ma-cortes
This one deals with an one man army at a mighty adventure . A yankee soldier of fortune , Robert Mitchum , playing both sides in a blazing war of revolt , as he does a spot of smuggling in 1916 revolutionary Mexico , the period during which this film is set , as war swept Mexico . As the Gringo mercenary crossing the river , as he runs into problem with Mexican people and being nicknamed ¨Alacran¨, at the same time relentlessly chased by the Regulars . The rebel revolutionaries and continuous treason reflect different aspects of his situation . Then , Mitchum falls for the gun-running's unhappy wife , Úrsula Thiess ; crossing swords with her husband , the wealthy weapon dealer , Zachary Scott . The cry that rooked the world'd hottest strip the hell ¡.
A Western drama with noisy action , shootouts , crosses , and doublé crosses . Bursting with attractive characters, interesting themes , sub-plots , symbols , and with very decent filmmaking and interpretation. Photographically with portentous images and musically , it's a continuous treat . The picture centers on Mitchum , a gringo mercenary operating South of Border , in a gun-running mission , as he finds out the blessings , belonging and the burderns of the Mexican revolution . This flick bears a certain resemblance to ¨The wonderful country¨1959 by Robert Parish with Robert Mitchum , Julie London , Garry Merrill , Albert Dekker . Robert Mitchum grapples rather unsteadly with his role as a gunrrunner who ends with his heart in the right place . Robert gives a lively as well as easy acting as an extremely ambitious dealer to get his objectives . The gorgeous eye-candy Úrsula Thiess , who married Robert Taylor , is pretty good as the wife with a thunderous life , though she attempts to take a honest way. Úrsula began her professional career as a model, landing small movie roles and eventually relocating to California, where her Hollywood career bloomed . Her film credits include Monsoon , Bengal Brigade, which co-starred Rock Hudson. She also appeared with Glenn Ford in The Americano and The Iron glove alongside Robert Stack . His husband is finely performed by usually nasty Zachary Scott , as he often plays bad guys . Gilbert Roland also takes advantage from a villain but good character . Satisfying support cast plenty of prestigious secondaries such as : Zachary Scott , Douglas Fowley , Henry Brandon , and the Mexican : Rodolfo Acosta, Jose Torvay , Victor Junco , and the latin lover Gilbert Roland . And a cast of thousands , including a lot of extras , as the older Mexicans hired as extras in the film were former soldiers of Pancho Villa and others were former government troops who fought them. Interesting and well structured screenplay by Earl Fenton , based on a successful story . It contains a colorful cinematography in Cinemascope , Color De Luxe by Ernest Laszlo , including wonderful landscapes from Iguala, Guerrero , Torreon , Yaltupec , Durango , Cuernavaca , Taxo , Acapulco , Guerero , Bavisne and Churubasco studios , Mexico ; in fact , it was shot on many of the actual battle sites of the 1916 Mexican revolution . And a sensitive and rousing musical score by the classy composer Max Steiner , adding marvelous Mexican sounds and songs .This modest drama/action/Western picture was professionally and firmly directed by Richard Fleischer , assisted by a Mexico production unit ; though slowly filmed, as I miss more action and shots, but it also has explosion, pursuits and impressive battles . The movie was a collaboration between Robert Mitchum's independent production company DRM Productions and Robert L. Jacks Productions , supported by the prestigious fimmaker Richard Fleischer . Richard was a prolific craftsman who made a lot of films in all kinds of genres throughout a long career in which he was able to endow with a wealth of personal detail . As he directed adventures: Vikings , 20000 leagues under the sea , Red Sonja , Conan the destroyer , Mandingo , Ashanti , Doctor Dolittle , The prince and the pauper ; Thrillers: Mr Majestick , The Don is dead , The new Centurions , Million dollar mystery ; Historical : Barabbas ; Terror : Amityvile 3 the Demon ; Musical : The jazz singer ; Wartime : Tora tora tora ; Sci-Fi : Soilent Green ; Crime : 10 Rillington Place , The Boston strangler , Compulsion , See no evil ; Noir film : The narrow margin , The clay pigeon , Armored car robbery , Follow me quietly , Trapped . Rating : 6.5/10 acceptable and passable . Well worth watching .
Robert J. Maxwell
A fairly routine Western -- shot nicely in Mexico by Richard Fleischer and his crew. Mitchum is an observer of the Civil Wars during the early 1900s and manages to wangle a barge load of weapons for the good guys, in this instance the rebels, out of treacherous, avaricious Zachary Scott. Scott gets what's coming to him and Mitchum gives the guns away to rebel leader Gilbert Roland but gets Scott's admirable ex-wife anyhow.I got a little lost towards the middle. Well, anyone might find it a little confusing, what with Gilbert Roland and the rebels on one side, and Victor Junco (in a believable performance) and the Army on the other. The plot never makes it entirely clear which side is the more virtuous, although with the affable Gilbert Roland we can make a good guess.Also there's enough intrigue to confuse anyone. Who will Scott's wife, Ursula Thiess, finally cleave to. But again, with Mitchum, there isn't too much doubt.Several action scenes and some nice location shooting liven up a plot that doesn't come anywhere near gripping. At the end I was glad Mitchum hadn't been executed. Of course I didn't want the helpful and sympathetic priest killed either. Ursula Thiess I also wanted to see live, but only just barely, because I don't like seeing women plugged on screen.Otherwise -- how do you convey a shrug in print?
ragosaal
"Bandido" is a sort of western settled settled during the Mexican revolution leaded by Emiliano Zapata against the ruling of Porfirio Díaz in the early 20th century.Robert Mitchum is an American adventurer that makes his living by selling guns to the part that pays better who predictably turns for the just cause. The villain is the always reliable Zachary Scott, obviously in the "wrong" side, married to the amazingly beautiful but wooden Ursula Theiss who obviously too turns her affections to Mitchum. Gilbert Roland is a revolutionary leader who also goes for the guns for his cause.Though not a great film at all, "Bandido" is an entertaining adventure with a simple script, a rather fast development, impressive outdoor locations (mainly at the seashore), a good colourful photography, romance and well handled action sequences.Richard Fleischer was a daring all-terrain director who gave as such good products in different genres as "Compulsion", "Soylent Green", "Blind Terror", "The Vikings", "Tora Tora Tora", "Ashanti", "The Boston Strangler" or "The Jazz Singer" (1980). He tries his hand in westerns here and he gets an acceptable movie surely enjoyable for fans of the genre.
