Gunfighters of Casa Grande | |
---|---|
Directed by | Roy Rowland |
Written by | Story: Borden Chase Patricia Chase Screenplay: Borden Chase Patricia Chase Clark Reynolds |
Produced by | Sam Abarbanel Lester Welch |
Starring | Alex Nicol Jorge Mistral Dick Bentley Steve Rowland Phil Posner Mercedes Alonso Diana Lorys Maria Granada Roberto Rey Aldo Sambrell |
Cinematography | Jose Aguayo Manuel Marino Metrocolor, CinemaScope |
Edited by | George A. Lee |
Music by | Johnny Douglas |
Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 92 minutes |
Countries | United States Spain |
Language | English |
Box office | 19,939,562 ₧ (ESP) |
Gunfighters of Casa Grande (Spanish : Los pistoleros de Casa Grande) is a 1964 Eurowestern film, co-produced by American and Spanish producers. Based on a story by Borden and Patricia Chase, it was later developed into a screenplay with the assistance of screenwriter Clark Reynolds and directed by Roy Rowland, the last film he made for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. [1] [2] [3] [4]
The film starred Alex Nicol, Jorge Mistral, Dick Bentley, Steve Rowland (son of the director), Phil Posner, Mercedes Alonso, Diana Lorys, Maria Granada, Roberto Rey and Aldo Sambrell. Antonio Mayans and José Manuel Martín both had minor appearances in the film, Martin having an uncredited role. [5]
The film's trailer was originally narrated by voice actor Don LaFontaine in his first credited role. He had been working as recording engineer and copy writer when, after the original announcer failed to appear for the scheduled recording, LaFontaine agreed to record the trailer. [6] [7] [8] [9]
Joe Daylight is on the run along with members of his outlaw gang, The Kid, Doc and Henri. After fleeing from a bank robbery, they manage to elude the posse chasing them after crossing into Mexico. The gang had agreed to meet up later to divide up the money, however Daylight instead tells them that he has used the money to buy a hacienda, the Casa Grande. Although several of them protest, the gang agrees to follow Daylight to the ranch. He also enlists a mystical Mexican gunfighter called ”Viajero” (Traveller) – who knows the neighbourhood and comes from a haciendero family (though few know this) – to help him fit into the role of a Mexican hacienda owner, a hidalgo.
In effect, Daylight has won the hacienda in a poker game and his plan is to keep the gang together and use the ranch as a cover to rustle cattle from his neighbors and sell them at inflated prices across the border. However, his comrades soon adapt to life on the ranch. The Traveller and The Kid meet two women named Dona Maria de Castellar and Pacesita, with whom they eventually fall in love.
Daylight's plans are temporarily threatened by another bandit gang led by Rojo, who begins stealing cattle from numerous ranches in the area including his own. Organizing the local ranchers against the bandits, they succeed in destroying Rojo and his men. This has an unintended consequence however as Daylight's men have decided to remain at Casa Grande. He and his men begin to argue and, during the course of events, shoots and kills Doc causing The Traveller to kill Daylight in turn. With their former leader dead, the men stay on the ranch and The Traveller and Maria begin a new life on the Casa Grande. [10]
Gunfight at Casa Grande was released in Spain during early 1964 and premiered in the United States on April 1, 1964; it was later released in Europe between May 1964 and September 1965. Moderately successful, the film earned 19,939,562 ₧ (US: $189,608) during its initial run in Spain. As of September 1, 1965, the film was still running in American theaters and appeared in the New York-area as a double feature along with She . [11]
The film was aired on television in the United States during the late 1960s until the mid-1970s and again during the early-to-mid-1990s. The film was released on DVD during the early 2000s, although this was on a limited scale and consequently remains one of the more obscure and hard-to-find westerns.
In his investigation of narrative structures in Spaghetti Western films, Fridlund writes that Gunfighters of Casa Grande basically conforms to the "Classical Plot" in Will Wright's analysis of US Westerns, and Traveller is a "Classical" hero who comes from the outside, saves society (first from Rojo and then from Daylight) and then stays inside. [12] However, the cunning manipulator and unpredictable psychopath Daylight shows a close affinity to many main characters in the wave of Spaghetti Western films about to emerge on the screens. [13]
The spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's filmmaking style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most of these Westerns were produced and directed by Italians.
The Dollars Trilogy, also known as the Man with No Name Trilogy, is an Italian film series consisting of three spaghetti western films directed by Sergio Leone. The films are titled A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966). Their English versions were distributed by United Artists, while the Italian ones were distributed by Unidis and PEA.
