Rain for a Dusty Summer

Now billed as a 'spaghetti Western," this is actually a uncredited remake of the Graham Greene/ John Ford classic "The Fugitive," with a twist - in this version, the priest is not plagued with the any of the doubts or crises of courage that made Henry Fonda's characterization so memorable. So the film loses weight thereby, which it attempts to replace with th humor and humanity of Humberto Almazán's performance - and it almost succeeds, he is eminently likable as a grass-roots padre.

It's not a bad film, not an uninteresting film. I just kept getting haunted by flashbacks to the Ford original, with it's high-contrast shadows, and tense moments of confrontation between the priest, his own conscience, and the wannabe atheist soldier. Despite the clarity of the priest's commitment in this version, the original actually carried the message better.

Did not think I was going to like this film, but as the film moved on, it caught my attention. Ernest Borgnine, (The General) played a very evil role as a man who hated the Catholic Church and set out to kill all priests throughout Mexico. There was a man who lived in one of the local villages named Miguel Pro, (Humberto Almazan) who wanted to become a priest but he had his doubts mainly because he loved to entertain people with his music and jokes. There are many churches burned to the ground and the killing of innocent priests increased during the entire picture. The ending to this story you will never to able to figure out, however, after a few years acting, Humberto Almazan actually became a priest in real life.

In Mexico in the late 1920s a Catholic priest called Miguel Pro(Padre Humberto) clashes with the government and former President General Alvaro Obregon(Ernest Borgnine) during the 'Cristero War'. Filmed in Franco's Spain, and released in 1971, director Arthur Lubin's final feature film is based on fact, and it's screenplay can be seen as a crude and partial propaganda piece, featuring rather obvious plot dynamics, and an occasionally comic edge (ie. The priest cross dressing to avoid the authorities). It's a clumsy film, technically, pacing and performance wise, and whether you think Obregon is a correct thinking Humanist, who is right to take on the Catholic church and religion in general, will depend on your view of them.

Mexico 1917. The Revolution, when religion has been outlawed. The story is based on fact. This picture unfolds a hidden and true story, dealing with a cruel General : Ernest Borgnine is leading his own war against the Church, as he speeches to his soldiers : The Church is our enemy I will not rest until the church is destroyed and every last priest is driven out of Mexico . Then priests are chased by a totalitarian government, rounded up, churches burned down and religion outlawed . But the ruthless general is challenged by a seemingly mild-mannered priest called Miguel Pro : Humberto Almazan, wanting to stop government soldiers from destroying missions and churches . Along the way the priest Miguel is mercilessly pursued by a police chief : Aldo Sambrell. The state police are aware of his existence, and unlike many other priests, they have a photograph of him, albeit an outdated one. The fugitive priest is trying to getaway from the authorities who have denounced Christianity and want anyone linked to it dead. The good-natured priest makes the decision to risk it all for faith, family and country. The fugitive finds shelter with a kind old woman and his brother : Sancho Gracia. The suffering of a pious catholic priest could bring the tide of change, however. Miguel Pro was the main priest to believe in their cause, but became the first willing to die for it.

Sensitive and brooding movie about pursuits and the necessary religious freedom. This is a stirring and moving confrontation between a fearsome provincial general who terrorizes the residents of the sizeable chunk of Old Mexico he rules, and, a good as well as peaceful priest who attempts to celebrate mass and give spiritual and religious relief. And this uneven confrontation resuts in an unusual challenging between two dissimilar men. Adding an interesting dialogue as the General speaks to priest : "What a pity you went into the priesthood, you would have made a great general" and the priest Miguel answers him : "All due respect in all may be you would have made a great Pope" . Here Borgnine gives a nice acting as a mad general leading his own war and at whatever cost, against the Catholic Church. While the real priest Humberto Almazan provides a sympathetic acting including singing and adding hilarious touches when disguising as a countryman full of mud, as a Prison Inspector and as an elderly woman . Nice support cast formed by various familiar faces from Spaghetti /Paella Western and mostly Spanish actors, such as : Sancho Gracia as his faithful brother, Tina Sainz as his sister, Angel Alvarez od Django as the Bishop, Carlos Casaravilla as a Prison chief, Gustavo Re as a jail warden, Gemma Cuervo as a prostitute, among others.

The picture was uneven but professionally directed by Hollywood veteran Arthur Lubin. This issue regarding religious pursuit has been put in connection with other films, formerly in "The Fugitive" 1947 by John Ford and Emilio Fernandez with Henry Fonda, Dolores Del Rio, War Bond, Pedro Armendariz, J. Carroll Naish, and, subsequently, in the epic "The greatest Glory : The true story of Cristiada" 2012 by Den Wright with Andy Garcia, Oscar Isaac, Eva Longoria, Peter O'Toole, this latter concerning Cristeros War in Mexico of the 20s.

Mexican leading man Humberto Almazon temporarily came out of retirement from acting (he had taken the cloth in reality during the 60's) to play a tousle-haired, moon-faced trainee priest going through various disguises to evade the soldiers seeking him here and seeking him there on behalf of anti-clerical Generalissimo Ernest Borgnine in 1917 in this US-Spanish hybrid of 'The Sound of Music' and 'The Cross and the Switchblade'.

The post-syncing makes it feel like a spaghetti western, although Hollywood veteran Arthur Lubin - whose swan song this marked - like Irving Rapper a few years later on 'Born Again' is incongruously at the helm.