Professionals for a Massacre (1967) Poster

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5/10
Spaghetti/Paella Western in which a misfit and rogue group sets out in pursuit a villain Major who has stolen a wagon load of gold in bars
ma-cortes8 April 2012
Average Chorizo/ S.W. about a relentless and exciting dangerous mission that a motley trio pulls off in Mexican territory and set against spectacular and ordinary scenery of Almeria . The risked assignment is set against strong environment , violent attacks by Mexican bands , double-crosses and hazardous trails . It will be a long and dangerous pursuit with continuous risks , killings , shootouts and silly fights . This typical Western displays stirring adventures , shootouts , humor with tongue-in-cheek , riding pursuits and is pretty amusing . It deals with a misfit group in search of millions of dollars in gold that have been stolen during American Civil War . A group of conscripted convicts formed by three condemned , already destined for death row, are drafted to go on a risked mission and attempt to recapture a rebel Major called Lloyd (Gerard Herter of The Big Gundown) . They must carry out the objective to take a wagon-load of gold and with the understanding that if the Confederate don't murder them, the Union Army won't, either . A two-fisted Confederate Lieutenant named Logan (Milo Quesada of Django kill) and the ambitious drifters , join forces to retrieve an impressive lot of dollars in gold bars taken from Union banks and destined to buy weapons to Mexican Army for Confederation . In the hands of hardboiled director Nando Cicero and a tough-as-leather cast , that's all the plot that's needed to make one rip-roaring Spaghetti Western flick . The story is displayed in ¨Dirty dozen ¨ style with usual crime-minded characters including a rustler named Fidel Ramirez (Jorge Martin) , a troublesome ex-priest with penchant dynamite named Steele Downey (George Hilton) and a Bank-robber named Chattanooga Jim (Edd Byrnes) . The first half of the film allows the colorful cast of character actors to have their fun as they get their tails whipped into shape and develop shaky relationship . The final part is all action , as the trio wreck havoc and then run for their lives and pursued by the band of Alacran (Jose Bodalo of Django) who robs the gold for his strange Mexican family . The message here isn't that war is hell , rather, it seems to be : war can be a hell of a good time if you've got nothing to lose .

It's an exciting SW with breathtaking showdown between the protagonists and their enemies full of explosions , machine gun , deaths and fights in Terence Hill-Bud Spencer style . The picture blends violence , humor , struggles , high body-count and is quite entertaining . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing a shootout or stunt every few minutes . The film is starred by a Spaghetti all-star-cast as the Spanish George (Jorge) Martin who worked much for Alfonso Balcazar's factory such as ¨Clint the strange¨, ¨The return the Clint¨, ¨Oeste Nevada Joe¨, Thompson 1880¨ , ¨Taste of killing¨, ¨A pistol for Ringo and ¨¨The return of Ringo¨ ; the Uruguay-born George Hilton who was a Spaghetti first-star such as ¨ Sartana no perdone¨ , ¨Go kill and come back¨ , ¨Kitosch¨ , ¨They call me Alleluja¨ , ¨Ruthless four¨ , ¨Alleluja for Django¨ , and also played successful Giallio as ¨The strange vice of Mrs Wardh¨ , ¨The scorpion's tale¨, ¨All colors of the dark¨ , ¨My deal Killer¨ ; and Edd Byrnes , Kookie , who starred two Spaghetti for Enzo G Castell as ¨Seven Winchester for a massacre¨ and ¨Go kill and come back¨ with George Hilton . Gerard Herter as a cruelly baddie role as confederate officer is terrific , subsequently the would play similar roles in other Spaghettis . There are many good technicians and nice assistant direction and acceptable production design with an atmospheric scenario plenty of barren outdoors , dirty and rocky landscapes and a fine set on the final scenes . The musician Carlos Pes composes a nice Spaghetti soundtrack and well conducted ; it's full of enjoyable sounds and emotive score with perdurable leitmotif . The film is well shot in 'Splugas city' (Splugas De Llobregat , Barcelona) , a location built by Alfonso Balcazar where were filmed a lot of ¨Butifarra Western¨ and of course , Almeria, Spain and Roman studios called Elios . Mediocre cinematography by habitual Francisco Marin who photographed loads of 'Gazpacho' Westerns , it's urgent and necessary a correct remastering because of the film-copy is washed-up . Fernando Cicero's so-so direction is regularly crafted , here he's cynical and humorous and inclined toward violence as well as too much action especially on its ending part .
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5/10
PROFESSIONALS FOR A MASSACRE (Nando Cicero, 1967) **1/2
Bunuel197612 June 2008
Despite the title, this is an easy-going Spaghetti Western with tongue firmly in cheek; plot-wise, it’s basically THE DIRTY DOZEN (1967) out West and with the Civil War for backdrop – as a trio of adventurers (George Hilton, George Martin and Edd Byrnes) are saved from the gallows, so that they can retrieve gold stolen from the Confederates by a renegade band of soldiers led by Gerard Herter (from Sergio Sollima’s marvelous THE BIG GUNDOWN [1966]). Along the way, they also have to deal with a band of Mexican outlaws (who, naturally, covet the gold): interestingly, this is presented as a family unit (albeit a loutish and ugly-looking bunch) controlled by an old woman who all she seems to do is stuff herself with food!

