There's something I've always liked about westerns from this period that star Jock Mahoney. He began as a Hollywood stuntman, and his athleticism and natural acting style make him ideal for this genre. When his character is meant to ride into a scene fast and jump off, as happens in this picture, there is no double.
Mahoney does most of his own stunt work; there are never quick cutaways by the editors to go to the double and then back to him in close-up. As a result, there is greater fluidity with the camera when he is on the scene, which increases the realism.
I also think Mahoney, while not exuding tremendous sex appeal, still manages to have respectable chemistry with his leading ladies. In this film the leading lady is Argentinian born actress Linda Cristal who would make her mark later in a popular TV western series called High Chaparral. She was under contract at Universal and would soon earn her first Golden Globe for a comedy supporting Tony Curtis.
Here Cristal is cast as the part Mexican daughter of an expatriate American (Lorne Greene) who has settled on a ranch south of the border. Greene is right at home and seems to be practicing for his long-running role as Ben Cartwright on Bonanza. At first Greene's character seems suspicious, because everyone in the story is meant to come across with ulterior motives...at least, until we get to know them.
Mahoney has been hired by a rich eastern man (Carl Benton Reid) to travel to Mexico and find out if the man's brother is still alive. The last two gunfighters Reid hired to do the job ended up killed. Mahoney accepts the assignment, since he will earn a substantial fee which he'll need to settle down. After arriving in Mexico, Mahoney meets some famous ex-gunman who have "retired" down here. But they claim to know nothing about the person Mahoney is seeking.
In the next part, when Mahoney meets Greene and Greene's top foreman (Gilbert Roland), he wonders if Greene has had a role in the brother's disappearance. Greene does know where the mystery man is hiding, but Greene turns out to be a good guy. The person that Mahoney should be on guard about is Roland, who has his own double cross in mind.
One thing I love about this film, aside from it being filmed mostly on location in Mexico in Eastman color, is the way the story is structured. The first half has Mahoney on a mission but also sort of nomadic, figuring out what the next part of his life will be after he completes his mission. Related to this is a mystery, since he does not know where the missing man is actually hiding.
In a good twist, it turns out the man is hiding in plain sight, as a beloved priest of the people.. The priest, who is called Padre, is played by character actor Eduard Franz. Franz was a Universal contractee. Just a year earlier he played a disturbed old man who stalked the child of clergyman George Nader in MAN AFRAID (1957). This time he's on the right side of the law and the right side of God.
Before we find out that Franz is the man that Mahoney is looking for in Mexico, there are some good bonding scenes between Mahoney and Roland. This makes it rather unfortunate when halfway through the picture, Roland turns out to be a villain who intends to kill the priest to collect a different bounty that will be paid by a man in San Antonio who wants the padre dead.
We know that in order for Mahoney to save Franz, he is going to have to kill Roland. This eventually leads to a climactic shooting with Roland falling to his death off the side of a steep cliff. After the death of Roland's character, Mahoney then has to decide if he will take the priest away from the peasants who need him, to return him to his brother in the U. S. Ultimately, he decides against it.
In the end, Mahoney sacrifices the hefty reward he'd have received for his work, which he planned to use to buy a ranch of his own in Oregon. But now he will just remain in Mexico, commit to a future with Cristal, and will probably end up running Greene's ranch. So, it's not like this adventure has all been for nothing.
Mahoney does most of his own stunt work; there are never quick cutaways by the editors to go to the double and then back to him in close-up. As a result, there is greater fluidity with the camera when he is on the scene, which increases the realism.
I also think Mahoney, while not exuding tremendous sex appeal, still manages to have respectable chemistry with his leading ladies. In this film the leading lady is Argentinian born actress Linda Cristal who would make her mark later in a popular TV western series called High Chaparral. She was under contract at Universal and would soon earn her first Golden Globe for a comedy supporting Tony Curtis.
Here Cristal is cast as the part Mexican daughter of an expatriate American (Lorne Greene) who has settled on a ranch south of the border. Greene is right at home and seems to be practicing for his long-running role as Ben Cartwright on Bonanza. At first Greene's character seems suspicious, because everyone in the story is meant to come across with ulterior motives...at least, until we get to know them.
Mahoney has been hired by a rich eastern man (Carl Benton Reid) to travel to Mexico and find out if the man's brother is still alive. The last two gunfighters Reid hired to do the job ended up killed. Mahoney accepts the assignment, since he will earn a substantial fee which he'll need to settle down. After arriving in Mexico, Mahoney meets some famous ex-gunman who have "retired" down here. But they claim to know nothing about the person Mahoney is seeking.
In the next part, when Mahoney meets Greene and Greene's top foreman (Gilbert Roland), he wonders if Greene has had a role in the brother's disappearance. Greene does know where the mystery man is hiding, but Greene turns out to be a good guy. The person that Mahoney should be on guard about is Roland, who has his own double cross in mind.
One thing I love about this film, aside from it being filmed mostly on location in Mexico in Eastman color, is the way the story is structured. The first half has Mahoney on a mission but also sort of nomadic, figuring out what the next part of his life will be after he completes his mission. Related to this is a mystery, since he does not know where the missing man is actually hiding.
In a good twist, it turns out the man is hiding in plain sight, as a beloved priest of the people.. The priest, who is called Padre, is played by character actor Eduard Franz. Franz was a Universal contractee. Just a year earlier he played a disturbed old man who stalked the child of clergyman George Nader in MAN AFRAID (1957). This time he's on the right side of the law and the right side of God.
Before we find out that Franz is the man that Mahoney is looking for in Mexico, there are some good bonding scenes between Mahoney and Roland. This makes it rather unfortunate when halfway through the picture, Roland turns out to be a villain who intends to kill the priest to collect a different bounty that will be paid by a man in San Antonio who wants the padre dead.
We know that in order for Mahoney to save Franz, he is going to have to kill Roland. This eventually leads to a climactic shooting with Roland falling to his death off the side of a steep cliff. After the death of Roland's character, Mahoney then has to decide if he will take the priest away from the peasants who need him, to return him to his brother in the U. S. Ultimately, he decides against it.
In the end, Mahoney sacrifices the hefty reward he'd have received for his work, which he planned to use to buy a ranch of his own in Oregon. But now he will just remain in Mexico, commit to a future with Cristal, and will probably end up running Greene's ranch. So, it's not like this adventure has all been for nothing.