it wouldn't take much to talk him into going after gold), to talk an Apache leader, Iron Eyes Cody (yes, he had the iconic portrayal of a Native American who shed a tear because of pollution, the ad famous in the 70s) into getting his braves to help potentially raid a general's (Patrick O'Neal, not really convincing as a Mexican, to tell you the truth) fortress, heavily guarded by Mexican soldiers. It is believed that the general, Chavez, has millions of gold bars hidden somewhere in the fortress, spurning quite a bloody battle for them (the Apache just expect fancy horses and some rifles, as Van Cleef doesn't tell Cody of the gold bars, which leads to an unfortunate murder because if the Native Americans know of the cache, they'd slit the white/black men's throats). Marianna Hill is the gorgeous lover of Chavez, who becomes enamored with Brown, enough to assist them towards the end when they perform a nighttime raid (this help comes in the form of a striptease! It certainly gets the solders' attention, and rightfully so). The whole plot revolves around taking the Mexican fortress, and the bloodshed that occurs in order to do so. The chemistry of Van Cleef and Brown is a strength of this western which makes the final reel all the sadder. The surprise regarding the gold is quite a whopper that Brown doesn't see coming and it is exasperating because of all the death that results. The film's main appeal, besides the chemistry and action, is the strategizing between Brown and O'Neal over breaking into/defending the Mexican fortress. Poor Van Cleef goes through every kind of ordeal for Brown, sustaining his share of misery in the pursuit of a dream, which could turn out to just be fantasy. Most know Hill from Clint Eastwood's "High Plains Drifter", and she is just as sexy here, if not more so. There's a great siege upon naked Mexican soldiers, who had descended on a little Mexican town to rape/molest the women, by Brown, Van Cleef, and company, but the main raid on the fortress at the end delivers the real goods (there's another attack, quite clever on Brown and Van Cleef's part, where they are able to get inside the fortress, detonating a water tank that floods the grounds and soldiers!). This isn't the usual Van Cleef western (anti)hero role, his character not a force of nature or a feared, crafty, wise gunslinger--he's a pitiable wreck who so badly needs a break, because life hasn't ever dealt him one good hand.

El Condor is not bad... and not that good, either!

[adrianovasconcelos · 6/10 · 28 September 2020]

John Guillermin was a better than average director but even he can't save this movie from its clichés and predictable script. Of course, by 1970 the civil rights movement was well under way and the black lead had to make up in cleverness for what the white counterpart had in stupidity. So, Brown and van Cleef make a workable duo thanks to Brown's superior intelligence and strength, while Lee shoots and blows up anything that moves.

Acting is generally substandard. The stunning Marianna Hill, with a truly fantastic set of boobs, steals the show.

The script is explosive - not through its quality but through the constant explosions on the screen.

Photography is cheap color, unsteady at times.

Still, I carried on watching until the inevitable ending. Won't happen again.

An Unsavory, Amoral Oater About Greed and Gold in Old Mexico

[zardoz-13 · 7/10 · 17 May 2011]

Former Cleveland Browns fullback Jim Brown and veteran character actor Lee Van Cleef make an unlikely couple of comrades in "Blue Max" director John Guillermin's cynical, epic-scale shoot'em up "El Condor," co-starring Patrick O'Neal, Marianna Hill, Iron Eyes Cody, and Elisha Cook Jr. Lensed on location in scenic Almeria, Spain, this bloodthirsty, profane, R-rated oater depicts the exploits of two soldiers-of-fortune who embark on a life & death struggle to loor a fortune in gold from a heavily fortified garrison in the middle of a savage desert. Hungarian André De Toth, whose chief claim to fame was his 3-D movie "House of Wax," made his share of westerns, so he knew his way around the sagebrush. British director John Guillermin wound up helming a little of everything, from "King Kong" to "The Towering Inferno" and from "Skyjacked" to "Tarzan Goes to India." "El Condor" doesn't rank as Guillermin's finest work, but he delivers the goods more competently than most and doesn't let the actors dawdle. Guillermin keeps the action charging ahead from one improbable predicament to another with aplomb. American scenarists Steven Carabatsos, a script consultant on the original "Star Trek" television series, and "Black Caesar" director Larry Cohen penned the amoral screenplay where virtually everybody turns on everybody else. The Jim Brown hero is the only honorable man amongst everybody. Obviously, Cohen and Carabatsos were channeling the landmark movie "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" where clashes between partners erupted from the greed in their blood.

