Arizona Kid (1970)

A vicious outlaw and killer named Coyote (Gordon Mitchell) has the residents of Sierra Vista cowering in fear.

The situation has gotten so bad, leading citizens decide the only option is to hire their own killer, the Arizona Kid, to do away with Coyote.

But the Arizona Kid is gunned down soon after making contact with Ramona, daughter of a leading rancher.

In fact, only the timely arrival of her boyfriend Leonardo, also the ranch foreman, keeps Ramona from meeting the same fate.

So Ramona and Leonardo wind up returning home not with a hired killer, ut with a shapely blonde named Sharon (Mamie Van Doren), rescued from an Indian attack, and a Filipino visitor named Ambo (Chiquito), who’s trying to make his way to his uncle in Mexico.

Leonardo wants to rally the town’s citizens against Coyote. Don Miguel, Ramona’s father, isn’t convinced.

Sharon suggests having a stranger pose as the Arizona Kid, and uses her charm and her curves to boost Chiquito’s courage so he’s willing and up to the task.

But when Coyote and his gang come riding into Sierra Vista, that courage seems to vanish.

Review:

Here’s an oddity — an Italian-Filipino comedy Western supposedly filmed partly in the U.S. West. It’s also a film that likely to be a curiosity to American fans because of the presence of Van Doren and Mitchell.

My suggestion to those fans: Skip the film’s first 40 minutes and just know that Chiquito is trying to deliver a foul-smelling Filipino delicacy called bagoong to his uncle in Mexico.

That’s because the first 40 minutes are spent with Chiquito jabbering away in his native tongue and winding up in one silly situation after another because no one understands him.

Once Mitchell shows up and the primary plot kicks in, there are some funny moments. They include Coyote’s confusion over the conflicting reports coming from his spy at Don Miguel’s ranch. Plus a final showdown during which Coyote futilely tries to explain the rules of a gunfight to Chiquito so he can gun him down, fair and square.

As for Van Duren, she shows off the curves she was famous for. But any sex appeal she brings to the film is offset by dubbing that left her with a high-pitched squeaking voice (that’s not a typo) that will have you wanting to hit the mute button. Don’t blame Mamie. Listen to her interviews and it’s clear she could sound quite seductive too.

Directed by:
Luciano B. Carlos

Cast:
Chiquito … Ambo
Gordon Michell … Coyote
Mariela Branger … Ramona
Bernard Bonnin … Leonardo
Mamie Van Doren … Sharon Miller
Cass Martin
Dan Van Heusen
Victor Israel
Ralphy Arando
John Mark
Felipe Solano
Gene Reyes
Tony Brandt
Vincente Roca
Pilar Vela
Ramon Serrano
Zaldo Moreno
Manolito Revilla
Modesto Caudrado

Runtime: 112 min.

aka:
I fratelli di Arizona

Score: Restie Umali

Memorable lines:

Ramona, on hiring the Arizona Kid: “It takes a devil to kill another devil.”

Renaldo, after helping fight off an Indian attack: “Look, I killed the Indian chief. Let’s get out of here. I’m sure they’ll come back to scalp us alive.”

Sharon Miller, upon hearing how the residents of Cerra Vista won’t stand up to Coyote: “I guess that’s what happens when you have a family. You become a coward.”

Sharon Miller to Ambo, after showing up in his bedroom in a low-cut saloon gown to discuss Coyote: “I never take no for an answer.”

Ambo to Sharon, when she visits his bedroom: “I do not want to fight. I only want play.”

Trivia:

Chiquito had more than 250 acting credits at the time of his death in at age 69 in 1997 and was so well loved in the Philippines that his death was known as “the day the laughter died” in his home country.

This marked the only film for Mariela Branger, who was named Miss Venezuela in 1967 and was first runner-up to American Sylvia Hitchcock in the 1967 Miss Universe pageant.

This was the last of three Westerns in which Mamie Van Doren appeared. She would have been about 39 at the time, but doesn’t look it. The others: “Star in the Dust” (1956) and the German-made “Sheriff Was a Lady (1964). And no, she’s not the sheriff.