El condor

The plains of Spain was where this European western was shot with Americans Jim Brown and Lee Van Cleef who team up to take a really impressive fortress entitled El Condor. It's commanded by General Patrick O'Neal with all the comforts of home including mistress Mariana Hill. The rest of the troops get an occasional peak and then make their trips to the bordello for relief.

Brown is an escaped convict and Van Cleef is a rogue of a prospector who has an in with the local Apaches whose chief is Iron Eyes Cody. There's reputed to be a vast fortune in gold bullion in the fort, the Mexican version of Fort Knox. The French want it, the Juaristas want it, various bandits want it, but it's O'Neal who has it and guards it zealously.

It's almost comical the way our heroes and the Apaches take the place. O'Neal and his troops behave like the stupid Germans did in a ton of World War II era propaganda flicks. In fact it's one of those trips to the bordello for the troops that's the start of their undoing.

The best thing that El Condor has going for it is the easy chemistry between the leads. Both of them rarely did any comedy, Van Cleef was almost always a bad guy in the 50s and 60s. Other heavies from that era, Lee Marvin, Claude Akins, Jack Elam, Neville Brand to name a few started doing more roles spoofing themselves, Van Cleef rarely did. As for Jim Brown, the former Cleveland Browns running back could lay claim to being the first black action/adventure star in film.

El Condor is a nice action/adventure western that's laced with some humor for the two stars. And fans of one or both should see this film.

Two men, a two-fisted Jim Brown as escaped prisoner and an humorous Lee Van Cleef as ambitious drifter, join forces to rob a lot of gold located into an impressive Mexican fortress (commanded by Patrick O'Neal) where is supposedly hidden the treasure. They're accompanied by an Indian tribe (led by Iron Eyes Cody, usual in Indian roles but he's Italian origin).

It packs shootouts, action western, tongue in cheek, thrills, violence and some of nudism in charge of a gorgeous Marianna Hill . This American-Spanish co-production paints an ironic, cynic portrayal of two rough bandits , following their exploits about an attack over an heavily armed fortress . The film results to be another action/adventure /humor Western that during the 60s and early 70s were ordinarily shot . Likable support cast by prestigious actors as Elisha Cook Jr and full of secondaries from Spaghetti Western as Dan Van Husen, Ricardo Palacios, Angel Del Pozo, Charly Bravo, Rafael Albaicin, among others . The film is well shot in Texas Hollywood-Fort Bravo, Almeria, Spain with a breathtaking production design by Julio Molina who made the great fortress , one of the best ever created and where were posteriorly filmed several Spaghetti as ¨ Blind man, Massacre at Fort Holman, A man called Noon¨ and ¨Conan the Barbarian¨. Nevertheless, today the fort has been partially crumbled and only remain some ruins . Atmospheric and lively musical score by the classic Maurice Jarre (Zivago, Lawrence of Arab ). Evocative and colorful cinematography by Henry Persin . The motion picture is lavishly produced by Andre De Toth ( who directed good Western) and professionally directed by John Guillermin, a super-productions expert ( King Kong, The towering inferno, Skyjacked) and warlike specialist(The bridge of Remagen, Blue Max) . Rating : Acceptable and passable. The picture will appeal to S.W. buffs and Lee Van Cleef fans.

This motion picture is in my opinion, undoubtedbly Jim Brown's best cinematic performance . The action and cinematography reminded me of The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (Lee Van Cleef probably had something to do w/ it) He also does an excellent job.

The plot is well-scripted, and the motion picture is paced well. I don't know the name of the lead actress in the picture--but man, she must've been working out or something because she is/ was pretty fine. All in all, a definite thumb up picture.

When he is part of a chain gang, Luke overhears talk of a fort where millions of dollars worth of gold is hidden under the guard of part of the Mexican army. He escapes from his captors and enlists the help of gold prospector Jaroo to help him recover the gold. Jaroo has connections with a tribe of Indians who will be told it is a political matter and promised horses and guns for their help. The duo set out with their enlisted army to attack the fort of General Chavez and steal the gold.

This film looked interesting to me because it had a black star in the lead as well as the grizzled Van Cleef. I didn't know anything about the plot but decided to give it a go. Despite some good touches along the way, there isn't really much that makes this western stand out – it's all pretty standard stuff. The ending has a good twist and a downbeat ending but it's nothing that unusual for a western of this sort. The film does have some good bits of light humour, however it also tries to have all the usual clichés thrown in as well – we have the two leads fighting, Jaroo being kind to a child (with sappy Mexican music in background), nudity and Wild Bunch style excessive violence at each stage.

The film is still passable as long as you know what you're watching and don't expect too much. As a western it is quite fun if you're just after something undemanding with lots of gunfights. However more than that and you'll be disappointed. The cast carries the film at several points; or at least the lead two do. Jim Brown is a pretty good screen presence even if his skills as an actor leave a little to be desired. Here his physical presence and (slightly out of place, period wise) swagger. Van Cleef has a better character and it's a shame that he plays second fiddle to Brown for much of the film – but he is still very interesting to watch. O'Neal is only so-so, Iron Eyes Cody has little to do and Hill is pretty but not much else.

Overall this is a passable western as long as you don't expect too much. It is nicely driven along by the screen presence of Brown and Van Cleef. Other than them and the odd good touch here and there, this film is quite unremarkable as westerns go.

I saw this movie with my dad in 1970, something we had planned to see was sold out, and we both liked Westerns, so we picked this. Van Cleef does a good job, but Brown is his normal stiff as a board self. I found he was the same in real life when I met him in 1980. He knew someone I worked with from his football days and I guess he brought him to work to prove he really did know him. Patrick O'Neal as a Mexican is hilarious!

The highlight is the Marianna Hill nude scene, but there are a lot of explosions and action to pass the time quickly enough. There are a lot of worse ways to spend an evening.