Cannon for Cordoba

In 1912, the Texas-Mexico border was ablaze with raids by hordes of Mexican bandits calling themselves revolutionaries. To combat them, the U. S. government sent General John (Blackjack) Pershing to deal with the bandit raiders, one of the most dangerous of which was General Hector Cordoba. Some cannons have been stolen by a Mexican gang led by Cordoba. So Captain Douglas (George Peppard) is assigned by General Pershing (John Russell) a dangerous mission, he along with a group of misfits (Don Gordon) set out in pursuit of outlaw gunslingers on the Texas border, circa 1912. Meanwhile, Douglas attempts to liberate a Mexican village besieged by a nasty gang that is ravaging the small town. Douglas is determined to take a group of prisoners (Nico Minardos and Pete Duel, who committed suicide the following year) and strike a blow against the Mexican bandits. He goes to the territorial prison, where a group of renegades and other prisoners are given a chance to redeem themselves. Later, the captain tries to take the stolen cannons and catch the bandit Córdoba (Raf Vallone), with the help of a Mexican officer named Antonio (Gabriele Tinti) and the beautiful Leonora (Giovanna Ralli). They aimed it at the fortress of Córdoba and pulled the trigger! The army followed to pick up the pieces!

The story is partially similar to Richard Brooks' "The Professionals", adding Robert Aldrich's "The Dirty Dozen" with the usual gang of outlaws made up of an eclectic team with diverse specialties, such as dynamite or guns. Implausible story but real action, tense emotion and fun at all times. The film has Western action, exciting driving, explosions, shootouts, it is fun and entertaining, although nothing new, but it shows a TV style at times. The film contains some moments of grisly violence and even touches on the relationships between George Peppard and Giovanna Ralli. This is a so-so and inferior imitation of the original and enduringly popular "The Magnificent Seven" by John Sturges (in fact, it's the same producer Walter Mirish), and turns out to be standard action fare. George Peppard as a two-fisted officer who employs soldiers of fortune is quite good and Don Gordon is likable as his stubborn assistant. Great supporting cast consisting mainly of American actors like John Larch, John Rusell, Greek Nico Minardos, imposing Frenchman Hans Meyer and Italians like the beautiful Giovanna Ralli, Raf Vallone and Gabriele Tinti. And being Pete Duel's last film; in fact, shortly after his character was released from prison, he puts a gun to his head and pulls the trigger. A year after the release of this film, while shooting the second season of the series The Two Musketeers (1971), Duel would commit suicide in this way. For the more experienced, and film buffs who like actors, they can take a look and catch the brief appearances of ordinary Spanish secondary characters from Spaghetti, such as Luis Barboo, Barta Barri, Cris Huerta or Aldo Sambrell.

Filmed in Spain in locations in Hoyo Manzanares, La Pedriza (Madrid) and Andalusia, Almería, where hundreds of Spaghetti Westerns were filmed in the 60s and 70s. In fact, although the production is North American, there is a lot of Spanish technical support, such as the cameramen Antonio Macasoli and Ricardo Navarrete; the first assistant director José María Ochoa; the prestigious expert in 'matte painting' Emilio Ruiz del Río; the special effects and miniatures of Francisco Prósper; the artistic and set designers José María Tapiador, Rafael Salazar, Emilio Ardura, among others.

It has a bright and colorful photography by cameraman Antonio Macasoli . As always, an impressive and memorable soundtrack by maestro Elmer Bernstein in a style similar to his classic 'The Magnificent Seven'. The movie was professionally directed by Paul Wendkos, a regular TV movie director although he also made some westerns for cinema such as 'The Face of a Fugitive' and 'The Magnificent Seven Ride'. Rating: 6/10, acceptable and passable.

It is a western set in Mexico, a pretext for an explosive farce. It is based on an excellent script, curiously signed by Stephen Kandel, prolific screenwriter for television. Here we have a film influenced by the spaghetti western, supported by a heterogeneous cast that is one of the flavors of the film, or rather heterogeneous and sympathetic, with actors with recognizable faces that we have inevitably seen elsewhere. And as for the female cast, it is also a success. The two female characters, even if not very present on the screen, are notable and striking. Both for the plastic poses (especially for Francine York), important in this world of dust and dirt, and critical for the dramatic progression for the second, Giovanna Ralli.

On the direction, Paul Wendkos, who is also a product of television (many series to his credit, including contributions to The Untouchables or The Invaders). Here he has a lot of fun with some crazy camera angles and zooms, which date the film a little, but which are not detrimental to the progression.

The richness of the script is in the relationship between the people of George Peppard's gang. Each of them is characterized simply and well embodied by each of the actors: they each present a real personality; their scenes between them are the most interesting. The least interesting of the lot is George Peppard himself, who goes through the film in a mechanical way. It is as if he is not concerned by the film.

The film adds to the spectacular, the explosions and the violence (in the spaghetti sense of the term). All in all, it becomes a curious product that maintains interest over time despite its flaws (stereotypes, rough direction of the actors).

Cannon for Cordoba is directed by Paul Wendkos and written by Stephen Kandel. It stars George Peppard, Giovanna Ralli, Raf Vallone, Pete Duel, Don Gordon, Nico Minardos, John Larch, John Russell and Francine York. A Panavision/De Luxe Color production, music is by Elmer Bernstein and cinematography by Antonio Macasoli.

