Brother Outlaw (1971)

Tony Kendall is Sheriff Joe “Dakota” Russell, the lone survivor of a stage holdup in which $50,000 is stolen.

As a result, he winds up on trial for being in cahoots with the bandits and is convicted. The judge shows mercy, however, sentencing him to 15 years of hard labor rather than death.

Turns out, framing Dakota was a ploy by an attorney named Donovan, who actually planned the robbery carried out by Alvarez (Dino Strano) and his gang.

As for the light sentence, that was a deal Donovan made with a pretty girl named Jane. He’d spare Dakota’s life; in return, she’d marry Donovan.

But Dakota has a clever brother named Slim (James Rogers), who cooks up a plan to get Dakota freed from prison based on a phony letter of amnesty from the governor’s office.

Once out of jail, Dakota and Slim set out to prove who has really been behind all of the thievery around Sante Fe and Tucson.

Review:

A low-budget Spaghetti with plenty of shoot-outs but very little plot.

And it takes place in a town where a man can be gunned down on the street while a trial is going on, and no one notices.

Of course, later in the film, no one notices when three men carrying a bank deposit across the street are gunned down and the money stolen in broad daylight. Those folks in Santa Cruz must be hard of hearing. Or else wear earplugs while taking their siesta.

Anyway, as a result of the threadbare plot, Donovan and Alvarez spend lots of time snarling at one another in front of a red curtain.

Donovan keeps urging Alvarez to get rid of Dakota. Alvarez keeps reminding Donovan that it’s his fault Dakota is still alive.

And Dakota keeps eluding Alvarez’s men, though neither he nor his brother has much trouble infiltrating the Alvarez hideout whenever they want.

The end result isn’t dreadful, but it also isn’t a Spaghetti you’ll likely have a desire to watch more than once.

Directed by:
Edoardo Mulargia
as Edward G. Muller

Cast:
Tony Kendall … Joe “Dakota” Russell
James Rogers … Slim Russell
Dino Strano … Alvarez
as Dean Stratford
Sophia Kammara … Jane
Omero Gargano … Donovan
Nino Musco … Santa Cruz barman
Attilio Dottesio … Prison director
Vincenzo Maggio … Bank director
Fortunato Arena …. Jackson
Celso Faria … Santa Cruz sheriff
Giovanni Sabbatini … Judge

aka:
Rimase uno solo e fu la morte per tutti!

Runtime: 82 min.

Music: Felice Di Stefano + Gianfranco Di Stefano

Memorable lines:

Alvarez to Donovan, about the gang members he lost during a stage holdup: “I’m always happy to work for you Mr. Donovan. Just don’t keep me waiting. I need money for the mothers and widows of the men I lost. Of course, now I only hire bachelors and sons of …”

Alvarez, standing in Donovan’s office: “I’m not going to sit here and take much more of this.”

Trivia:

At the same time the Spaghetti craze was going on, Kendall and Brad Harris starred as the crime-fighting duo Kommissar X and Tom Rowland in a series of action / crime films.

Using the Edward G. Muller moniker, Edoardo Mulargia directed several Spaghetti Westerns beginning with 1965’s “Blood at Sundown” and include “Cjamango”(1967) and “Shango” (1970). He made just one more after this, “Viva! Django” (1971), starring Anthony Steffan.