Guillermin effectively establishes the old Western setting in the first scene with a snake crawling through the rocks high above a prison where the inmates are shackled in pairs and taking a break from hard labor. An elderly convict (Elisha Cook Jr. of "The Maltese Falcon") regales his fellow convicts with the story of Emperor Maximilian's lost gold salted away in the El Condor desert where not even armies can get it. The impressionable Luke (Jim Brown of "The Dirty Dozen") believes everything that his convict pal claims so when the camp commandant offers him amnesty by to deploy his skills with explosives, he rejects the offer as fraud and escapes. Later, armed and mounted, Luke tracks down Jaroo (Lee Van Cleef of "Sabata") and tells him about the gold, the army, and the fortress. Jaroo has his hands full when we first meet him. He is getting blind drunk in a saloon with several untrustworthy hombres who want his gold. He lures them to his mind, an elaborate system of tunnels and shoots it out with them. During this gunfight, Luke describes the set-up, but Jaroo believes that they cannot do it. but Luke convinces him that it can be done because the latter controls an army of Indians. Jaroo has three adversaries left to kill when he agrees to become Luke's partner. He asks Luke to help him. Luke sights a convenient cradle of rocks above the last three killers and creates an avalanche with a single bullet that kills them. Jaroo howls with laughter. He comments briefly about his relationship with the Apaches. "I sell them guns that don't work; liquor'd make a white man go blind; I violate their women; and, they still love me." Like good westerns, the heroes don't have it easy. At one point, our heroes are tarred and feathered and run out of town. This is probably the funniest scene with both Brown and Van Cleef plastered head to toe in tar with feathers. Later, Jaroo assembles about 85 braves led by their chieftain Santana (Iron Eyes Cody of "The Big Trail") and they set out to get the gold. Like most search for treasure movies, "El Condor" starts out as fanciful with our heroes imagining their future wealth until they hit rock bottom and discover the horrible truth. All the stacks of gold in the basement of the gigantic fortress are lead ingots painted gold. Inevitably, Luke and Jaroo shoot it out in the last few minutes with predictable results and Luke rides off with the girl.

Ultimately, despite its take-charge pace and Maurice Jarre's electrifying score, "El Condor" fails to generate any charisma. Indeed, this western cannot make up its mind whether it wants to be a buddy picture or a movie about the divisive effect of greed. Lee Van Cleef plays the kind of slimy villain that he developed throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, except here he adds comedy. Overall, Van Cleef steals every scene and he has a touching, off-beat scene with a small Mexican lad who he gives a gold nugget because they are both bastards. The problem with "El Condor" is that you cannot really like it because the protagonists aren't pals. Mind you, this could easily have been a funny, bloody, but enjoyable western if the filmmakers had allowed our protagonists to respect each other. Production designer Julio Molina built the sprawling fortress that the filmmakers would bequeath to other filmmakers for movies such as "Conan the Barbarian," "March or Die," and "A Reason to Live, A Reason to Die." The fortress looks like the eighth wonder of the world. Whatever else "El Condor" lacks, this unsavory western boasts spectacular production values.

Westerns don't get much worse than this

[wb-11 · 2/10 · 31 December 2003]

The western genre is regarded by many (or is it just me?!) as having hit rock-bottom (well, almost) in the 1970s, before almost dying out in the 80s and 90s (ok, ok, dances with wolves, heaven's gate, there have been major westerns since...don't get me wrong). This is a prime example.

Star of many terrible spaghetti westerns (and a few good ones) Lee Van Cleef features in this one as a drunken slob of a bandit called Jaroo. He overacts enormously (of course) and is hardly a likeable character, soupy scene with Mexican kid notwithstanding!!!

Jim Brown plays Luke, an escaped convict who teams up with him to steal the fabulous treasure of El Condor. Oh, and they also hook up with a bunch of Indians led by a chief called Santana- I wonder if he could play guitar? :-)

Anyway, there's also the invevitable cruel Mexican general, a heavily guarded fort, lots of explosions and blood...and some woman who's the girlfriend of the general. The stripping scene was atrocious! Spoiling the climax of the film. Mad!

Music by Maurice Jarre is alright. That's about it. And the problem is, it's not even bad enough to be funny!