"In 1912 the border between Texas and Mexico was aflame with the raids of Mexican bandit hordes who called themselves revolutionaries. To combat them the American government dispatched General John J. (Blackjack) Pershing to deal with the bandit raiders, one of the most dangerous of whom was General Hector Cordoba!"

A Paella Western crammed to the brim with machismo and action, Cannon for Cordoba is in desperate need of re-evaluation by the Pasta Western loving crowd.

The big problem the film has is that it is so indebted to a number of other "men on a mission" movies, it has struggled to gain credit for actually doing the format well. Undeniably the viewing experience is greatly helped if you are like me, a fan of such films like The Guns of Navarone, The Dirty Dozen, Where Eagles Dare, The Professionals and The Wild Bunch etc, because this is basically the Paella version of those films. Shot on location in Spain, with what now would be called a modest budget, it's pacey, explosive, pleasing in visuals and very well performed in the traditional Pasta Western sense. While the grim textures come courtesy of torture, sexual hostility and terrorism.

Plot basically entails U.S. Army Captain Rod Douglas (Peppard) taking a very small gathering of miscreants over the border into Mexico, their mission is to infiltrate Cordoba's (Vallone) mountain stronghold and destroy the cannons claimed by Cordoba's bandits earlier in the play. The threads that run through the plot see one of the group holding a grudge against his leader, another that has the lady of the mission operating on justifiable revenge driven ends, and with so many people wanting Cordoba dead, Douglas is up against it since he's under orders to bring the General back alive to face public trial and inevitable execution.

There's an unsubtle whiff of cynicism throughout the picture, the sly asides to the Vietnam War issue carrying a glint in the eye as cheeky as Peppard's performance. Oh it's no message movie, Wendkos and his team are firmly intent on tapping into the zeitgeist of those formula movies previously, there for sure is no overt attempts at political lecturing, but the scent is there and keeps the pic smelling wholesome.

Cast are the expected mixed bag for such a production. Peppard is every inch a Spaghetti Western anti-hero, perky blue eyes, stubbled face fuzz and constantly chomping on a cigar, he's the fulcrum of the viewing experience and he's great company to be in. Vallone is on wonderfully oily villain duties, yet charming into the bargain as well, Duel is nicely edgy and Ralli (I find it hard to write her name without swooning) is a sexual ball of deviousness. Wendkos favours tilted pan shots for his action scenes, which work to a point but then feel like, well, what's the point? While Bernstein provides a robust score that stirs the blood to boiling point.

Under seen and under valued? You betcha. 7.5/10

This film takes place in 1912 along the border between Mexico and the United States where a Mexican bandit by the name of "General Hector Cordoba" (Raf Vallone) has been participating in a revolution against his government and often makes raids across the Rio Grande to acquire valuable merchandise to help supplement his army. Not content with the Mexican government's efforts to stop these raids the United States dispatches "General John J. 'Blackjack' Pershing" (John Russell) to put a stop to them. Unfortunately, not long after arriving there he suffers the loss of six of his cannon which are stolen by General Cordoba's forces. Furious at this setback -and unable to take his army into Mexico-General Pershing orders a small group of misfits under the command of "Captain Rod Douglas" (George Peppard) to infiltrate General Cordoba's headquarters, destroy the cannon and bring the bandit back alive to face trial. Needless to say, this is an extremely difficult assignment which becomes even more difficult by the fact that one of Captain Douglas' own men by the name of "Jackson Harkness" (Don Gordon) has vowed to kill him because of an earlier incident involving his brother. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an entertaining film for the most part even though it does have a couple of scenes which defy all sense of reality. I also thought that the ending could have been drawn out a bit more but all things considered I enjoyed this film and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

I have reasons to love the great users of a camera; fluid direction of action lends itself to fast-paced adventure and comedy narrative; but such a skill, in the hands of a King Vidor or an Anthony Mann can also be applied to idea-level work. This is Paul Wendkos' masterpiece. Its storyline can be retailed in a single pair of sentences. General Hector Cordoba is setting up as near-emperor in Northern Mexico, and steals a huge cannon from General Blackjack Pershing. he sends his crack mission unit, divided, apprehensive but determined, led by George Peppard, to get the cannon back and bring back Cordoba alive, to put an end to the rebellion. Charismatic Raf Vallone plays Cordoba; the ladies in the piece are Giovanna Ralli and Francine York; with the squad even further comprised of Nico Minardos, Peter Deuel, and Don Gordon. Other stalwarts in the class include John Larch and John Russell. Also horning in on an already fantastically-dangerous operation are Miss Ralli, and a stubborn Mexican Teniente (Gabriela Tinti) whose regiment was betrayed when Cordoba set up on his own. The danger is multiplied when Gordon's brother as advance spy is captured and tortured to death while he has to watch...and he decides he needs to kill Peppard. The attack that captures the cannon, when Peppard's orders are not obeyed by a regular army type, is one of the most electrifying visual and staging achievements in cinematic history; the penetration of Cordoba's stronghold, the revelations uncovered there, and the actions that win the mission team a chance at victory--or almost victory--are flawlessly presented. This is a beautiful color adventure film, with unusually strong costumes, acting, lighting, art direction sets and music by Elmer Bernstein. The script by Stephen Kandel is probably his best ever for a feature film. This is probably the most underrated major western at the moment, but I have always appreciated its heroes as result- getting hard-workers. But as Peppard reminds his group on the way home, "The trouble with being a "hero"--is the morning after". To find out why he says so, you will have to see "Cannon For Cordoba".