The heroes, then, all have their characteristics: Martin is himself a Mexican horse-thief, Hilton a defrocked priest with a penchant for explosives(!) – this combination of sardonic piety and ecstatic outbursts results in an occasionally hammy performance, while Byrnes is the requisite renegade American (amusingly called “Chattanooga Jim”); for the record, Hilton and Byrnes would re-unite soon after for the similarly lightweight ANY GUN CAN PLAY (1967). Given that they’re technically prisoners till the accomplishment of the mission, their movements are overseen by an officer; however, half-way through, the latter leaves with a girl they come across at an isolated house (whose other inhabitants had all been murdered by Herter & Co.) in order to drum up support for the inevitable confrontation between prisoners, soldiers and outlaws…except that the Cavalry that charges to the ‘rescue’ is from the opposite side, the Unionists, since the officer turns out to have been a spy all along!

Anyway, being a generally light-hearted entertainment, the heroes still end up in possession of the gold – amid brawling, double-crosses and shoot-outs galore! Incidentally, director Cicero would spend most of his later career helming low-brow sex comedies featuring Edwige Fenech and the like. The film under review does provide a typically pleasant score courtesy of one Carlo Pes.
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6/10
Black powder for three movies
unbrokenmetal30 October 2007
George Hilton, Edd Byrnes and George Martin play 3 thieves who chase a much more successful thief: Major Lloyd (Gerard Herter) who stole a wagon-load of gold from the confederate army. As soon as he moves into the borderland, Mexican bandits are also attracted by the yellow metal. So much black powder was spent during the making of this movie, apparently, that you could make three westerns with it, but in between all the shooting and countless explosions, "Professionisti per un massacro" displays a certain sense of humor. It is a spaghetti western of the kind that likes to play with the rituals typical for the genre, using coffins and machine guns, and if you like this sort of thing, you'll find the movie easy to sit through... even if it is nothing surprisingly new.
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6/10
An Average But Okay Spaghetti Western with Edd Byrnes and George Hilton
zardoz-1320 June 2010
Warning: Spoilers
The thoroughly conventional Spaghetti western "Red Blood, Yellow Gold" appropriates the plot of "The Secret Invasion," where criminals received a second chance to prove their mettle, and grafts it onto an American Civil War western about the search for stolen Confederate gold. "Last of the Badmen" director Nando Cicero and a quartet of scenarists, Jaime Jesús Balcázar of "Sartana Does Not Forgive," José Antonio de la Loma of "Seven Magnificent Guns," Enzo Dell'Aquila of "7 Women for the MacGregors," and Roberto Gianviti of "Seven Slaves Against the World" stock this oater with all the usual elements that European westerns have. They inserted a "Fistful of Dollars" type scene where the Southern traitors mow down their own soldiers with a Gatling gun. A similar scene occurred in Gianfranco Parolini's "Adios, Sabata" when the Austrians shot their own men down. Our villain, Confederate Major Lloyd (Gérard Herter of "The Big Gundown") is hopelessly treacherous, and he purloins the gold ingots from his own army. The Confederacy dispatches three thieves with an officer in charge to recover the gold. George Hilton, George Martin, and American actor Edd Byrnes headline this violent but standard-issue sagebrusher. As usual for these gritty horse operas, life is cheap and "Red Blood, Yellow Gold" boasts a double-digit body count. "Tepepa" lenser Francisco Martin captured all the abrasive, larger-than-life, tongue-in-cheek shenanigans on crisp Eastman Color film and his widescreen pictorial compositions add a touch of class to this low-budget western. "Red Blood, Yellow Gold" opens as Yankee troops withdraw hastily from a western town as the Confederates recapture the town. Our three heroes, Steel Downey (George Hilton of "Dead for A Dollar"), Fidel Ramirez (George Martin of "Ballad of Death Valley"), and Chattanooga Jim (Edd Byrnes of "Payment in Blood"), don't waste any time once they enter town. They make straight away to the local bank and Steel blows the vault with dynamite. Later, they steal a wagon of munitions and sell them for gold to Union troops. Unfortunately for the Union troops, they don't know that Steel has booby-trapped the wagon. No sooner do the Union soldiers ride away with the cargo of rifles and bullets than it blows up and kills them all. No sooner have our unscrupulous heroes celebrated their triumph over the enemy than their own people arrest and sentence them to perish in front of a firing squad. Piously, Steel prays aloud as the soldiers prepare to shoot them. "Omnipotent and merciful God, perhaps we don't deserve much," he observes, "But if you would give us a small sign of your benevolence."