Sucks

[SanteeFats · 2/10 · 3 August 2013]

Started out sucky and kept it through out. Talk about hokey, stereotypical, poorly done and just out right bad acting, script writing, and really poor acting, this is one for the books. Jim Brown has never been a good actor in my opinion but he does an even worse job in this movie. Lee Van Cleef has never been any where near a good actor, again in my opinion. Elisha Cook puts in a very nice performance at the start of the movie as Brown's side kick in chains. The actors that play the Mexican bandidos (I guess that what they were suppose to be) are sooo stereotypical it is funny. All in all this movie is really bad.

EXCITING EPIC WESTERN

[whynotwriteme · 10/10 · 15 December 1999]

Extremely enjoyable western adventure in the classic style of the late 60s and early 70s. The plot concerns a pair of rogue adventurers who team up with a tribe of Apache Indians to steal a fortune in gold from a huge fortress in Mexico during the mid 1860s. The heroes are extremely well portrayed, with Jim Brown as Luke, in a pioneering performance for African American actors in the early 70s; a non racially specific heroic role. Brown displays the cool confidence he showed in 'The Dirty Dozen' and '100 Rifles', showing once again that he was one of the most underrated action heroes of the 60s and 70s. Lee Van Cleef is also superb. Going against his usual casting as a polished, cool villain, Van Cleef plays a scruffy ne'r-do-well named Jaroo, who is first seen spitting whiskey into the camera. In spite of Jaroo's greed and unsavory habits, he is still a very sympathetic character. Just watch the great scene where he gives a Mexican boy one of his prized gold nuggets. Other characters of note are Iron Eyes Cody as Santana, the Apache Chief, and Patrick O'Neal as Chavez, the cruel yet honorable commandanté of the Fortress of El Condor. Mariana Hill is stunning (and totally naked at one point!) as the mistress of Chavez, a fickle beauty with the power to make men or break them. The battles are truly epic in scope, particularily the scenes of the final assault on El Condor, with hundreds of Mexican soldiers and Apaches clashing in the courtyard of the immense fortress. The music by Maurice Jarré is wonderful. One of his best scores, along with 'Lawrence of Arabia' and 'The Professionals'. No one can say that 'El Condor' is a message movie, or socially relevant or challenging, but if you want an action packed western with larger than life heroes and villains, beautiful women and impossible odds, El Condor is the film for you! I have watched this film literally dozens of times since first sneaking into the living-room to catch it on the late show as a kid in 1979, and I never ever tire of it. I watch this film more often that 'The Wild Bunch', 'The Magnificent Seven' or 'The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly'! Buy a copy RIGHT AWAY!

remembered for full-frontal nude scene and interracial mumbo-jumbo

[karlericsson · 5/10 · 14 March 2010]

Very much like his white counterparts, Fredrich March, early Gregory Peck, early Christopher Plummer (both these actors shaping up considerable with advancing age), Sir John Guielgoud (or what's-his-name), Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dolph Lundgren (shaping up a little recently) and, worst of all, Chuck Norris, Jim Brown was a log-head and a bore and a reason for not seeing the film he was in. He was nothing like Denzel Washington, Ossie Davies, Yaphet Kotto, Samuel Jackson and especially not like my own favourite Cuba Gooding. Only Wesley Snipes and maybe Will Smith (who however has done the excellent Enemy of the State) can hold a candle to his magnificent boredom. In this movie there is yet another beautiful white woman who is chosen to go to bed with "handsome" boredom Brown but who also delivers some outstanding full-frontals as compensation, which is why this film is remembered at all. Lee Van Cleef never played a more unsympathetic dumb role but he does it convincingly and maybe he wanted to show that he was a good actor. Oh, why do actors do that! It's so very boring! The five stars is for the full frontals and for nothing else.

Not great, but enjoyable enough.

[hemiram · 29 September 2011]

I saw this movie with my dad in 1970, something we had planned to see was sold out, and we both liked Westerns, so we picked this. Van Cleef does a good job, but Brown is his normal stiff as a board self. I found he was the same in real life when I met him in 1980. He knew someone I worked with from his football days and I guess he brought him to work to prove he really did know him. Patrick O'Neal as a Mexican is hilarious!

The highlight is the Marianna Hill nude scene, but there are a lot of explosions and action to pass the time quickly enough. There are a lot of worse ways to spend an evening.

Jim Brown and Lee Van Cleef

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 10 January 2023]

El Condor is the rumored Mexican gold reserve hidden by Emperor Maximilian. Luke (Jim Brown) escapes from an Union work camp and sets off searching for it. He teams up with gold miner Jaroo (Lee Van Cleef) who is being chased by rivals. Jaroo claims to have a hundred Apache warrior friends. El Condor turns out to be a fortress run by Chavez (Patrick O'Neal) and Claudine (Marianna Hill) is his mistress.

