Trois pour un massacre

Slow-moving, talky western drama stars Milan as a doltish Mexican revolutionary defending his settlement against the onslaught of Welles' well-resourced army. Milan plays the character as a cult-leader of almost biblical proportions, spouting endless metaphors and meaningless advice to his devoted followers, whom I'm not even sure possessed the necessary literacy to understand his pearls of wisdom and insight. His acting is fine, it just seems disconnected from its surroundings, but that might be intentional.

Welles on the other hand is something else entirely with his ludicrous spray-tan and casually sadistic demeanor, as he orchestrates a fatal push into the well-guarded fortress with predictable results. Ex-pat Brit John Steiner co-stars as a mysterious doctor (he's especially easy to spot with flowing blonde locks and white suit), whilst some viewers might also recognise ubiquitous Chinese actor in spaghetti westerns 'George Wang' in a small supporting role.

It's competently handled with some effective battle scenes, but the pacing is tedious and the picture never quite homogenises, instead, a series of situations punctuated by a lot of brooding and speculation which lack cohesion. Picturesque with a soulful closing soundtrack, but ultimately underwhelming.

The movie centers on a Mexican revolutionary nicknamed Tepepa (a likable Tomas Milian) who joins forces an outlaw band during the Mexican revolutionary war by time of the president Madero (played by a Spaghetti usual secondary , Francisco Sanz) . The Mexican guerrilla leader Tepepa wielding his Mauser gun and his gang fight against colonel Cascorro (special appearance of Orson Welles). When illiterate Tepepa is about to be executed , there appears a serious and smooth-talking British doctor named Henry Price (the blond John Steiner) and saves him from a firing squad . Later on , starring duo , Milian-Steiner , undergo a strange relation of friendship and hatred . But someone prepares a relentless vendetta on a surprising final .

It's a magnificent western film with dazzling shootouts between the protagonists and the contenders . This film belongs to the numerous group that are set during the Mexican revolution , called ¨Zapata Western sub-genre¨ , like are the Italian ones : ¨ Duck you sucker¨ ,¨Compañeros¨ , ¨The mercenary ¨ and the Americans : ¨The wild bunch and ¨The professionals¨. ¨Tepepa¨ results to be the swan-song of this sub-genre . The picture blends violence , western action , plot twists and shoot'em up with high body-count . ¨Tepepa¨ is fast movement and that's why it is entertaining ; besides , there is thoughtful dialog with an intelligent writing by Franco Solinas , an author of communist ideology who wrote political screenplays such classics as ¨The battle of Argel¨ and ¨I'm the Revolution¨ , the latter bears remarkable resemblance on some issues to ¨Tepepa¨ . The Cuban Tomas Milian , as usual , puts faces , grimaces , crying and overacting , but he plays splendidly in a similar character to ¨Cuchillo¨ from the trilogy directed by Sergio Sollima . Tomas created his own image and propelled himself to stardom in likewise fashion with such important Spaghetti movies as The Bounty Killer (1966) , The Big Gundown (1967) with Lee Van Cleef , Face to Face (1967) , Django Kill! (1967) and Run, Man, Run (1968).

Enjoyable score by the great maestro composer Ennio Morricone who composed lots of Spaghetti Western scores , it contains a sensitive musical leitmotif . There are many fine technicians and nice assistants as the splendid cameraman Francisco Marin who makes an atmospheric photography , including barren outdoors , dirty landscapes under a glimmer sun , being shot , of course , on location in Almeria , Spain . However , being necessary and perfect remastering because of the original copy is worn-out . The motion picture was well directed by Giulio Petroni who filmed another classic Italian western as ¨Death rides a horse¨ , though also shot other inferior but acceptable Spaghettis as ¨Night of serpent¨ and ¨A sky full of stars for a roof¨. Rating : Above average S.W. , worthwhile seeing .

Great movie The pacing is great, the way that you get to know about Tepepa's morals is very efficient and adds to the overrall suspense as you find yourself wondering weather you should like him or not; That combined with the background theme of the movie, that is the anarchist mexican revolution, really gives the film a iconoclastic feel to it. It might be a bit too long and the dubbing is really bad but the film is worth it anyway for the insight on the mexican revolution as well as the political and yet not preachy or propaganda-like commentary.

