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IMDbPro

Les quatre mercenaires d'El Paso

Original title: El hombre de Río Malo
  • 1971
  • PG
  • 1h 32m
IMDb RATING
4.6/10
1.1K
YOUR RATING
Les quatre mercenaires d'El Paso (1971)
Dark ComedySpaghetti WesternComedyDramaRomanceWestern

Robber Roy King loses his wife, Alicia, to revolutionary Montero. Despite their rivalry they collaborate in an attempt to rob the Mexican government of one million dollars.Robber Roy King loses his wife, Alicia, to revolutionary Montero. Despite their rivalry they collaborate in an attempt to rob the Mexican government of one million dollars.Robber Roy King loses his wife, Alicia, to revolutionary Montero. Despite their rivalry they collaborate in an attempt to rob the Mexican government of one million dollars.

  • Director
    • Eugenio Martín
  • Writers
    • Philip Yordan
    • Eugenio Martín
  • Stars
    • Lee Van Cleef
    • James Mason
    • Gina Lollobrigida
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    4.6/10
    1.1K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Eugenio Martín
    • Writers
      • Philip Yordan
      • Eugenio Martín
    • Stars
      • Lee Van Cleef
      • James Mason
      • Gina Lollobrigida
    • 28User reviews
    • 20Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos82

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    Top cast35

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    Lee Van Cleef
    Lee Van Cleef
    • Roy King
    James Mason
    James Mason
    • Francisco Paco Montero
    Gina Lollobrigida
    Gina Lollobrigida
    • Alicia
    Simón Andreu
    Simón Andreu
    • Angel Santos
    • (as Simon Andreu)
    Diana Lorys
    Diana Lorys
    • Dolores
    Gianni Garko
    Gianni Garko
    • Ed Pace
    • (as John Garko)
    Aldo Sambrell
    Aldo Sambrell
    • Canales
    Jess Hahn
    Jess Hahn
    • Tom Odie
    Daniel Martín
    Daniel Martín
    • False Montero
    Luis Rivera
    • Orozco
    Lone Fleming
    Lone Fleming
    • Conchita
    • (as Lone Ferk)
    Eduardo Fajardo
    Eduardo Fajardo
    • Gen. Duarte
    Sergio Fantoni
    Sergio Fantoni
    • Col. Enrique Fierro
    José Manuel Martín
    José Manuel Martín
    • Mexican Soldier
    • (as Jose Manuel Martin)
    Francisco Nieto
    José Riesgo
    José Riesgo
      Tito García
      Tito García
        Barta Barri
        Barta Barri
        • Director
          • Eugenio Martín
        • Writers
          • Philip Yordan
          • Eugenio Martín
        • All cast & crew
        • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

        User reviews28

        4.61.1K
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        Featured reviews

        3cengelm

        A Matter of Taste

        I have seen this film in a double feature together with SABATA and it fell clearly short in comparison with the latter. The cast is good(Van Cleef, James Mason, Eduardo Fajardo and Gina Lollobrigida) and the "sets"(e.g. a riverboat) are somewhat original. But the score is mostly annoying and the story was unable to really involve me(Don't ask me intensely about the plot!). The Comedy is often fast paced and sometimes mildly funny.

        For people who like the country/pop/rock score, however, things might look certainly different.

        3 / 10.
        johnwaynefreak

        Pretty dumb excuse for Van Cleef to make a film.

        Not really a spaghetti western; as well as Italy it was financed by Spain and France. It's meant to be a comedy western, MEANT to be; it has a handful of funny lines and a bizarre accent from James Mason. It's a complete mystery to me why he and Lee Van Cleef bothered to appear in this. Put simply, the film is boring - the characters are cardboard and the actors look like they'd be having more fun watching paint dry. The plot is clichéd and contrived, and difficult to follow. The freeze-frames at the beginning are just plain stupid. Beautiful as Gina Lollobrigida is, she just can't carry the film alone. Eugenio Martin really hasn't got an excuse for rearing such a turkey here, as the following year, he [the director] went on to make the far superior horror classic "Horror Express".

        And now, the plot: Roy King (Van Cleef) and his bank-robbing gang get caught up in a plan by his ex-wife and her new husband (James Mason) to steal $1 million from the Mexican government. But the group are captured and sent to a rebel stronghold. Besieged and under fire from the Mexican army, the rebel general is forced to offer King and his gang freedom if they can pull the rebel side through. And I only know that basic outline 'cause it's given in a slightly more in depth form on the packaging...

        Like I say, "Bad Man's River" is unquestionably awful. It's simply not even worth seeing as a curiosity piece. I bought it in a 2 for £10 sale and now consider that to have been a waste of money. Some people say that for the sake of top billing, Lee Van Cleef appeared in some real stinkers. This time, I'm inclined to agree.
        4bkoganbing

        James Mason gets to do a western

        American Lee Van Cleef and Englishman James Mason join Gina Lollobrigida and a number of unfamiliar European players for this spaghetti western about the Mexican Revolution of the teen years. For James Mason this marked his first appearance in a horse opera albeit not a genuine American one.

        For the most part I'm a firm believer that the only real westerns are done in the western hemisphere and Bad Man's River won't convince any of you I'm wrong. It's a comic western, but western icon Lee Van Cleef just does not have a comic bone in his body. As for Gina Lollobrigida she pairs off far better with Rock Hudson and I'm sure she wished she was making another comedy with him.