A Bullet for the General, also known as El Chucho Quién Sabe?, is a 1966 Italian Zapata Western film directed by Damiano Damiani and starring Gian Maria Volonté, Lou Castel, Klaus Kinski and Martine Beswick. It tells the story of El Chuncho, a bandit and guerrilla leader during the Mexican Revolution, and Bill Tate/El Niño, a counter-revolutionary contract killer who infiltrates his gang and befriends Chuncho. The story centers on the way this relationship changes everything for Chuncho, who discovers the hard way that a social revolution is more important than mere money.
Alfredo Sánchez Brell, known as Aldo Sambrell, was a Spanish actor, director, and producer who appeared in over 150 films between 1961 and 1996.
Branded is a 1950 American Technicolor Western film starring Alan Ladd, Mona Freeman, Charles Bickford, and Robert Keith. It was adapted from the novel Montana Rides by Max Brand under pen name Evan Evans. A gunfighter on the run from the law is talked into posing as the long-lost son of a wealthy rancher.
The Savage Guns is a 1961 Eurowestern film, an international co-production by British and Spanish producers. Based on a specially commissioned screenplay, The San Siado Killings, written by Peter R. Newman and directed by Michael Carreras, the film is credited as the first traditional Spaghetti Western.
A Pistol for Ringo is a 1965 Spaghetti Western, a joint Italian and Spanish production. Originally written and directed by Duccio Tessari, the film's success led to a follow-up, The Return of Ringo, later that year, which, in spite of sharing the same name for the titular character, is not a sequel to this film and deals with an entirely new character and storyline.
In a Colt's Shadow is a 1965 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed and written by Giovanni Grimaldi.
Requiem for a Gringo is a 1968 Italian-Spanish Spaghetti Western film directed by Eugenio Martín and José Luis Merino and starring Lang Jeffries, Fernando Sancho and Femi Benussi. It is most known for the gore and psychedelic elements. It is the only western film of the Eurospy and peplum film genre star Lang Jeffries. The film is partially based on Masaki Kobayashi's film Harakiri.
Silver Saddle is a 1978 spaghetti Western. It is the third and final western directed by Lucio Fulci and one of the last spaghetti Westerns to be produced by a European studio. The film was based on an original story written by screenwriter Adriano Bolzoni and directed by Fulci for the Italian studio Rizzoli Film Productions.
Five Thousand Dollars on One Ace is a 1964 Spanish Spaghetti Western film directed by Alfonso Balcázar, scored by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino and Don Powell, and starring Robert Woods, Fernando Sancho and Helmut Schmid.
Arizona Gunfighter is a 1937 American western film directed by Sam Newfield and starring Bob Steele, Jean Carmen and Ted Adams. It was produced and distributed by Republic Pictures.
A Bullet for Sandoval is a 1969 Spaghetti Western film. It is a co-production between Italy and Spain. The film was generally well received by critics. For years, it was thought that famed Italian horror film director Lucio Fulci directed this western, but that was later disputed by the film's lead star George Hilton.
José Manuel Martín Pérez was a Spanish film and television actor, radio broadcaster, and screenwriter. He was a popular character actor in Spanish cinema during the 1950s and 60s, best remembered for playing villainous henchmen, appearing in more than 100 film and television productions.
The Texican is a 1966 American Techniscope Western film produced and written by John C. Champion and directed by Lesley Selander. It is a paella western remake of their 1948 film Panhandle adapted for the persona of Audie Murphy that featured Broderick Crawford as the heavy. The film was re-titled Ringo il Texano in Italy to coincide with the popularity of the Ringo Spaghetti Western film series.
Son of a Gunfighter is a 1965 Spanish-American Western film directed by Paul Landres. It was the last MGM film to be shot in CinemaScope.
Il tempo degli avvoltoi is a 1967 Italian spaghetti Western film directed by Nando Cicero.
Per il gusto di uccidere is the 1966 Italian Spaghetti Western film debut directed by Tonino Valerii. It is also the first film to use the camera system known as 2P. It was filmed in Almería. It is produced by Francesco Genesi, Vincenzo Genesi, Daniele Senatore, Stefano Melpignano and Jose Lopez Moreno, scored by Nico Massi and edited by Rosa G. Salgado.
Romance of the Rio Grande is a 1941 American western film directed by Herbert I. Leeds and written by Harold Buchman and Samuel G. Engel. The film stars Cesar Romero, Patricia Morison, Lynne Roberts, Ricardo Cortez, Chris-Pin Martin and Aldrich Bowker. The film was released on January 17, 1941, by 20th Century-Fox.
The Hell of Manitoba is a 1965 West-German-Spanish-Italian western film directed by Sheldon Reynolds and starring Lex Barker, Pierre Brice and Gérard Tichy. In the United States it was released under the alternative title of A Place Called Glory.