Perhaps the Spaghetti Western genre's last word on the Mexican Revolution (around which so many fine examples are centred) - barring, of course, Leone's marvelous DUCK, YOU SUCKER (1971) - from one of Italian cinema's foremost political writers, Franco Solinas. Tomas Milian is at his best here (with which he appears to concur himself, as per quotes found in the actor's biography included on the DVD!); his ambiguous character is mainly revealed through the film's intermittent flashback structure (borrowed from Sergio Leone).

Like Petroni's own DEATH RIDES A HORSE (1968), the film sees the title character being constantly 'shadowed' by someone for unspecified reasons and, like Sergio Sollima's FACE TO FACE (1967), we are presented with a clash of two personalities (and two worlds) - in this case, larger-than-life Mexican revolutionary Milian and quietly-spoken British doctor John Steiner - that could turn violent at any moment...although the confrontation between Milian and an influential Army Colonel - surprisingly underplayed by Orson Welles (but, then, his presence can only add to the film's stature) - is, at least, as important and central to the plot; indeed, their long-awaited showdown is quite splendid (even if the plot still has a couple more twists up its sleeve!). Needless to say, Ennio Morricone's stirring and unforgettable score is one of the film's trump cards (and, in fact, the SE from Italy's Alan Young Pictures I own includes the soundtrack - running approx. 26 minutes - on a second disc!) and includes a beautiful ballad sung by Christy (which, alas, is only heard in its complete form on the CD!); another crucial asset, of course, is the film's beautiful Techniscope photography.

Even so, powerful and moving though it is, the film ends up being tiresomely long if wholly engrossing: the print on offer here is vaunted as being the complete 136-minute version which has been virtually unseen since the film's original release; actually, it only lasts for 127 minutes in PAL mode, which would bring it to about 133 minutes in full...but, then, a deleted scene has been included as an extra on the DVD (albeit without sound, though accompanied by the director's comments: the dialogue couldn't even be re-recorded for completeness' sake because Petroni himself has no idea what is being said and admitted that, once a film is finished, he throws away the script!) and that's 3 minutes in length, which would account for that discrepancy! As a matter of fact, when I first watched the film (recorded off late-night Italian TV), it ran for a mere 97 minutes...though, since it's been a while, I can't discern any of the new footage - Petroni does remark, however, that the cuts effected Morricone's compositions quite severely; as for myself, I recall being underwhelmed by that preliminary experience!

Among the extensive bonus features are offered a number of mostly complimentary reviews from the time of its original release and publicity shots with the stars and director, where the film was still being advertised under its working title of VIVA LA REVOLUCION! The Audio Commentary, however, turns out to be a disappointment: advertised as being full-length, it only runs for 73 minutes (jumping to relevant scenes but, even then, there are a few gaps which sometimes run for several minutes at a stretch!); still, even if Petroni seems to be hazy about many details, his comments - urged by a moderator - make for an interesting listen nonetheless. Apparently, Solinas clashed with the director over the ending (which he didn't write and consequently hated) with the face of the deceased Tepepa superimposed on a shot of the revolutionaries riding off into the sunset (led by the young kid who plays an important part in the film, particularly in relation to the John Steiner character and who utters the great final line; weirdly enough, the child actor himself grew up to be a mafioso!). Ironically, too, Welles' involvement seems to have worked against the film because, like one of his own projects, it's been butchered and released over the years in various forms!

This has resulted in TEPEPA being largely neglected in discussions of the more significant Spaghetti Westerns; with this 'new' version, where its essential quality is more than evident, it's definitely ripe for reappraisal...

If you like action-packed westerns, then you'll be in for a treat when you see the marvelous masterpiece, "Blood and Guns." It has a great cast, fantastic acting, and it takes a common "good guys vs. bad guys" plot and turns it into a memorable viewing experience through humor, tragedy, and most importantly, Orson Welles. There has never been a film like this before or after its release. It's a true original! What other movie uses billy goats strapped with dynamite to attract the enemy? What other movie shows Orson Welles shooting at a man on a horse going around a little red car in cirlces? None. There is an evil doctor with a chin bigger than Jay Leno's. There is a great battle scene between the peasants and the mexican brown-suits. Tomas Milian, who played Tomas F. Dobb in a spanish version of "Revolution", is the man with the big black sombrero who taunts Orson Welles until he learns his lesson from the big man himself. There's the naive mexican boy. The frightened citizens. The violence. And Orson Welles, who actuually trips near the end of the film and the director left it in. A classic! It's very hard to find. Get it if you can.