Kid Rodelo

In the shade of Beat the devil this low budget film would have deserved a better luck. Two convicts head to a small village to take the gold they hid before they were imprisoned. But another ex-con is there to search for the gold. Things get more complicated as a group of bounty hunter Indians go after them. The cast is nice, specially Broderick Crawford and José Nieto as the fugitives and Don Murray is fine as Kid Rodelo, and the film is correctly done (director -actor Richard Carlson does it nice) but the film suffers from a poor characters description (Janet Leigh has not much to do) and a lack of ambition, resulting in a minor work. It is a pity, since with some changes (including the use of color and more developed script) it would have improved a lot.

Spanish-US co-production full of action , violent characters , thrills and lots of shots . A good example of Latino western genre mostly filmed in Spain . This is a co-production Spanish-American with a varied cast formed by actors of diverse countries . This meaty Western contains violence , shoot'em up , interesting plot based on Louis L'Amour novel but being regularly developed , and results to be quite entertaining , though drags at times , balancing in ups and downs . In 1870 Kid Rodelo (Don Murray) finishes his prison period after serving a year inside Yuma Territorial Prison and goes out from jail in which continues the remaining executers of a robbing on a valuable loot . Kid Rodelo is released from prison but his previous colleagues , the embittered Joe Harbin (Broderick Crawford) and Thomas Reese (José Nieto) prepare their escape . Harbin and Reese kidnap the chief warden (Emilio Rodríguez) , take him as a hostage and get to break out . Meanwhile , the ex-convict cowboy sets out to find the hidden gold his partner told him but he is chased by his partners . When they are crossing the frontier into Mexico are pursued by the Yaquis led by Cavalry Hat (Jose Villasante) and his underlings (Alvaro De Luna) . You just don't mess around with a man like Kid Rodelo .

It's an average Western mostly produced by Spain and US important participation ; it doesn't follow the Sergio Leone wake and being proceeded in American style . The picture scrutinizes the greed and paranoia that afflicts a misfit group , including their enormous difficulties to escape from prison and strong taking on between protagonists and the Yaqui Indians that stalk to them . The film blends thrills , intrigue , high body-count ; it's fast moving and exciting but mediocre , being filmed in Spain . Chorizo/US Western with various Hollywood top-of-the range players such as Don Murray , Broderick Crawford and Janet Leigh . The film packs violence , shootouts and an intriguing story about ambition and treason . It's a thrilling western with continuous confrontation between the protagonist Don Murray against the heartless Broderick Crawford , Jose Nieto , Julio Peña and hoodlums . Don Murray is fine, he ravages the screen , hit and run , kills and falls in love for the girl , Janet Leigh .

This is an exciting film , plenty action , thrills , fights , gun-down and breathtaking outdoors from Spain such as Alicante , Comunidad Valenciana , Colmenar Viejo , Hoyo De Manzanares and La Pedriza , Madrid . Well-made action sequences with rousing attacks and spectacularly realistic shootouts . Charismatic performance for whole casting . The Hollywood actor , slimy Don Murray of ¨Bus Stop¨ is good in his usual two-fisted role . Fantastic performance by the always great Broderick Crawford as the burly , menacing convict make up for , here in his ordinary role as a cruelly baddie character , he is terrific, and bears a hysterical and tough aspect . Appears as secondaries the habitual in Spanish/Italian Western such as Jose Nieto , Julio Peña , Miguel Del Castillo , Emilio Rodríguez and Alvaro de Luna , who nowadays continues playing , here as an Indian . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing some shoot'em up or stunts every few minutes . There is a very odd implementation of shots in the camera work during some particular scenes as the film approaches its climax , as in the final gunfights and the spectacular conclusion in desert when protagonists are besieged by Indians . The sense of pacing is such that his film can be counted on to move quickly and smoothly . The musician Manuel Parada composes an atmospheric soundtrack , though in the American version is credited Johnny Douglas . It packs an imperfect cinematography by Manuel Merino , being necessary alright remastering because of the film-copy is washed-out .

The motion picture was produced by Eduardo Manzanos Brochero who started producing ¨Il Coyote¨ and ¨The Jiusticia De Coyote¨ by Joaquin Romero Marchent with Abel Salazar and Gloria Marin . After that , he produced with his company Copercines ¨Vengeance of Zorro¨ and ¨L'Ombra Di Zorro¨ (1962) by Joaquin Marchent with Frank Latimore . Eduardo Manzanos built a Western town in Hoyo De Manzanares (Madrid) with sets by Perez Cubero and Jose Luis Galicia , today sadly disappeared , called ¨Golden City¨ where filmed several Western as ¨Welcome Padre Murray¨ , ¨Brandy¨ , various Zorros and this one . He produced various films for Marchent brothers as Joaquin Romero Marchent : ¨Cabalgando Hacia Muerte¨ , ¨Three good men¨; and Rafael Marchent : ¨Quien Grita vengeance¨, ¨Two crosses in Danger Pass¨ ; and for Italian directors as ¨Sabor Odio¨ by Umberto Lenzi¨and ¨Winchester 1 between 1000¨ by Primo Zeglio , ¨At the end of the rainbow¨ by Aldo Florio and this ordinary ¨Kid Rodelo¨ , with no Sergio Leone's style , it is an usual example of American western though it is partly Spanish and partly Italian . The motion picture was middlingly directed and in traditional style by Richard Carlson . Richard was a notorious actor who even played two classic movies such as It came from outer space and Creature from the black lagoon . He subsequently accepted charge of directing a silly pseudo-scientific premise entitled Riders to the Stars (1954), a low-budget enterprise bogged down at the expense of drama. In the course of the next twelve years, he directed some better second features, including the westerns Four Guns to the Border (1954) , The saga of Hamp Brown and Kid Rodelo (1966), many of them starred by Rory Calhoun , as well as a number of television episodes. He also wrote the occasional TV script, as well as contributing articles on non-fiction subjects to several magazines .

Although you might think this is a so-called 'spaghetti western', "Kid Rodelo" isn't. Like a spaghetti, it is filmed in Spain (presumably to save money), but it's actually an American-Spanish co-production. It also is directed by Richard Carlson...a guy who was primarily an actor and it's one of five movies he directed.

Kid Rodelo (Don Murray) was convicted of a robbery and was sent to prison back during the old west. After serving his time, he's out to look for the money his partner hid following the robbery. Not surprisingly, others intend to do the same...after they escape from this same prison!

This film is pretty much what you'd expect in a 1960s Spanish western...with lots of shooting and a grim plot. This is NOT a complaint...just an observation about the style of film it is.

Overall, a decent film but also slow and not particularly memorable. The epitome of what I'd call a 'time-passer'.