The typical Spaghetti western resembles a melodrama because the Europeans liked to spring reversals and surprises on audiences. Despite the ill-feeling held toward these thieves, bald-headed, cigar-puffing Confederate General Sibley spares their lives. One of Sibley's most trusted adjutants, Major Lloyd, has hijacked a wagon load of gold and he has struck out for Mexico with it. "As soldiers, you're just common thieves," Sibley points out, "but as thieves, you can honorably serve the cause of the South." Lieutenant Logan (Milo Quesada of "Captain Apache") doesn't think much of Sibley's plans, but he agrees to ride with the three thieves. Sibley inventories the useful characteristics of each man. He knows that Steel is a defrocked priest who had a tendency to use dynamite against those who blasphemed against the Lord. Chattanooga Jim earned his nickname because he robbed a Chattanooga bank all alone. Jim explains the robbery was hardly daring because security at the bank was no negligible. Meanwhile, Fidel is an expert horse thief.

Our heroes ride out and visit a saloon where they slug it out with a group of Mexicans. Afterward, they set out on horseback and find a farm where a cow is crying because it hasn't been milked. While Fidel checks out the stable, Steel and Chattanooga inspect the house and find dead, blood-splattered corpses littering the premises. The men have been shot to dead and their clothes have been removed. They find evidence that Major Lloyd and his renegades are the killers. No sooner have they established this fact than the daughter of the family, Annie (Mónica Randall of "Red Sun") rides into the ranch with a rifle. She is appalled at the sight of the dead bodies and accuses our heroes of the massacre. They bind and gag her and set off to cut off Major Lloyd as his men and he ride into a canyon. Naturally, Steel devises a plan to trap them with his explosives. Reluctantly, our heroes have brought along Annie and she causes no end of trouble. First, she cuts her ropes. Second, she alerts Major Lloyd about the impending danger of entering the pass. Annie warns them they will be murdered, until Fidel shoots one of Lloyd's men. Annie recognizes the killer's clothes as her dead father's apparel. Steel, Fidel, and Chattanooga entrust Annie to Lieutenant Logan's care and circle behind Lloyd. Logan explains to Annie she had better start helping them thwart Lloyd if she wants to survive.

"Red Blood, Yellow Gold" grows more complicated. A Mexican bandit, Pietro Primero (José Bódalo of "Django"), and his peasant army steal the gold from Lloyd. While Pietro and his people celebrate their good fortune, our heroes find the ingots about the same time as Lloyd and his men. A donnybrook ensues between them and somebody accidentally shoots their gun. Pietro's men come out slinging lead. Eventually, our heroes recover the gold from Pietro. They wind up blowing up Lloyd and his gunmen and later Pietro. Just as they are about to ride off into the sunset, General Sibley and the Confederate cavalry appear and take the gold off their hands. Sibley wants them out of the territory pronto. He takes the gold to Mexico. At the exchange, as a last minute reversal, our heroes reappear in sombreros and hijack the gold from the Mexicans. "Red Blood, Yellow Gold" qualifies as shallow but entertaining tale.
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7/10
Amusing and entertaining spaghetti western
Red-Barracuda27 October 2016
During the American Civil War, a trio of criminals are given a reprieve from execution and instead are given a dangerous mission to find a corrupt army general and retrieve the gold he has stolen. A gang of Mexican bandits enter the scene and complicate matters further.

I would have to consider this one as a better than average spaghetti western. There's nothing precisely very original about it or anything but it manages to do a thing which is quite rare in these kinds of movies in that is successfully integrates a comic tone into its narrative without being annoying in doing so. Most westerns that attempt to use comedy aren't very successful at it and the spaghetti ones in particular are usually pretty dire, so it was a pleasant surprise to see a movie pull it off well. It's not all japery here though as the story includes a healthy amount of action and even a massacre, so it never forgets to cover its bread and butter elements too. Its well-paced as well with some decent performances, especially from Italian genre film regular George Hilton who appears as an ex-priest who has turned to crime. Nobody would claim that this flick breaks the mould as such but it does what it does with energy and some fun.
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4/10
So-so spaghetti western ..........
revdrcac25 August 2006
This 1967 spaghetti western features former teen idol Edd "Kookie" Byrnes and Italian western favorite George Hilton. The somewhat confusing plot involves hired gun mercenaries doing battle with a series of would-be tough guys and their corrupt leader.

