Les canons de Cordoba

Tipical golden-age western plot, a bunch of reluctant heroes in a suicide mission against the bad guy (and, as usually, his army of well armed companions). The main problem with this movie, like many other American commercial movies, especially westerns, is originality. Elmer Bernstein score is like one hundred other westerns music scores, the main character, George "Breakfast at Tiffany's" Peppard as the captain Douglas, is very much annoyed all the time; Giovanna Ralli and Raf Vallone apparently in paid holiday and the director Paul Vendkos (poor guy!) has made the capital mistake, I really think he has seen "The Professionals" by Richard Brooks (1966), that is the better version of the same story (by the way, is a masterpiece). The most notable thing of this unfortunate movie is George Peppard's cigar that you can see in "The A-Team" television series all through the eighties.

Cannon for Cordoba (why not Cannons, Cordoba steals six!?) stars George Peppard (The A-Team, The Blue Max!) and is one of those movies playing in the times of Mexico's long phase of revolutions and counter-revolutions starting around 1910 and going on for some decades. The pros of the movie: good acting, some good action, good production. The cons: nothing really new if you already watched such classics like Kazan's Viva Zapata! (1952, Marlon Brando), Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch (1969) or Leone's Giù la testa (Duck, You Sucker!) among others, all playing in the same time frame. Compared Cannon for Cordoba can hold its ground but can't really add something new - solid.

I have reasons to love the great users of a camera; fluid direction of action lends itself to fast-paced adventure and comedy narrative; but such a skill, in the hands of a King Vidor or an Anthony Mann can also be applied to idea-level work. This is Paul Wendkos' masterpiece. Its storyline can be retailed in a single pair of sentences. General Hector Cordoba is setting up as near-emperor in Northern Mexico, and steals a huge cannon from General Blackjack Pershing. he sends his crack mission unit, divided, apprehensive but determined, led by George Peppard, to get the cannon back and bring back Cordoba alive, to put an end to the rebellion. Charismatic Raf Vallone plays Cordoba; the ladies in the piece are Giovanna Ralli and Francine York; with the squad even further comprised of Nico Minardos, Peter Deuel, and Don Gordon. Other stalwarts in the class include John Larch and John Russell. Also horning in on an already fantastically-dangerous operation are Miss Ralli, and a stubborn Mexican Teniente (Gabriela Tinti) whose regiment was betrayed when Cordoba set up on his own. The danger is multiplied when Gordon's brother as advance spy is captured and tortured to death while he has to watch...and he decides he needs to kill Peppard. The attack that captures the cannon, when Peppard's orders are not obeyed by a regular army type, is one of the most electrifying visual and staging achievements in cinematic history; the penetration of Cordoba's stronghold, the revelations uncovered there, and the actions that win the mission team a chance at victory--or almost victory--are flawlessly presented. This is a beautiful color adventure film, with unusually strong costumes, acting, lighting, art direction sets and music by Elmer Bernstein. The script by Stephen Kandel is probably his best ever for a feature film. This is probably the most underrated major western at the moment, but I have always appreciated its heroes as result- getting hard-workers. But as Peppard reminds his group on the way home, "The trouble with being a "hero"--is the morning after". To find out why he says so, you will have to see "Cannon For Cordoba".

Cannon for Cordoba is directed by Paul Wendkos and written by Stephen Kandel. It stars George Peppard, Giovanna Ralli, Raf Vallone, Pete Duel, Don Gordon, Nico Minardos, John Larch, John Russell and Francine York. A Panavision/De Luxe Color production, music is by Elmer Bernstein and cinematography by Antonio Macasoli.

"In 1912 the border between Texas and Mexico was aflame with the raids of Mexican bandit hordes who called themselves revolutionaries. To combat them the American government dispatched General John J. (Blackjack) Pershing to deal with the bandit raiders, one of the most dangerous of whom was General Hector Cordoba!"

A Paella Western crammed to the brim with machismo and action, Cannon for Cordoba is in desperate need of re-evaluation by the Pasta Western loving crowd.

The big problem the film has is that it is so indebted to a number of other "men on a mission" movies, it has struggled to gain credit for actually doing the format well. Undeniably the viewing experience is greatly helped if you are like me, a fan of such films like The Guns of Navarone, The Dirty Dozen, Where Eagles Dare, The Professionals and The Wild Bunch etc, because this is basically the Paella version of those films. Shot on location in Spain, with what now would be called a modest budget, it's pacey, explosive, pleasing in visuals and very well performed in the traditional Pasta Western sense. While the grim textures come courtesy of torture, sexual hostility and terrorism.

Plot basically entails U.S. Army Captain Rod Douglas (Peppard) taking a very small gathering of miscreants over the border into Mexico, their mission is to infiltrate Cordoba's (Vallone) mountain stronghold and destroy the cannons claimed by Cordoba's bandits earlier in the play. The threads that run through the plot see one of the group holding a grudge against his leader, another that has the lady of the mission operating on justifiable revenge driven ends, and with so many people wanting Cordoba dead, Douglas is up against it since he's under orders to bring the General back alive to face public trial and inevitable execution.

There's an unsubtle whiff of cynicism throughout the picture, the sly asides to the Vietnam War issue carrying a glint in the eye as cheeky as Peppard's performance. Oh it's no message movie, Wendkos and his team are firmly intent on tapping into the zeitgeist of those formula movies previously, there for sure is no overt attempts at political lecturing, but the scent is there and keeps the pic smelling wholesome.

Cast are the expected mixed bag for such a production. Peppard is every inch a Spaghetti Western anti-hero, perky blue eyes, stubbled face fuzz and constantly chomping on a cigar, he's the fulcrum of the viewing experience and he's great company to be in. Vallone is on wonderfully oily villain duties, yet charming into the bargain as well, Duel is nicely edgy and Ralli (I find it hard to write her name without swooning) is a sexual ball of deviousness. Wendkos favours tilted pan shots for his action scenes, which work to a point but then feel like, well, what's the point? While Bernstein provides a robust score that stirs the blood to boiling point.

Under seen and under valued? You betcha. 7.5/10

It is a western set in Mexico, a pretext for an explosive farce. It is based on an excellent script, curiously signed by Stephen Kandel, prolific screenwriter for television. Here we have a film influenced by the spaghetti western, supported by a heterogeneous cast that is one of the flavors of the film, or rather heterogeneous and sympathetic, with actors with recognizable faces that we have inevitably seen elsewhere. And as for the female cast, it is also a success. The two female characters, even if not very present on the screen, are notable and striking. Both for the plastic poses (especially for Francine York), important in this world of dust and dirt, and critical for the dramatic progression for the second, Giovanna Ralli.

On the direction, Paul Wendkos, who is also a product of television (many series to his credit, including contributions to The Untouchables or The Invaders). Here he has a lot of fun with some crazy camera angles and zooms, which date the film a little, but which are not detrimental to the progression.

The richness of the script is in the relationship between the people of George Peppard's gang. Each of them is characterized simply and well embodied by each of the actors: they each present a real personality; their scenes between them are the most interesting. The least interesting of the lot is George Peppard himself, who goes through the film in a mechanical way. It is as if he is not concerned by the film.

The film adds to the spectacular, the explosions and the violence (in the spaghetti sense of the term). All in all, it becomes a curious product that maintains interest over time despite its flaws (stereotypes, rough direction of the actors).