Les Pistoleros

Tom Bogard travels from Boston to the small western mining town of Carson, where on arrival he mentions he is the brother of Jack Bogard, who was assassinated a few weeks ago, he then is completely shut out. By no means anxious to leave, Tom begins to look for people who will be able to tell him about the death of his brother...

Tomb of the Pistolero, a Spanish western which came out just two months after "A Fistful of Dollars", is a traditional western and even has a song in the titles and mid-way, and there's a character called Hopalong! It's in black and white, which fits the intrigue and mystery prevalent. It's much as a mystery as well as a western. The mystery element is well done which makes one to know what happens next. It's centered around Tom, a man who travels from Boston down to the American Southwest because he learns that his brother has been killed. Tom wants to know why and by whom.

Unusually, there is not a lot of gunfighting , mainly fistfights and leaping around. Well, Jorge Martin as Tom shows his acrobatic skills and is quite impressive in the scene when he takes on some thugs in a saloon. Tom refuses to carry or use a pistol and the code of the mythical west ( never shoot a man in the back or an unarmed man) is very much alive, here. Which distances itself from the Leone at al westerns where a bullet in the back is the best remedy.

Overall, Tomb of the Pistolero is a worthy Western with some good touches, an intriguing plot line, and though it can be a little pedestrian at times, it's quite entertaining.

1860 , Tom Bogarde (Jorge , or George Martin) , an academic young decides to go to Pearson City to find out the strange death his brother Jack (Todd Martin) . Along the way he saves a damsel in distress called Russ (Mercedes Alonso of Margarita Se Llama Mi Amor) . She results to be the powerful banker's (Jack Taylor who habitually worked for Jess Frank) sister . A bit later on , the sheriff (Luis Induni , usual secondary in numerous Spaghetti) and the banker named Brandon tell him his brother was a killer and leader of a band called Black Riders .

Acceptable and passable tortilla Western in which the starring, Jorge Martin , resolves a conflict to uncover a rare murder in which become involved various characters , a wealthy owner , Jack Taylor , a Saloon girl , Slivia Solar , a sheriff , Luis Induni , among others. Well crafted and passable Western realized in traditional style with ordinary screenplay written by Valdes and the same director Ossorio . This is a Spanish production with action , usual Western characters, go riding , crossfire and lots of shots . It's a middle-budget film with professional actors , technicians , production values and pleasing results . There is action in the movie , intrigue , twists , riding pursuits , and guaranteeing some shoot'em up or stunts . It's an exciting western with thrilling showdown between the starring Jorge Martin , Todd Martin and his enemies . Acceptable acting by Jorge , ¨George¨ , Martin as a lawyer who holds guns to discover two killings , his brother and his girlfriend . The film is well starred by Spaghetti star as the Spanish George Martin who worked much for Alfonso Balcazar's factory such as ¨Clint the strange¨, ¨The return the Clint¨, ¨Oeste Nevada Joe¨, Thompson 1880¨ , ¨Taste of killing¨, ¨A pistol for Ringo and ¨The return of Ringo¨ . In the picture appears numerous familiar faces from Chorizo/Spaghetti Western such as Frank Braña , José Canalejas , Miguel del Castillo , Tito García , José Marco , Lorenzo Robledo , Aldo Sambrell , Alfonso de la Vega and Luis Induni . Atmospheric cinematography by Miguel Mila , being filmed on location in La Pedriza , Manzanares Del Real (Madrid) , location along with Almeria were shot lots of Spaghetti/Chorizo Wesern during the sixties and seventies . Enjoyable and evocative musical score by Daniel White , Jesus Franco's usual , including attractive songs . Rating : 5,5/10 , acceptable Chorizo Western , though average .

The motion picture was professionally directed by Amando De Ossorio . Amando began in films as a writer and assistant director and continued his career by making short films and industrial documentaries . He was one of the main directors of the Spanish horror boom in the 70s, specially for his quartet of films about the living dead templars which started with his first great success and immensely popular ¨Tombs of the Blind dead¨ which to be continued by a trilogy : ¨Return of evil dead¨ , ¨Ship of Zombies or Blind dead 2¨ and ¨Blind dead 3 or The night of the sea gulls¨ . Amando owns his own studio and created and/or designed many of the simple special effects sequences you see in any of his many imaginative undertakings . He displayed a varied career and specialized on all kind of genres as Western in "Rebels in Canada" and "Grave of the Gunfighter" , Historical as ¨Los Cantabros¨ , Monster movie as ¨Serpent of sea¨ and , of course, Terror as ¨Malenka¨ , The possessed¨ and ¨night of witches¨ . Ossorio also studied painting and photography , moreover, he also made his living as a painter of creepy images of the Knights Templar in his later years.