Byrnes starred in several foreign westerns during this period of his career, with varying degrees of success. Several in 1967 paired Byrnes with Hilton. These were entertaining, though hardly memorable.

Fans of the spaghetti genre will find this one interesting, with both lead actors doing their best to raise the level of the film a few notches. Others beware, this one can be a little hard to follow at times!
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Unexceptional spaghetti western
Wizard-824 June 2011
Probably the one factor that may attract western fans to "Red Blood, Yellow Gold" is the fact that one of the stars is Edd "Kookie" Byrnes from the television show "77 Sunset Strip". Whether you think that Byrnes will bring some campiness or not, most likely you'll be disappointed in the way the movie uses him. Nothing in the movie makes him stand out from the three other characters he's paired up with in this done-to-death plot (a search for gold). Even if you happen to be a spaghetti western fanatic, chances are you'll still be let down by this movie. It's slow-moving, with scenes that have little to no consequence, showing how padded this old plot is. Also, the last third of the movie is somewhat confusing, with various adversaries getting all mixed up in a way that makes you wonder who is who and what each person wants. Not the worst western made, but nothing about it makes it worth seeing.
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6/10
Never dull
Leofwine_draca9 June 2021
Warning: Spoilers
PROFESSIONALS FOR A MASSACRE sees spagwest regular George Hilton playing the leader of a gang of thieves who find themselves tasked with retrieving a shipment of stolen gold after getting a reprieve from the authorities. Shades of THE DIRTY DOZEN here and plenty of action in a familiar Italian western story, with lots of sun-bleached locales and extras being mown down by machine gun fire. Noisy with guns blaring all the while, and it's never dull.
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4/10
Red Blood, Yellow Gold
Uriah436 September 2014
After being captured for robbing a bank in Arizona and trying to desert from the Confederate army, 3 outlaws named "Chattanooga Jim" (Edd Byrnes), "Fidel Ramirez" (George Martin) and "Steel Downey" (George Hilton) are given a choice of either facing a firing squad or helping to recover a wagon full of gold that was stolen by a fellow Confederate officer named "Major Lloyd" (Gerard Herter) and his men. Naturally, they decide to cooperate and along with another Confederate officer named ""Lieutenant Logan" (Milo Quesada) they ride out to catch the gold thieves before they can cross into Mexico. Along the way, however, they encounter other obstacles which they must overcome-or die trying. Now, rather than reveal any more of the story I will just say that as far as "Spaghetti Westerns" are concerned this particular movie didn't quite measure up with some of the great ones out there. For starters, the characters lacked depth and some of the scenes seemed a bit outlandish even for the sub-genre mentioned. In essence then, I think most Spaghetti Western fans will probably like it but general audiences may or may not. Slightly below average.
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3/10
Shoulda hired some Professionals from the Movies
Three Confederates sell their own regiment's guns to some union soldiers. Just before they're shot at dawn as traitors, General Sibley steps in and commissions them to recover a wagon of gold stolen from the Confederates. At least, I think that's the plot.

Edd Byrnes, with this super-cool hair. George Hilton as a dynamite-happy priest. And some random fake Mexican are the hired guns. Lots of mayhem ensues. Lots of fights and gunplay. And they up things real good.

I couldn't follow the half of it, since the one thing that marks spaghetti westerns is the total lack of continuity. I swear most of these movies - from the lowest dregs right up to Sergio Leone - were filmed, cut up by a blind butcher, and randomly taped back together by studio janitors.

The most memorable thing about this movie is that some of the random characters are extraordinarly ugly, even by spaghetti western standards. I mean, they're repulsive.
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9/10
Excellent Flick!
FightingWesterner21 February 2010
Dynamite-loving ex-priest George Hilton, Edd "Kookie" Byrnes, and Mexican horse thief/whisperer George Martin both fight for and steal from the Confederacy. About to be executed for their thieving ways, they're given a reprieve in order to track down a renegade officer who killed some of his fellow soldiers and made off with a wagon full of gold and a Gattling gun.

A fast-paced, rowdy adventure, this above average Italian western is a load of fun, especially George Hilton's character, who gleefully mixes piousness with his passion for blowing things (and people!) up. Hilton is truly a spaghetti western treasure!

Things stay pretty light-hearted throughout, with a good mixture of tongue-in-cheek comedy, plot-twists, and great action sequences. I don't know about everyone else, but I thought it was pretty cool!

It is claimed that one of the producers on this was a young Sylvester Stallone, a claim that seems a bit fishy. You never can tell though. If he did, he should have acted in it too. It sure would have been neat to see him before he was a star, shooting a six-gun in the Spanish desert!
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