Murietta - Geißel von Kalifornien

What a surprise treat this 1965 spaghetti western turned out to be. Based on real-life Mexican bandit, MURIETA is the story of a new immigrant to California who is driven to vengeance and eventually becomes the leader of a vicious band of raiders and murderers. This picture has three great things going for it: 1. Jeffrey Hunter as Murieta (actual spelling is Murietta); he gives a superbly understated performance. 2. Arthur Kennedy, back in the saddle as a straight-shooting lawman. Sage, empathetic, Kennedy matches Hunter's fine acting work, especially difficult since all of their dialogue was re-recorded in studio. 3. The direction by veteran ace of oaters George Sherman. He keeps the camera moving and keeps the characterizations sharp and clear. Also fine are Diana Lorys, Sara Lezana and Roberto Camardiel as Jack "Three Fingers" Garcia. There are many eloquent moments in this fact-based adventure. It is well worth screening if you can find a copy. My review is based on screening a 16mm print I picked up (dye transfer Technicolor) of the UK-titled version, VENDETTA.

Jeffrey Hunter as true-life 19th century Mexican immigrant Joaquín Murrieta, a "vaquero" (or, livestock herder) from Sonora who came to California with his wife to reap the rewards of the state--"a land of wonders"--only to find himself unwanted in prejudiced boom town. Partially-dubbed Spanish-made western distributed Stateside by Warner Bros. Is full of the expected clichés (a peeper in the woods when the wife takes a dip, the husband flawlessly serenading his wife by guitar, the gringo who tries to cheat the newcomer out of his mule and vows revenge when he's caught, etc.), but these ingredients tend to work when the direction is solid, and George Sherman certainly keeps a lively pace. **1/2 from ****

Peaceful Mexican prospector Jeffrey Hunter is beaten, his claim stolen, and his pregnant wife murdered by a group of racist thugs. Getting revenge, he finds himself pursued by lawman Arthur Kennedy and usurping control of a gang of banditos, before declaring war on all the gringos in California!

Another mean, hate-filled, hard-boiled, Spanish made, though American directed, low-budget western, this is sparked by an intense performance by Hunter, who's too-short career was practically built on playing angry anti-heroes. It's also a joy to see old Hollywood star Kennedy as the voice of justice and reason, the type of role he didn't get to play much in his latter career, where he like Ray Milland, was typecast as bitter curmudgeons or sour-puss detectives. It's always nice to see Euro- starlet Diana Lorys as well.

In my opinion, Jeffrey Hunter ranks right up there with the other great new Hollywood actors of the 1950's, Brando, Dean, Newman. Only for him, the roles seemed to dry up. If anything though, he's the man who inadvertently saved Star Trek. If he'd been available to shoot additional footage, Star Trek would have ended up as a stand-alone drive-in movie and a new pilot, most likely, would not have been ordered!

The particular print that I saw of this European western was titled "Revenge of Sartana", which is a very inappropriate title since there is not only no character named Sartana in the movie, there's not that much in the way of revenge. Anyway, this western is kind of a mixed bag. On the positive side, the plot seems to be going towards a standard revenge western at the beginning, but then abruptly changes things around in a surprise twist. The acting is pretty good, and the production values are solid.

On the other hand, there are a few serious problems. The movie takes a considerable amount of time to set things up. The pace of the movie is also a problem, with the story very slow going at times and with not much plot. (There's also not much action.) Also, at 107 minutes, the movie is way too long for its own good.

In the end, the movie is merely okay. Your enjoyment of the movie will depend on not only how much you like European westerns, but how tolerant you are of their occasional flaws.

'Murieta" (Jeffrey Hunter) and his wife "Rosita" (Sara Lezana) are panning for gold when he discovers a strike! Their celebrations attract the attentions of their gringo neighbours and next thing we know, he is waking up battered and bruised and she is dead. He determines on revenge, but is actually a fairly law abiding person so having already befriended the decent "Capt. Love" (Arthur Kennedy) heads to the nearest town to bide his time - making his living doing card tricks - until these three killers return. When they do, his friend is unable to assure him that he will get justice from the system - one man's word against three - so he takes the law into his own hands, and to escape a lynching heads to the hills with a gang of bandits with whom he starts marauding. He picks his targets, though - a bit like "Robin Hood", his aim is to free the Californian people from the yoke of the encroaching hoodlums and "pioneers", but surely it is just a matter of time before the authorities - and his friend "Love" - apprehend him? It's actually not a bad adventure film this, and Hunter does enough to keep it moving along. It's just that the production standards are truly woeful and the dubbing - well, less said the better. The camerawork is wobbly, the sound the stuff of a student project and there is just far too much ropey dialogue. The story is solid - based on a real life character - but somehow George Sherman (who ought to have known better) just can't let the story and the star do enough of the heavy lifting without cluttering it up with third rate supporting stars and bad photography. I suppose it is interesting to see how the once box-office Hunter has been reduced to this, but otherwise it's truly disappointing.