O Forasteiro

The Americano (1955)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

William Castle's Western is pretty familiar on many grounds but it's also a lot different on others, which makes it worth checking out. American Sam Dent (Glenn Ford) heads to Brazil to sell his cattle so that he and his brother can live better but once there he gets in the middle of a land owner (Frank Lovejoy) and a "bandit" (Cesar Romero) who are battling each other. THE AMERICANO, story wise, really doesn't offer us anything we haven't seen countless times before so if you're looking for something original then you're certainly not going to find it here. Based on story alone this film would be worth skipping but what makes it so entertaining and worth watching are the locations. The Brazilian jungle really makes for an interesting setting and I must admit that it was a lot of fun seeing some routine Western scenes "updated" for the location. How many times have we seen a scene where the cowboy must take the cattle across some water? Well, in the scene here the problem is that there are crocodiles and piranhas in the water. How many times have we seen the cowboy beat or threaten a bad guy into telling the truth about something? Well, in this film those same piranhas are used to get him to talk. I really enjoyed seeing these familiar scenes updated to the setting and throw in the Technicolor and this really makes the film worth seeing. It also features some good performances with Ford leading the way playing a good guy like only he can. Lovejoy was extremely entertaining and steals every scene he's in and Romero is also very good in his role. Castle's direction isn't anything ground-breaking but he does a good job piecing everything together and keeping the film flowing at a nice pace.

I won't write 4 paragraphs about the plot. I wanted to see this movie again from another perspective. In the 50s to 1966 when Eric Fleming was killed in Peru filming an adventure movie, studios did some live filming on field locations because the tourist industry, airlines, people with vacation money wanted to see Panama, Brazil, Morocco etc. I like to watch on location movies with Ford and other actors. This one is good for the location filming but shallow. Glenn Ford displays again his excellent horsemanship. he was considered of the top 3 riders of that time. 2 high jumps and 3 running mounts. I can watch a whole movie of him riding. This is 1 movie where its not about him in a romance, so his acting has more character. For as much as this story could have contained, it was spread out evenly. Glenn was great, movie is good.

After delivering his prize bulls from Texas to a mysterious buyer in the Amazon, Glen Ford is reluctantly drawn into a dispute between a wealthy rancher, a beautiful women, homesteaders and Brazilian bandits. A vintage performance by Ford is complemented by Cesar Romero, as the bandit "El Gato." The sexy Abbe Lane pulls off a song in the middle of the movie that showcases her then husband, Xavier Cugat's, Latin score. Americans in the 1950's were fascinated with the Amazon, one of North America's last frontiers. With some great second unit wildlife shots, this is not Monument Valley. If you can enjoy an old time western, with its stoic hero and sharp moral choices, set in 1950's Brazil, then this one is for you.

Watchable and standard Western set in flashy Brazil about classic confrontation between cattlemen and homesteaders . There are wonderful , showy outdoors shot on spectacular territory and it displays action , shootouts , violence and though sometimes is slow-moving , isn't tiring neither dreary , sustaining the interest for quite a while . It deals with an American who takes a small herd of Brahma bulls and undertakes the long drives began from Texas to Brazil where he has sold them for a small fortune that is subsequently robbed . Later on , the American working on a ranch in the Amazon comes up against a gang of Brazilian bandits (Cesar Romero) . The American named Sam Dent fights to stifle the conflicts between homesteaders (led by Ursula Thies) and cattleman (Frank Lovejoy) who hires gunfighters . Texas cowboy become involved with a group of bad guys versus Brazilian good guys in this way-south-of-the-border Western . Meanwhile , he is hired for a time to keep the peace and develops a love story with the wealthy owner. But the Amazon becomes notorious for its lawlessness .

The picture gets action Western , shootouts , a love story , musical numbers (in charge of a gorgeous Abbe Lane) and is quite entertaining . A formula film featuring the standard grand opening , an enjoyable change of scenery , dramatic problem-posing center and slang-bang climax , but a nice entertaining Western nonetheless . It's a medium budget film with good actors , technicians, cheap production values and pleasing results . Bright scenarios shot in Brazil and Riverside, California , though there are excessive stock-shots. The main asset results to be the change of scenery , but a familiar theme : homesteaders against cattlemen make this movie all but a little bit pedestrian . Acceptable acting by Glenn Ford as a Texas cowboy gets embroiled with bad guys and finds himself in the middle of a range war . Commendable support cast as Frank Lovejoy , Cesar Romero , Rodolfo Hoyos and the gorgeous Abbe Lane , though Sara Montiel was originally cast for the role of Teresa and filmed some sequences in the Matto Grosso jungle . Atmospheric musical score by Roy Webb , including agreeable songs ; being danced and sung by Abbe Lane and composed and conducted by her husband Xavier Cugat .

This low-budgeted motion picture was professionally directed by William Castle . He was an expert craftsman with some of the all-time great schlock names serving as the producer Sam Katzman and fondness for gimmicks as proved in his successful terror films such as House of haunted hill , The Tingler , Mr Sardonicus , Strait-jacked , Homicidal , Macabre and 13 Ghosts . Castle emulated Alfred Hitchcock , this included the practice of appearing in the trailers, and even making cameo appearances in his films . Furthermore , he made several Western such as 1955 Duel on the Mississippi , 1955 The Gun That Won the West ,1955 El Americano , 1954 Masterson of Kansas , 1954 The Law vs. Billy the Kid , 1954 Jesse James vs. the Daltons , 1954 Battle of Rogue River , 1953 Fort Ti , 1951 cave of outlaws. Rating : 6. Acceptable and passable

What an interesting story, this western made in Brazil. As also was Hugo Fregoonese's SAVAGE PAMPAS, made ten years later in Argentina. During those golden years for western, it was very rare that those films were not made in the USA, Mexico, Spain or Italy...The story however brings nothig really new, besides those new settings for an American western. Good pace, solid acting, convincing directing elements; only the story is not flawless. Frank Lovejoy is excellent in this film; I don't remember he made other films with Glenn Ford, besides this one. William Castle will abandon this kind of films a few years later for his famous horror gimmick films cycle. His best part.