I was looking forward to see a team-up between Jim Brown and Lee Van Cleef. I'm not expecting greatness. At least, I'm not expecting it from Jim Brown. In this one, Lee Van Cleef is the disappointing one. His character is not that cool and Lee is such a cool actor. Jim Brown is who he is. The pairing is not that good. They are simply not friends. I'm just waiting for them to double-cross each other at the end of the movie. There is no way they couldn't see the Apache trying to pass themselves off as Mexicans. This is a B-western, but it could have been more. It does have lots of violence and mature subject matter.

The Condor.

[hitchcockthelegend · 8/10 · 15 April 2014]

El Condor is directed by John Guillermin and written by Larry Cohen and Steve Carabatsos. It stars Jim Brown, Lee Van Cleef, Patrick O'Neal, Marianna Hill and Iron Eyes Cody. Music is by Maurice Jarre and cinematography by Henri Persin.

Luke (Brown), an escaped chain-gang fugitive, and Jaroo (Cleef), a gold prospector, decide to join forces in an assault on a Mexican fort that is thought to house the gold reserves of Emperor Maximilian. Backed by a band of Apache Indians, the mission is on, but the fort is heavily armed and General Chavez (O'Neal) is a shrewd and ruthless leader of the Mexican defenders.

Ebert didn't like it, it's most divisive amongst genre aficionados, while the charge of it being a mindless action film carries some substance, but oh what raucous - riotous - rambunctious fun it is!

It would be folly to argue about the acting being great here, it simply isn't, with both Cleef and Brown getting by on charisma, screen presence and light airy by-play. Yet Guillerman and producer Andre De Toth knew how to make an action film, and how to make the action impact with as much force as possible. The spectacle on show here is quite something, from the Technicolor photography that brings Andalusia vividly to life, to the magnificent adobe fort - and to the incredibly large cast members indulging in brutal and bloody battles, El Condor knows exactly what it needs to do to entertain the viewers.

There's also the sizzle factor, brought about by some nude scenes that ensured the picture would get the highest classification upon its original release. Yet regardless of these scenes being tame by today's standards, they surely are not in the film for gratification sake anyway, there's a simmering sexuality in the movie from the off. What with its wrought machismo and breaking down of racial boundaries, it makes up for what it lacks in subtlety with high temperature atmospherics. Anyway, in spite of what you might have heard about Hill's "full monty" scene, it is beautifully erotic and it's no stretch to believe that she could, in that moment in time, stop an army in its tracks! Attagirl.

Maurice Jarre has a grand old time scoring the picture, blending stirring boom time with japery laced tinkles, it's a most appropriate musical accompaniment. So with that comes the observation that El Condor is not successful in making any deep meaningful observations on either the human condition or politico posturing. What it does do is have a bloody good time, with its bloody brutal action sequences, a body count via gun-play that would fill out a war movie and the sexually charged atmosphere, El Condor is mindless but pure unadulterated entertainment. So Amen to that! 8/10

Excellent Action, great Drama

[jerrycurlz · 8/10 · 20 April 2001]

This motion picture is in my opinion, undoubtedbly Jim Brown's best cinematic performance . The action and cinematography reminded me of The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (Lee Van Cleef probably had something to do w/ it) He also does an excellent job.

The plot is well-scripted, and the motion picture is paced well. I don't know the name of the lead actress in the picture--but man, she must've been working out or something because she is/ was pretty fine. All in all, a definite thumb up picture.

Frequently Entertaining, Often Profound Action-Comedy Western

[Bob-45 · 8/10 · 1 April 2005]

Abandoned and nearly forgotten, "El Condor" is a frequently profound, near great western, easily in my 25 all time best westerns. If so, WHY is it abandoned and nearly forgotten? "El Condor" has many strikes against it, arriving just after the peak of the "Spaghetti Western," lost among the "A Cast" Westerns, owned by a then nearly defunct movie company and Jim Brown. By "El Condor," Jim Brown was pretty well wearing out his welcome as an actor. Brown, who received fine notices in "Rio Conchos" and great ones for "The Dirty Dozen" substituted ego for acting, first in "100 Rifles," then here. Even now, it's hard for a black male lead to appeal to the much larger white audience; and as the "blaxploitation" era wound down, worthy films such as "El Condor" was sucked down with them.

