Top-Notch Lee Van Cleef Spaghetti Western

zardoz-13

Director Sergio Sollima's Tex/Mex manhunt horse opera "The Big Gundown" qualifies as an above-average Spaghetti western with more elements of irony and social conscienceness than most Italian oaters rustle up. Scenarist Sergio Donati, who contributed to the Sergio Leone epics "For A Few Dollars More" and "Once Upon A Time in the West" intertwines the themes of intolerance, racism, and greed in his literate screenplay bristling with surprises and reversals. Furthermore, Donati and Sollima give the protagonist and the antagonist several engrossing dialogue exchanges that heighten the conflict between them. Lee Van Cleef and Tomas Milian are evenly matched as hero versus villain. Ennio Morricone provides another classic orchestral score with a compellingly philosophical title tune warbled by Christy. As usual, the Spanish terrain substitutes splendidly for the parched southwest frontier setting.

Basically, the story depicts the search for a footloose Mexican drifter who has been accused of raping and murdering a 12-year old girl. This happens while the hero, Jonathan Corbett (Lee Van Cleef of "Sabata"), is visiting the home of a wealthy, influential Texas power broker. Brokston (Walter Barnes of "Rio Bravo") admires Corbett, his tenacity and compares him with Davy Crockett. Brokston wants to run Corbett for the Texas senate so that he can obtain his support for a railroad that he dreams of building between Texas and Mexico. Brokston learns from his ranch hands about a penniless Mexican, Manuel 'Cuchillo' Sanchez (Tomas Milian of "The Mercenary") and his heinous crime. Corbett promises Brokston that he will bring the rapist back to stand trial. "The Big Gundown" amounts to a hare and the hound western with Corbett catching and then losing Cuchillo in a series of misadventures that take Cuchillo back to his native country.

The best movies boast heroes and villains that evolve during the running time of the film. The Lee Van Cleef hero changes over the course of the action. He suspects that something about the crime and the criminal may not add up. Sergio Sollima and Sergio Donati pay tribute to "For A Few Dollars More" by dressing their hero so that he resembles Colonel Mortimer. Later, the showdown at the end of "The Big Gundown" when the son-in-law shoots it out with Cuchillo imitates the finale in "For A Few Dollars More" when the Man with No Name intervened and make a duel more fair.

The slippery Mexican thief Cuchillo is rather thoughtful for a character of his kind. He lives by his wits and has a knack for improvisation. This trait is exemplified when he uses his feet to get a cactus thorn and scrape Corbett in the back and fooling him into believing that a snake bit him. The last shot looks like a variation on the Ricky Nelson & John Wayne scene from RIO BRAVO when Nelson pitched Wayne his Winchester repeating rifle. Here, Brokston fires away at Corbett from the top of a mountain knowing full well that no hand gun can reach him. Cuchillo notices this and kicks a Winchester up into the arms of Corbett. He knocks Brokston out of the saddle with one shot. Before they ride away to their different destinations, Cuchillo reminds Corbett that he never caught him.

score 10/10

zardoz-13 18 December 2009

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2176046/