        Mason is a revolutionary and Gina his wife. She's also the former wife of outlaw Lee Van Cleef and they find it might be to their mutual advantage to pull off a caper. Easier said than done however and Gina has quite the surprise in the end.

        According to the Citadel Film series book on the films of James Mason he didn't think much of Bad Man's River and I agree.
        6Hey_Sweden

        Not that bad, but nothing great either.

        Lee Van Cleef, typically amusing, is cast as bandit Roy King, leader of a gang that also includes Angel Santos (Simon Andreu), Ed Pace (Gianni Garko), and Tom Odie (Jess Hahn). Roy makes the acquaintance of the devilish Alicia (Gina Lollobrigida), who's hatched a scheme with her fellow criminal Francisco Paco Montero to dupe the Mexican government out of a cool $1 million. But before that can happen, they fall into the clutches of revolutionaries (this tale takes place during the Mexican Revolution) and are forced to deal with them.

        As written by director Eugenio Martin ("Horror Express") and Hollywood veteran Philip Yordan ("Johnny Guitar", "El Cid"), this is a rather lightweight, forgettable Euro Western- comedy. While it's always nice to see the leading actors in anything, they've certainly been better utilized before and after. In the beginning, the movie is decidedly annoying, with too many dopey songs and Martin overdoing it on use of freeze frames. While it's appreciable that Martin and Yordan were going for irreverence, they make things just a little too silly.

        Adequate action sequences help, and the filmmaking is technically fairly slick. There are some fun gags, especially right at the start when two men are inside a bank vault.

        Lollobrigida and her co-star Diana Lorys are fine scenery attractions, and the former plays such a conniving character that she helps to keep things interesting. The movie doesn't really hit its stride until James Mason shows up. (For fans of the actor, be warned that almost an hour is over until he does.) It's a treat to see him in this kind of setting, and he gives the story a real shot in the arm.

        The exemplary cast of familiar faces also includes Aldo Sambrell, Lone Fleming, Eduardo Fajardo, and Sergio Fantoni.

        Admittedly, if one is looking for a Lee Van Cleef fix, they could do a lot better than this, but "Bad Man's River" delivers some undemanding fun for 92 minutes.

        Six out of 10.
        2planktonrules

        My nominee for most god-awful soundtrack in film history,

        Wow, did the soundtrack for this film stink...and I mean STINK! Imagine if the same person who scored some of the old Rankin-Bass Christmas specials got together with a guy who produces elevator music--that's what the music from this film sounds like! The horrible lyrics and music are completely wrong for an Italian "Spaghetti Western"--and are about as far removed from the great Ennio Morricone (who scored all the greatest films of the genre) scores as you can get. It's full of weird Lawrence Welk-style singing, weird European rock and whatever else they felt like haphazardly chucking into it. And, sadly music is one of the biggest reasons you'd want to see one of these Italian westerns in the first place. Because of this, I nominate this film for the most god-awful soundtrack in film history. If there's a worse one, I'd love to hear about it! Another big reason to see the films is the incredibly tough characters and style. This film stars the meanest and scariest of the bad-men, Lee Van Cleef. Yet, inexplicably, they decided to make this one a bit of a comedy!!! Lee Van Cleef in a western comedy?! That makes about as much sense as Richard Nixon becoming one of the backup singers for Diana Ross!! Van Cleef should NEVER, EVER be in a comedy.

        The rest of the cast, apart from the no-name Italians who play most of the minor roles, is pretty odd as well. None other than James Mason co-stars (a guy who seemed totally out of place in the genre and sported a weird accent to say the least). And looking quite fetching, Italian star Gina Lollobrigida.

        So, at the outset, this film had some pretty substantial strikes against it. Could the rest of the film overcome this goofiness?! Well, not really. While there were a few good moments, too much emphasis on bad comedy that fell flat was the film's undoing. One of the worst scenes that was supposed to be funny was the scene where the bad guys came to talk to the Federale commander and then began throwing dynamite about--it was sloppy, impossible to believe and not the lest bit entertaining. Overall, a bad film that just didn't work, the plot never gels and is clearly among the least interesting Italian westerns I've ever seen. Thank you Eugenio Martin for putting the BAD in "Bad Man's River"!

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        Western

        Storyline

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        Did you know

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        • Trivia
          James Mason was not too impressed with the final result. In an interview he said, "When shooting a western in Spain, one should not say to oneself, 'Never mind, no one is going to see it,' because that will be just the film that the Rank Organisation will choose to release in England!".
        • Quotes

          Alicia: What do you admire most in a woman?

          King: Well, actually, ah, all parts. What do you look for first in a man?

          Alicia: Honesty.

          King: Ah... second?

        • Connections
          Referenced in 800 balles (2002)

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        Details

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        • Release date
          • July 12, 1972 (France)
        • Countries of origin
          • Italy
          • France
          • Spain
        • Official site
          • Distributor's Official Site
        • Languages
          • Italian
          • Spanish
        • Also known as
          • Bad Man's River
        • Filming locations
          • La Mancha, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain
        • Production companies
          • International Apollo Films
          • Les Productions Jacques Roitfeld
          • Zurbano Films
        • See more company credits at IMDbPro

        Tech specs

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        • Runtime
          • 1h 32m(92 min)
        • Sound mix
          • Mono
        • Aspect ratio
          • 2.35 : 1

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