Adios Caballero

Though I love spaghetti westerns, I won't deny the fact that a number of certain elements keep popping up in them. However, "One After Another" is less predictable than usual. One reason is the depiction of the hero - or should I say "hero". Richard Harrison's character of Stan is much less likable than your typical spaghetti western protagonist, showing a real unlikable side from his insults to people to shooting people down in cold blood. Still, this eyeglass-wearing person is interesting, because you wonder what unlikable action he'll do next. The movie remains interesting for other reasons as well. The first ten minutes are jam-packed with dirty dealings and unexpected occurrences, and there are several more unexpected turns in the plot to follow. Eventually the movie does settle into a familiar formula (hunting down the bad guys one by one), but the movie remains interesting with its interesting visuals, good music, and a fairly zippy pace. Spaghetti western fans should like this, and even non-fans may find this offbeat enough to keep them watching.

Spaghetti westerns like this were made by the dozen in the sixties. Where only a few made it to become commonly known and recognized as great pictures, flicks like this one are more or less forgotten or little known today. The plot of this movie is more or less like Yojimbo (A fistful of Dollars). A lone man rides into town where the bank has been robbed for a large amount of gold. He joins up with two gangs in turn, and gets beaten up by both. Our man, Stan, is an unlikely hero in that he wears glasses. These are, of course, broken several times. Knowing this will happen, Stan keeps a handy folder filled with spares attached to the inside of his jacket. Quite funny, in fact. Not much else to say about the movie besides that both colors and the photography are quite nice.

Whether you think this movie was atypical or not, I think, comes down to what you pay attention to. If you're the kind that gets into personal details, you'll likely think that, but if you're looking at the genre top down it's not that different than the standard fare. I felt it was a solid example of the genre and worth watching for genre-philes. It does well with non SW lovers as well, so, a solid entry I say. You could argue that it is very typical in the way it is atypical. The glasses are a good example. Seems an odd touch if you think of it in an absolute sense, but typical "routinely does the highly improbable" in SW terms.

I liked it.

After a violent bank robbery by fake Mexican Bandits, the crooked bank president/ringleader hires bounty hunter Richard Harrison to find the patsy blamed for the holdup. Catching up with him, Harrison learns the truth and schemes with the real gang of banditos to get his hands on the loot.

Cleanshaven, with spectacles, neat hair, and a black overcoat that conceals his size, Harrison looks a lot different than you're used to seeing in various spaghetti westerns and muscle-man movies. His character is a bit colder as well.

Though somewhat typical, there's a high level of torture and double- crossing going on. It might not be memorable, but it's watchable and has a few surprises going for it.

Watch out for Harrison's glasses case, which unrolls to find about six pairs. I imagine his line of work can be pretty hard on your face!

Excellent combination of bank robbery, double-crosses and revenge plots in a tight script. Richard Harrison makes a first-rate protagonist, variably with and against several well-cast antagonists. I was ready to give this an 8 until the final twist that was completely unnecessary, and diminished the perfectly adequate course that preceded it. The last scene feels like an afterthought - perhaps added to reach a desired running time. It plays out like an idea that should have been left off the reel in the final edit.