Oeste sin fronteras

Giulio Carinomeo (aka Anthony Ascott) was not really in the class of great Italian directors like Sergio Leone or Sergio Corbucci, but he was a solid Spaghetti Western director, and this is one of his better efforts. A pair of husband-and-wife American adventurers discover a vein of gold in the badlands of Mexico controlled by a notorious Mexican bandit named "Chato". They are besieged by bandits and the husband is crippled and trapped by a rock slide, so his wife (Pascale Petit) has to go for help to the rough-and-tumble nearby town of "Nido de Aguila" ("Eagle's Nest")where most of the surly locals are much more interested in trying to rape the pretty "gringa" than in helping her rescue her husband. She does meet a seemingly amoral American mercenary (Jeffrey Hunter), who agrees to help her out for a share of the gold, and the latter puts together a gang of treacherous Mexican cutthroats (as well as false gringo preacher)to accompany them. The pair are in jeopardy then not only from "Chato's" band, but from their own vicious gang.

There is a real aura of menace hanging over this movie as pretty much all these rough men are after "the gold . . .and the woman" in that order. (Ironically, these Mexican borderlands are still pretty much ruled by bandits, but it's drugs rather than gold or gringas that they fight over these days). There's a surprising amount of female nudity here for this genre (although not much by the standards of later Italian genre films). The woman are pretty much treated like chattel, but it isn't so much Petit's gringa that gets freely passed around as a guitar-playing Mexican prostitute (former Miss Italy Daniela Giordano with a spray-on tan). The Old West was not portrayed with this much raw savagery in any of the American Westerns and really only a few of the Italian ones like "Cutthroat Nine" or "Four for the Apocalypse".

The real weak link here is probably Jeffrey Hunter as the only halfway decent guy around. He looks the part of a mercenary, but he just isn't very compelling. There were any number of Italian or expatriate American actors who could have played this role better. The end also doesn't really live up to the sense of menace created in the early going, and exploitative tag-line, "They came for the gold and her body. . . they didn't get the gold" is pretty inaccurate (for better or worse) as another reviewer mentioned. Still, this is a solidly entertaining pasta oater

This movie is actually pretty watchable. It's actually better than some of those westerns they used to punch out in Hollywood back in the 30's. You know the ones. The ones where the Duke was doing 12 movies a year. LOL Saying this movie is pretty good is saying somethin' for a spaghetti western. The movie is good enough, it draws you in, and rivets you. And that is also sayin' somethin'. The photography, and the music, are good. The acting is tolerable. To the guy who wrote a review and obviously didn't watch the movie, what is wrong with people like you? // The Bushwacker 6/29/2021.

This is only the third film I've seen from director Giuliano Carnimeo, but he definitely already ranks as one of the most versatile cult-filmmakers of Italy. The three films couldn't be more different in tone and content! "Ratman" is a repulsive, ultra-sadistic and sleaze-filled 80's horror flick about a medical experiment gone bad, "The Case of the Bloody Iris" stands as one of the most stylish and convoluted Giallo mysteries of the 70's and then this "Find to Place to Die" is a traditional spaghetti western that came out during the highlight-years of the genre. This is a competently scripted and well-made Western effort, but the story is too routine and forgettable to be counted among the best in its kind. I honestly have to admit I especially purchased this film because the tagline on the DVD-cover sounded so utterly cool. "They followed her for the gold and her body… But they didn't get the gold". Promising concept, but not exactly accurate. The story indeed centers on an attractive woman who, along with her husband, discovered a goldmine near the Texan-Mexican border, but there's very little sleaze & raping going on. When her husband is badly wounded by a gang of gold-greedy bandits, the woman undertakes a dangerous journey to the nearest town to find help. When she mentions the goldmine, she immediately finds a handful of man willing to join her. Among them are a banished confederate soldier, a bloodthirsty priest and a several random gunslingers with an unhealthy interest in money and power. "Find a Place to Die" contains all the basic plot-ingredients of a solid spaghetti-western, but it's incredibly slow-paced and even the gunfights appear to be tedious. Especially the entire middle-section is painfully soporific and only contains sappy dialogs and redundant sub plot. The final gunfight is pretty cool (and lasts exceptionally long), but I think something went wrong with the editing, as the showdown between the heroic Joe Collins and the traitorous main villain happens off-screen. The filming locations are convincing and atmospheric and the acting performances are adequate. The music isn't very impressive and someone should have paid more attention to the continuity.

Though somewhat standard "gang hunts for gold" spaghetti western fare, it is well-directed and has solid performances. The score is also well-done, one of the better non-Morricone ones I've heard. Fast-paced with several nice action scenes, with a couple of great, cold-blooded sudden shootings. The VCI DVD is ok, letterboxed but the transfer is soft and rather noisy throughout, with a lot of grain in dark scenes. The mono sound, though, is rich and well-recorded. The film is definitely worth a look for anyone looking for an entertaining, obscure western.

This is not a bad Spaghetti Western, marking one of Jeffrey Hunter's last roles: he's a discharged Army officer, slumming it in Mexico trading guns destined to a notorious band of cut-throats, who sees an opportunity to better his prospects when New Orleans belle Pascale Petit turns up with an offer of gold for the man who'll help save her husband (trapped in a mine cave-in, thus making the film something of a GARDEN OF EVIL [1954] rehash).

Hunter assembles a motley group for the job, which is soon at each other's throat over both the promise of gold and the shapely lady herself!; one of them even joins the bandits – and usurps their leadership to boot! Also involved is Mexican prostitute Daniela Giordano (who mimics the melancholy title tune – the score for the film, by Gianni Ferrio, is another good one): the stunning-looking actress was a former "Miss Italy" contest winner, whose best opportunity came with her starring role in Mario Bava's FOUR TIMES THAT NIGHT (1969) – which, incidentally, also featured Petit. Her pimp (the first time I've heard a man being referred as such in a Western!) is one of Hunter's associates, who ultimately turns out to be a good guy. Not so a lecherous and sadistic doctor-cum-priest (Alfredo Lastretti), who's not even trusted by the traitorous and power-hungry group member when he tries to join his ranks!

The gray-haired Hunter is pretty good in what he has to do (his short-term career didn't fulfill its initial promise); the action here – supervised by B-movie specialist Hugo Fregonese – is certainly competently handled, and the film itself seems to me to be an under-appreciated entry (I, for one, hadn't heard of it before) in this popular genre...