Wednesday 7 December 2011

bandolero! (1968) - andrew mclagen










Another classic Western (if you are into that sort of thing). Bandolero! has it all. There is a great cast, with stars including Dean Martin, James Stewart, George Kennedy and Raquel Welch, and plenty of desert scenery and killings.
Dee Bishop (Martin) and his gang are apprehended after robbing a bank. They are then assisted to escape by Mace Bishop (Stewart), who had been posing as a hangman, and Mace then robs the bank after the gang escape and the townsfolk give chase, not being aware that he had aided them in their getaway. During their escape, they capture Maria Stoner, a wealthy widow (Welch) and flee over the desert, where they are rejoined by Mace, but also followed by sheriff July Johnson (Kennedy) and his deputy and sidekick Rosco Bookbinder (Andrew Prine) plus his increasingly reluctant posse. The sheriff continues with the chase into bandit country, as he hopes to win the hand of Maria, but (as happens in these films) she has already fallen for the charismatic/misunderstood/messed up from the war/good at heart Dee. Let's face it, who wouldn't? Dean Martin is one cool character and looks pretty good in a cowboy outfit. At the end, there is a shootout with the bandits, and it does not end well. Marvellous, but it would have been improved if Dino also sang some kind of theme tune (it's an instrumental).

toodle pip

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