Bad Man’s River (1971)

Lee Van Cleef is Roy King, leader of a gang that pulls an ingenious bank robbery against great odds.

On a train ride to safety, the gang members split up the gold, figuring to live happily ever after.

Then Alicia (Gina Lollobrigida) shows up in King’s railroad car.

The outlaw is immediately attracted to the lovely young widow. Within hours, they are married.

Within minutes after the marriage, Alicia has Roy committed for insanity. She, of course, escapes with his share of the loot.

Well, King busts out of the sanitarium and rounds up his old gang. He’s heard of a new job, a $10,000 offer to blow up a Mexican arsenal.

What he doesn’t know is that Francisco Montero (James Mason), the man who wants the arsenal destroyed, is the new husband to the lovely Alicia.

Of course, King isn’t too upset when he learns that the real stake in this game of double-crossing is a cool $1 million.

Review:

It’s a shame, but the film wastes a great cast in a silly movie. Easily Van Cleef’s worst film among his Spaghetti Western outings. Even the score is annoying.

As for Lollobrigida, her role amounts to batting her eyes at whatever man she’s trying to win over at the moment.

Sergio Fantoni as Col. Enrique Fierro, an incompetent revolutionary officer, has one of the better comic roles in the film.

The other highlight is Diana Lorys, sporting dark hair this time around and flaunting her impressive figure. But neither show up until halfway through the film.

Directed by:
Eugenio Martin

Cast:
Lee Van Cleef … Roy King
James Mason … Francisco Montero
Gina Lollobrigida … Alicia
Simon Andreu … Angel Santos
Diana Lorys … Dolores
Gianni Garko … Ed Pace
Aldo Sambrell … Canales
Jess Hahn … Tom Odie
Eduardo Fajardo … Gen. Duarte
Sergio Fantoni … COl. Enrique Fierro
Lone Fleming … Conchita
as Lone Ferck

Runtime: 92 min.

Also with: Jose Manuel Martin, Francisco Nieto, Tito Garcia, Jose Riesgo, Bernabe Barta Barri, Vic Albert, Ricardo Palacios, Carmen Guardon, Gene Collins, Tom Power, Carl Rapp, Robert Lombard, Allen Russell, Clovis Dave, Per Barclay, Dan van Husen, Bruno Sismondi, David Thompson, Rupert Crabb, Francisco Brana

aka:
E continuavano a Fregarsi
Il Milione Di Dollari
Hunt the Man Down
El Hombre de Rio Malo

Score: Waldo De Los Rios
Song: “Bad Man’s River” by Jade Warrior

Memorable lines:

Alicia to Roy: “You must be a very important man.”
Roy King, smiling: “Out West there are pictures of me all over the place.”
He’s referring to wanted posters, of course.

Alicia, on her reunion with King after having him committed for insanity on their wedding night: “I’m afraid I wasn’t a very good wife.”

Alicia, as she’s guided to King’s bed: “You’re looking for trouble.”
King: “I’ve come to the right place.”

Montero: “A man who kills for political reasons is not a killer, he’s an assassin. I don’t like to associate with killers.”

Col Fierro to Alicia as they prepare to enter a secret passageway: “Are you afraid of the dark?”
Montero: “The only thing she’s afraid of is poverty.”

Alicia: “Come with us, Enrique.”
Col. Fierro: “But you already have two husbands. What will you do with me?”
Alicia: “I’ll think of something.”

Dolores, pressing her body against Ed Pace: “In a few minutes, you’ll be rich. You can have any girl you want. I got to work on you while you still poor.”
Ed Pace: “The first thing I’m going to do is buy you a new velvet dress. One that comes off easy.”

Other tidbits:

The only Spaghetti Western appearance for Gino Lollobrigida, once dubbed the most beautiful woman in the world. In fact, she appeared in just three movies in the 1970s, focusing on her true passion, photography.

Eugenio Martin, director of about two dozen films, delivered serious Westerns with “The Ugly Ones” (1966) and “Requiem for a Gringo” (1968) before relying heavily on comedy in this film and “Pancho Villa” (1972).