Brown plays a convict who escapes from a work detail to reclaim his stolen loot and finance an assault on "El Condor," a fortress contains millions in Aztec gold confiscated by the Spainish and held by the Mexican federalizes. Brown enlists Lee Van Cleef (funnier than one would ever expect), a "Commanchero," to convince an Indian chief to siege El Condor with his braves and take it from Patrick O'Neal, commandant of El Condor. O'Neal, a cultured, intellectual, nonetheless, keeps Marianna Hill, his mistress as a virtual sex slave. Hill knows will Happen to her if O'Neal's attentions wane. Neal will give Hill to his men for their "amusement." In other words, to be gang raped.

"El Condor" contains so many gamy elements, it's no wonder even the "Spaghetti Western" crowd doesn't embrace it. However, "El Condor" also has many surprisingly profound visual and plot twists, it's hard to dismiss it. However, explaining those requires spoilers.

WARNING: SPOILERS

Here is Patrick O'Neal, a cultured intellectual man keeping a sex slave, and willing to sacrifice himself and all his men to defend The secret of EL CONDOR, which there is NO gold, in order to save his country's economy and his own prestige. Here is Van Cleef, entertaining as Eli Wallich (Tuco in "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly"), easily more likable than the "hero," Jim Brown, throwing Everything he's acquired in his life (the loyalty and friendship of the Indian tribe) because he's unwilling to share TONS of "gold," more than one man could spend in a lifetime. Here's Marianna Hill, seeing Jim Brown as a "savior" from her her situation, exposing herself, full frontal, to distract the guards from Brown, Van Cleef and the braves scaling the walls. Hill's action is a visual testimony to the repeated rape she has suffered at the hands of O'Neal exposed "for all the world to see."

Jim Brown and Marianna Hill are the only ones who survive to end of "El Condor" because they are willing to accept the truth both of the world and inside themselves. This isn't the kind of thematic splendor one often sees even in serious dramatic films. It's even more rare in a movie as multigenred (western, action, comedy) as "El Condor"

I love the small touches of "El Condor." O'Neal gives his federale garrison permission to leave the fort and go into the peaceful village nearby. The federalizes enter the village and separate the most desirable women from their families at gunpoint to be raped repeatedly at their leisure. One federale standing behind one of the women, reaches around her and closes his hand over her full right breast. Her head turns toward him, revealing the face of a girl about twelve. Later, an attack by Brown, Van Cleef and the Indians on the federalizes in the village, exposes two of the federale officers in bed together. I've already discussed the full frontal display by the well-endowed Ms. Hill, having a higher purpose of social commentary. However, there's also two pieces of dialog that provide great but humorous social commentary:"

Village woman to son,who's running off: "Get back here, you little bastard!" Van Cleef to woman: "You shouldn't call him that." Village woman: "You want to marry me?" Van Cleef: "Well, no." Village whore: "Then YOU adopt him!"

Van Cleef to Brown as Van Cleef is welcomed with open arms by the chief and surrounded by adoring squaws:

"I sell them guns that don't work; liquor'd make a WHITE man go blind; I violate their women; and, they STILL love me.

The latter piece of dialog is the most I've ever heard in ANY motion picture, and could be about ANYONE who's popular in the public mind.

END OF SPOILERS

"El Condor" needs to be seen. At worst, it's an entertaining, if adult movie. At best, it's profound and a near-great, if not great film. I give "El Condor" an "8".

Rarely heard of, this western is far above average

[Leofwine_draca · 8/10 · 7 July 2016]

Here's a wonderfully old-fashioned western movie, overlooked by many but perhaps deserving new status as a minor classic of the genre. The film works admirably well thanks to the solid direction of John Guillermin – who turns material we've seen a hundred times before into something new and refreshing – and a more than adequate budget, which led to the building of a whole fort in the middle of the desert which would go on to serve many movies for decades to come. The film is literally action packed and, whilst not particularly bloody, serves up enough death and destruction to satisfy the most ardent lover of excitement and battle. The script is witty and the plot takes many twists and turns, keeping the audience on their toes by throwing in a number of genuinely surprising twists to keep you guessing as to the outcome.

