Gunfighters of Casa Grande

Very good western, Gunfighter being chase by a posse goes into Mexico on his way hides the loot of money behind some rocks before he teams up with his gang. That's when the trouble starts . good action film. On time delivery. through Amazon.

great

Here is a perfect example of what the Euro Western would have looked like if not for the vision of Director Sergio Leone who kick started it into a new, innovative direction. Director Roy Rowland's 'GUNFIGHTERS OF CASA GRANDE' aka 'PISTOLEROS DE CASA GRANDE '-1964 is a US/Spanish co-production with all the trimmings of a dull, 'B' oater of the fifties. An outlaw wins a cattle ranch in a poker game which fuels his plan of consolidating his cattle with the area ranchers cattle thereby selling them to the US for rip-off prices and then sharing the spoils with his gang. His plans go awry when a Mexican bandit and his gang decide to spoil the party and the usual gunfight ensues. It all sounds better on paper for it takes a good deal of dull talk and dated shenanigans between the actors to finally come to the climactic shootout (60 minutes to be exact) . The reason the film is lacklustre is due to the cast. Alex Nichol is cast as the lead which is wrong because Nichol cannot carry the film and since he's such a sleaze bucket, its hard to relate to him. Nichol was great as the villain in Director Anthony Mann's classic 'THE MAN FROM LARAMIE'-1955 and would also direct some films and TV shows including 'THE SCREAMING SKULL'1958 but here he is just a loud mouth braggart. The great Aldo Sambrell who would grace many a Spaghetti Western including his best role in Director Sergio Corbucci's 'NAVAJO JOE' aka 'UN DOLLARO A TESTA'-1966 glides through his Mexican bandito villainy in a cranky mood looking like he doesn't want to be there. This is all the fault of Director Roy Rowland who's career was peppered with minor gems including 'THE 5000 FINGERS OF DR. T'-1953. His stagy set ups and wooden camera movement really tests the audiences patience. The script is by Borden Chase who gave the Western genre some true classics including Director Anthony Mann's 'WINCHESTER 73'-1950 and Director Robert Aldrich's 'VERA CRUZ'-1954 but here its just a routine outing. Fans will spot Euro actors Antonio Mayans and the beautiful Diana Lorys who both worked with Director Jess Franco. The quality of the release is the reason for the 3 stars. Warner Archive releases it in a nice 2.35 DVD-R with no extras. For Euro Western completists only.

EXCELLENT

While I will admit that reviewer William Amazzini's comments for this film are spot-on, I still have a wacky like for this stogie, inane Euro Western. The mish-mash VERA CRUZ, MAGNIFICENT SEVEN sorting out of redemptive value among swindlers, gunmen and killers almost works. I really liked Nicol in previous outings, especially Mann's THE MAN FROM LARAMIE, but his over the top rants here could grate on some. The camera work is solid if uneventful and the locations are impressive and look very good in wide-angle scope format. The audio is a little muffled, sometimes too low, then too high. I found myself adjusting volume levels just a little too often...Still, it's an action-packed ride with lots of quarreling, double crossing and back stabbing and the shootout finale delivers in spades! This is certainly a pre-Leone curio done in the very 50s American Western style, helmed by the competent Roy Roland with a script by Borden (RED RIVER, WINCHESTER 73) Chase. Just take it for what it is, a low budget early Euro-Western made in the Hollywood style, full of stock characters and situations, with some excessive over-acting and lots of great location shooting, and a slam-bang shootout that notches up any reviewer's rating....and by the way, Aldo Sambrell makes one his early Spaghetti Western appearances here as a Mexican bandit leader and he's as great as ever from the get-go. Certainly recommended viewing for fans of such stuff, like myself, and most likely whoever is even bothering to read a review for a film titled GUNFIGHTERS OF CASA GRANDE.

Not the finest of western classics, but provides plenty of action and excitement.

happy with the sellers. a okay paella westeren.

I enjoyed this early and hard-to-find Spaghetti western, not because I'm a fan of the genre but because I'm a great fan of the American actor, Alex Nicol who stars in it. The film was released just before the more famous ones made by Sergio Leone hit cinema screens, and while it lacks the slickness and terrific music of the subsequent ones, it's pretty interesting in its own right, filmed in gorgeous Metrocolour, with lots of outdoor scenes shot in Spain (meant to be Mexico), some excellent riding, shooting, stunt work and surprisingly good acting from its leads players. I enjoy Nicol's performances because of his enthusiasm and the energy he puts into all his roles, and although his character in this one - an outlaw fleeing from a posse in the States, is underwritten, he is good to look at, and is obviously enjoying himself. His character is meant to be a psychopath, but he's a very good humoured one, and while he doesn't think twice about shooting his fellow villains, he is incensed when he sees a woman being mistreated. She then becomes his girlfriend and they have a warm and romantic relationship - not typical psychopathic behaviour! I was also very taken with Spanish actor, Jorge Mistral, who plays the basically decent and mysterious Mexican who joins up with Nicol and his gang out of need, but tries to turn them around when they buy a hacienda and start enjoying their new life as ranchers in Mexico. His acting is very good indeed, and he broods beautifully. There are also some very lovely Spanish ladies in the film. Sadly, while the DVD print is excellent and preserves the original Cinemascope 'letterbox' aspect, it is spoiled by the sound track of the movie itself, ie, the post-syncing, echoes and dubbing don't do the actor's voices justice, which is a great shame. It was a joint MGM/Spanish production and clearly, their main concern was to make money, not to produce a great film. POSSIBLE SPOILER: However, it comes alive a bit at the very end, when Nicol is allowed to depart from his loveable rogue persona and let rip in his trademark manic mode, echoing his famous performance as the psychopathic rancher who was so nasty to Jimmy Stewart in The Man From Laramie. END OF POSSIBLE SPOILER All in all, not a bad movie, especially if you like the experience of watching rare films.

Four outlaws wait in a Mexican saloon for gunman Joe Daylight to arrive so they can split the loot. However when he does, he tells them he has spent all their money on a large ranch at the Casa Grande. So all five team up and quickly get themselves in trouble with their neighbours and a gang of bandits lead by Rojo. Just like Son of a Gunfighter starring Russ Tamblyn this was one of those American-Spanish Co productions that came flooding out of the states after the success of A Fistful of Dollars in 1964. However with the director been American the feel is still very Hollywood. Where the film excels is in the relationship the five outlaws have with each other, they all lack loyalty to one another and all they want is money. Various times throughout each come very close to killing one another. The lead is Alex Nicol playing Joe Daylight, I was never a really big fan of his as an actor and he isn't to bad here. Jorge Mistral plays a Mexican by the name of Traveller who opposes Daylight constantly, then we have Dick Bentley as the elderly Doc who just wants to retire in Mexico but has a bad addiction to alcohol. Steve Rowland (son of the film director) plays Kid another quick tempered gunfighter who falls for pretty girl at the Ranch. Phil Posner plays Henri the fifth member of the group whose love for women will be his downfall. Aldo Sambrell has a small role as the bandit leader Rojo. Action wise the film is very American with the gunfights lacking any build up and all the rest been larger scale shoot-outs that mainly consist of rifles and explosions. The main set piece is the large battle against Rojo's gang which is a well staged and exciting scene. Although the film isn't particularly violent one scene stands out where Henri rapes the girlfriend of the Kid. Overall a better than expected film with some good characters and impressive ending. GREAT DVD QUALITY. NO EXTRAS. ENGLISH AUDIO