El Condor

Saw this 36 years ago on Times Square in NYC. Got a tolerably Good VHS of it on Amazon.com for about $5.

It was directed by John Guillermin, and stars Lee Van Cleef, Jim Brown, Patrick O'Neal, Marianna Hill, Iron Eyes Cody, Elisha Cook Jr., and Dan Van Husen. It was made around the Blaxplotation Era, its not great but its not bad as far as an action flick goes. The score by Jaffe is nothing to get worked up about, Its supposed to take place at the end Maxamilian's Mexico reign (1867) , but all the Colts are vintage 1873 Peacemakers, so any historical reality is lost with this film at the git go. Check your brains at the door.

Its highlight for me (and the reason for any Lee Van Cleef fan to get this film) is Van Cleef's turn as a character named Jaroo.

Jaroo is as far from Van Cleef's Mortimer as you can probably go. Here he plays a somewhat shallow, alcoholic, happy go lucky Indian Trader, an Apachero so to speak, who has lived on and off with the Apaches. He's a dusty, scrawny looking saddle bum, his trademark hawk like face in this film is transformed more into a beady-eyed weasel. He wears a two bear claw necklace around his neck and a small poke that holds two gold nuggets. We first meet him as he guzzling down some whiskey in a bar.

But this is more a vehicle for Brown, and we meet him first at a prison camp, he plays a character named Luke & he is shackled to Elisa Cook Jr. Cook tells him about El Condor fort sort of the Ft. Knox of Mexico. Luke is summoned to the commandants office and offered a pardon if he would join up with General Sherman. But he escapes and heads for the gold of El Condor. Brown is average in this too.

Luke teams up with Jaroo since Jaroo can get Apache Chief Santana and an army of Apache Warriors to attack the fort for plunder rather than the gold and then Luke & Jaroo can split the Mexican Treasury.

Patrick O'Neal is the Mexican General in command of El Condor and knockout Marianna Hill his mistress. O'Neal is OK in the role and Hill does a full frontal striptease at a crucial plot point, wow. She's got quite the rack , and all of us Clint fans will recognize her from her role of town tramp Calle Travers from High Plains Drifter.

Now I know why we never see this film on TV, lots of bare flesh throughout.

There is a great sequence in a Mexican town where Jaroo has a scene with a small Mexican boy that is pretty touching. Later there is another good sequence when Jaroo gets "gold fever".

Shot in Almeria. Just treat this more as mindless entertainment, with a very good performance by Van Cleef. It could have been way better than it is but it was made to just cash in on the SW craze.

Its better than I remembered.

Two men, a two-fisted Jim Brown as escaped prisoner and an humorous Lee Van Cleef as ambitious drifter, join forces to rob a lot of gold located into an impressive Mexican fortress (commanded by Patrick O'Neal) where is supposedly hidden the treasure. They're accompanied by an Indian tribe (led by Iron Eyes Cody, usual in Indian roles but he's Italian origin).

It packs shootouts, action western, tongue in cheek, thrills, violence and some of nudism in charge of a gorgeous Marianna Hill . This American-Spanish co-production paints an ironic, cynic portrayal of two rough bandits , following their exploits about an attack over an heavily armed fortress . The film results to be another action/adventure /humor Western that during the 60s and early 70s were ordinarily shot . Likable support cast by prestigious actors as Elisha Cook Jr and full of secondaries from Spaghetti Western as Dan Van Husen, Ricardo Palacios, Angel Del Pozo, Charly Bravo, Rafael Albaicin, among others . The film is well shot in Texas Hollywood-Fort Bravo, Almeria, Spain with a breathtaking production design by Julio Molina who made the great fortress , one of the best ever created and where were posteriorly filmed several Spaghetti as ¨ Blind man, Massacre at Fort Holman, A man called Noon¨ and ¨Conan the Barbarian¨. Nevertheless, today the fort has been partially crumbled and only remain some ruins . Atmospheric and lively musical score by the classic Maurice Jarre (Zivago, Lawrence of Arab ). Evocative and colorful cinematography by Henry Persin . The motion picture is lavishly produced by Andre De Toth ( who directed good Western) and professionally directed by John Guillermin, a super-productions expert ( King Kong, The towering inferno, Skyjacked) and warlike specialist(The bridge of Remagen, Blue Max) . Rating : Acceptable and passable. The picture will appeal to S.W. buffs and Lee Van Cleef fans.

Extremely enjoyable western adventure in the classic style of the late 60s and early 70s. The plot concerns a pair of rogue adventurers who team up with a tribe of Apache Indians to steal a fortune in gold from a huge fortress in Mexico during the mid 1860s. The heroes are extremely well portrayed, with Jim Brown as Luke, in a pioneering performance for African American actors in the early 70s; a non racially specific heroic role. Brown displays the cool confidence he showed in 'The Dirty Dozen' and '100 Rifles', showing once again that he was one of the most underrated action heroes of the 60s and 70s. Lee Van Cleef is also superb. Going against his usual casting as a polished, cool villain, Van Cleef plays a scruffy ne'r-do-well named Jaroo, who is first seen spitting whiskey into the camera. In spite of Jaroo's greed and unsavory habits, he is still a very sympathetic character. Just watch the great scene where he gives a Mexican boy one of his prized gold nuggets. Other characters of note are Iron Eyes Cody as Santana, the Apache Chief, and Patrick O'Neal as Chavez, the cruel yet honorable commandanté of the Fortress of El Condor. Mariana Hill is stunning (and totally naked at one point!) as the mistress of Chavez, a fickle beauty with the power to make men or break them. The battles are truly epic in scope, particularily the scenes of the final assault on El Condor, with hundreds of Mexican soldiers and Apaches clashing in the courtyard of the immense fortress. The music by Maurice Jarré is wonderful. One of his best scores, along with 'Lawrence of Arabia' and 'The Professionals'. No one can say that 'El Condor' is a message movie, or socially relevant or challenging, but if you want an action packed western with larger than life heroes and villains, beautiful women and impossible odds, El Condor is the film for you! I have watched this film literally dozens of times since first sneaking into the living-room to catch it on the late show as a kid in 1979, and I never ever tire of it. I watch this film more often that 'The Wild Bunch', 'The Magnificent Seven' or 'The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly'! Buy a copy RIGHT AWAY!

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.

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.