Bandolero

A quiet one, soft spoken, prouder, it' were the main personal characteristics of Jimmy Stewart from their characters whom he portraits in a overlong career, this turn wasn't distinct, he played in same way, after to know that his brother is about to hanging, he took place of the real hangman and avoid the whole gang to be hang on the gallows, they escape and take a Widow (Raquel Welch) as hostage, before it Mace finds appropriate to steal a Bank, quickly the Sheriff (Kennedy) and a posse pursuing them across the border at Mexico territory, meanwhile Mace reachs the Dee's gang, all sort of crooks we can imagine are there, anyway reading some comments here trying figure out if Mace did kill the hangman, absolutely not!!! According Mice's reaction when Pop Chaney implies about his father was enough to understanding how proud he was concerning over him, a decent production that Jimmy made with emphasis!!!

Resume:

First watch: 2007 / How many: 2 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.5

Without comparing it to any of the acknowledged "greats" or even better westerns any of the stars made, "Bandolero" is a satisfying movie - interesting enough story with a bit of a humorous twist, well-mounted, beautifully shot, and everybody involved does their customary good job. If it drags a bit in some of the campfire scenes, it makes up for it in the action scenes. Must single out Rudy Diaz, who plays the chief Mexican bandit, as making a particularly vivid impression in his few scenes. Oh, I almost forgot, another rousing Jerry Goldsmith score worth owning on its own account. What more can you ask, seeing great guys like Jimmy, Dean, George, Harry Carey & Co., and of course Raquel, going thru long-practiced paces they knew so well by this time?

An entertaining Western whose major selling points are a winning cast and beautiful outdoor photography, 1968's "Bandolero!" proved an easy 100 minutes for me to sit through. In it, James Stewart rescues brother Dean Martin and his sleazy gang from a neck-stretching party in 1867 Texas, after Dino & Co.'s botched bank robbery. They hightail it over the Mexican border with the recently widowed "vistoso" Mexican Raquel Welch as their hostage, while sheriff George Kennedy and his posse follow in hot pursuit. Truth be told, Kennedy is more hot for Raquel than the pursuit of justice, and who wouldn't be? Racky, 28 here and at the peak of her sex goddess phase, looks terrific, and acts very passably. She makes for a very convincing Mexican (although, in real life, her father was Bolivian and her mother of English descent). Stewart (need it even be said?) is fine as always, and supplies much of the film's humor with his double takes and slowpoke delivery. This is no Anthony Mann Western, however, and Stewart was ever so much more impressive in oaters such as "Winchester '73" (1950) and especially "The Naked Spur" (1953). Dino, it should be added, is also fine as a decent guy who just can't seem to make good. "Bandolero!" also features some amusing lesser characters (particularly that hangman!) and a surprisingly gritty and quite violent conclusion. It's no Peckinpah bloodbath, but following what is essentially a fun, lighthearted Western, it does shake the viewer. Lesson to be learned: Don't press your sexual "favors" on a Mexican woman if she's anywhere near a six-shooter!

A patchy western which has rather ambivalent attitudes towards it's two main characters,the Bishop brothers,oddly played by Jimmy Stewart and Dean Martin! It's most improbable to accept the above as siblings,never mind Western badmen.The film itself seems to wearily accept this as all throughout the two are treated as sympathetic ne'er-do-well's trapped by unfavourable circumstance,whereas the rest of Martin's gang are portrayed as ruthless villains.

The best scenes are certainly in the first 30 minutes of the film,with Martin and his gang waiting to be hanged after a failed bank robbery;Cowboy drifter Stewart accidentally finds out about the impending execution of his brother,and overpowers the hangman involved so he can arrange an elaborate escape.All these early scenes work very well,continually laced with effective black humour,and an enjoyable concentration on Stewart and witty duologue's with such familiar Western character actors such as Ray Barcroft,Dub Taylor and Guy Raymond.

After the escape,things oddly turn flat.Stewart robs a bank(non-violently)afterwards,Martin and gang gently abduct Raquel Welch,and are relentlessly pursued by Sheriff George Kennedy and deputies.There's good chemistry between Stewart and Martin,and one or two effective scenes thereafter,but BANDOLERO! tends to get bogged down in dullish conversation and not enough action.A sub-plot of Ms Welch falling in love with Martin(after his gang ruthlessly murdered her husband Jock Mahoney) is even more improbable than Dino and Jimmy being members of the same family,and her attempt at a Latin-American accent(she is of Bolivian descent)is adequate but that doesn't automatically mean a good performance.Another sub-plot involving murderous bandits gives the film a surprisingly brutal and violent edge,aspects which were creeping into US film at this time in the late 60's,which as far as Western films were concerned reached a near zenith in the following year's THE WILD BUNCH.The film should've been shorter with better pacing,but isn't too bad thanks to Messers Stewart and Martin,despite their obvious miscasting.

This is a pretty entertaining movie - not one of the best westerns any of these actors ever made, but it's always fun to watch Jimmy Stewart and George Kennedy do their thing. Dean Martin isn't bad, Raquel Welch looks great, but at this point she still needed to expand her talent. Entertaining plot, decent action, but the thing I think is most interesting are the names of three of the characters: The sheriff is July Johnson and his deputy's name is Roscoe, and the main villain's name is Dee, all names used in the same way in the great TV movie Lonesome Dove.