The casting works in the film's favour; as the heroic lead, Jim Brown (THE DIRTY DOZEN) is subdued and his is a performance that works – imagine a black Clint Eastwood and you have the general idea. There is a sense of calmness and coolness about the actor that serves him well and he is also believable in the action stakes. Despite Brown's solid prowess, the film is still nonetheless stolen by the appearance of Van Cleef, in a cast-against-type role as a drunken prospector out for his own ends, complete with a low set of morals and even worse personal hygiene habits. Despite his unsavoury character, Van Cleef still evokes sympathy and respect from the audience plus a large helping of successful comic relief. Towards the end of the film he adds layers of pathos and torment rounding out his character as a whole. Patrick O'Neal is splendidly suave and sophisticated, as well as tongue-in-cheek, as the honourable villain, whilst Marianna Hill shows off her beauty by performing a striptease for the army.

What I liked most about this film was the combination of humour and suspense in the action scenes. Many are played for laughs but there is also always an element of real danger at hand. Take for example the stealthy climbing of the wall, made amusing through the stupid soldiers in the army, too obsessed with spying on Hill to care about any imminent invasion; you still find yourself holding your breath during this sequence. Other great moments include the hilarious moment when Brown must battle with an Indian warrior to show his supremacy, and the full-on onslaught of the battle which concludes the picture. Western fans take note: this is one epic (but fun) film you won't want to miss.

Raucous Faux Spaghetti Western

[FightingWesterner · 9/10 · 23 August 2009]

Lee Van Cleef steals the show from a more subdued Jim Brown in El Condor, an American produced film with a British director, shot in Spain.

An old favorite of mine, this was aired frequently on local television when I was growing up, though not much seen nowadays. It's a fast, funny, and violent action/adventure, that is overdue for rediscovery!

In this, Brown and Van Cleef scheme to take the impregnable Spanish fort of El Condor with a little help from a virtual army of Apache warriors in order to steal billions in gold.

There's so many great scenes it's hard to say which is the best, the nude massacre, the attempted execution of Brown and Van Cleef by exposure, or the final rousing battle for El Condor. It's all good!

Unfortunately, the fun is undercut by a downbeat ending pitting the two allies against each other. How disappointing!

Promising leads don't cover an unremarkable western

[bob the moo · 8 November 2003]

When he is part of a chain gang, Luke overhears talk of a fort where millions of dollars worth of gold is hidden under the guard of part of the Mexican army. He escapes from his captors and enlists the help of gold prospector Jaroo to help him recover the gold. Jaroo has connections with a tribe of Indians who will be told it is a political matter and promised horses and guns for their help. The duo set out with their enlisted army to attack the fort of General Chavez and steal the gold.

This film looked interesting to me because it had a black star in the lead as well as the grizzled Van Cleef. I didn't know anything about the plot but decided to give it a go. Despite some good touches along the way, there isn't really much that makes this western stand out – it's all pretty standard stuff. The ending has a good twist and a downbeat ending but it's nothing that unusual for a western of this sort. The film does have some good bits of light humour, however it also tries to have all the usual clichés thrown in as well – we have the two leads fighting, Jaroo being kind to a child (with sappy Mexican music in background), nudity and Wild Bunch style excessive violence at each stage.

The film is still passable as long as you know what you're watching and don't expect too much. As a western it is quite fun if you're just after something undemanding with lots of gunfights. However more than that and you'll be disappointed. The cast carries the film at several points; or at least the lead two do. Jim Brown is a pretty good screen presence even if his skills as an actor leave a little to be desired. Here his physical presence and (slightly out of place, period wise) swagger. Van Cleef has a better character and it's a shame that he plays second fiddle to Brown for much of the film – but he is still very interesting to watch. O'Neal is only so-so, Iron Eyes Cody has little to do and Hill is pretty but not much else.

Overall this is a passable western as long as you don't expect too much. It is nicely driven along by the screen presence of Brown and Van Cleef. Other than them and the odd good touch here and there, this film is quite unremarkable as westerns go.

El Condor was the second film starring the late Jim Brown I just watched and enjoyed

[tavm · 8/10 · 12 July 2023]

This is my second viewing of a movie starring the late Jim Brown after just previously watching The Split. Here, he's an inmate who escapes from prison. He then meets Lee Van Cleef at a bar when Cleef has to deal with some unwanted acquaintances. So they team up to get gold from a fort with help from some Apaches Cleef is familiar with led by Iron Eyes Cody (who I remember from that anti-pollution TV public service ad in which he's seen crying) . I'll stop there and just say this was quite exciting from beginning to end. Quite fun especially when Mariana Hill does some stripping. So that's a recommendation of El Condor.