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.

I enjoyed this film which I saw on television, but I did see it originally at the cinema long before IMDB or its directors were in existence.

Vintage Lee Van Cleef and Jim Browm acted out their parts well. I always like these type of Westerns, they never date, but then I grew up on them. The stories always have the same theme but, coupled to the acting and stunning western scenery, they always capture me. Having been fortunate enough to visit the scenery in the US in Arizona, New Mexico and California, the films give me added pleasure. Hope they go on remaking them so as to benefit from the new technology

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.

El Condor is directed by John Guillermin and written by Larry Cohen and Steve Carabatsos. It stars Jim Brown, Lee Van Cleef, Patrick O'Neal, Marianna Hill and Iron Eyes Cody. Music is by Maurice Jarre and cinematography by Henri Persin.

Luke (Brown), an escaped chain-gang fugitive, and Jaroo (Cleef), a gold prospector, decide to join forces in an assault on a Mexican fort that is thought to house the gold reserves of Emperor Maximilian. Backed by a band of Apache Indians, the mission is on, but the fort is heavily armed and General Chavez (O'Neal) is a shrewd and ruthless leader of the Mexican defenders.

Ebert didn't like it, it's most divisive amongst genre aficionados, while the charge of it being a mindless action film carries some substance, but oh what raucous - riotous - rambunctious fun it is!

It would be folly to argue about the acting being great here, it simply isn't, with both Cleef and Brown getting by on charisma, screen presence and light airy by-play. Yet Guillerman and producer Andre De Toth knew how to make an action film, and how to make the action impact with as much force as possible. The spectacle on show here is quite something, from the Technicolor photography that brings Andalusia vividly to life, to the magnificent adobe fort - and to the incredibly large cast members indulging in brutal and bloody battles, El Condor knows exactly what it needs to do to entertain the viewers.

There's also the sizzle factor, brought about by some nude scenes that ensured the picture would get the highest classification upon its original release. Yet regardless of these scenes being tame by today's standards, they surely are not in the film for gratification sake anyway, there's a simmering sexuality in the movie from the off. What with its wrought machismo and breaking down of racial boundaries, it makes up for what it lacks in subtlety with high temperature atmospherics. Anyway, in spite of what you might have heard about Hill's "full monty" scene, it is beautifully erotic and it's no stretch to believe that she could, in that moment in time, stop an army in its tracks! Attagirl.

Maurice Jarre has a grand old time scoring the picture, blending stirring boom time with japery laced tinkles, it's a most appropriate musical accompaniment. So with that comes the observation that El Condor is not successful in making any deep meaningful observations on either the human condition or politico posturing. What it does do is have a bloody good time, with its bloody brutal action sequences, a body count via gun-play that would fill out a war movie and the sexually charged atmosphere, El Condor is mindless but pure unadulterated entertainment. So Amen to that! 8/10

John Guillermin was a better than average director but even he can't save this movie from its clichés and predictable script. Of course, by 1970 the civil rights movement was well under way and the black lead had to make up in cleverness for what the white counterpart had in stupidity. So, Brown and van Cleef make a workable duo thanks to Brown's superior intelligence and strength, while Lee shoots and blows up anything that moves.

Acting is generally substandard. The stunning Marianna Hill, with a truly fantastic set of boobs, steals the show.

The script is explosive - not through its quality but through the constant explosions on the screen.

Photography is cheap color, unsteady at times.

Still, I carried on watching until the inevitable ending. Won't happen again.