Bullet for the General (1966)

Gian Maria Volonte is El Chuncho, leader of a bandit gang stealing guns for the Mexican revolution so they can sell them to Gen. Elias.

He gets some unexpected help during the robbery of an ammunition train by a gringo aboard.

That gringo, Bill Tate (Lou Castel) joins El Chuncho’s gang. His explanation is simple: There’s a price on his head he’s running from. And if he gets rich helping steal weapons in the process, all the better.

With El Chuncho’s daring and Tate’s cunning, the bandit gang is wildly successful. They raid barracks occupied by Mexican soldiers. They even reclaim the town of San Miguel.

But their numbers are dwindling. Their decision to abandon the town of San Miquel might come back to haunt them.

And Adelita (Martine Beswick), the loveliest of the bandits, is beginning to wonder about the true motives of their gringo “friend.”

Review:

Well done, from the nicely staged train holdup at the film’s opening to the surprise twist of an ending.

Gian Maria Volonte, villain in the first two “Dollar” films, steals the show as the bandit leader forever in search of a machine gun.

Klaus Kinski plays El Chuncho’s blonde brother in a role that’s unusual for him. He’s obsessed with helping the revolution, and unlike the rest of El Chuncho’s band, he’s not in it for the money. El Santo’s not mad; he’s pure, El Chuncho tells Tate at one point.

Directed by:
Damiano Damiani

Cast:
Gian Maria Volonte … El Chuncho
Lou Castel … Bill “Nino” Tate
Klaus Kinski … El Santo
Martine Beswick … Adelita
Jaime Fernandez … Gen. Elias
Andrea Checchi … Don Felipe
Carla Gravina … Rosario (Felipe’s wife)
Spartaco Conversi … Cirillo
Joaquin Parra … Picaro
Aldo Sambrell … The lieutenant
Jose Manuel Martin … Raimundo
Santiago Santos … Guapo
Valentino Macchi … Pedrito

aka:
Quien sabe?
El Chuncho
Gringo
E Chunco, quien sabe?

Memorable lines:

Mayor of San Miguel: “And so Ramondo, you have decided to murder me. Why? Is there a reason? Is it only because I’m a rich man?”
Ramone: “No, senor, it’s because we’re poor men. And you’ve done all you can to keep us that way.”

El Concho: “I’m mixed up with a bunch of old women.”
One of his men: “Maybe so, but an old woman alive is better than an old woman dead.”
El Concho: “Amigo, an old woman remains an old woman.”

Trivia:

Gian Maria Volonte gained fame as the principal villain in Sergio Leone’s first two Spaghetti Westerns. He died of a heart attack during filming of a movie in Greece in 1994 at age 61.

Martine Beswick appeared in three Bond films, wrestled with Raquel Welch in “One Million Years B.C.” and was later cast as the lead cavewoman in “Women of the Prehistoric Planet” (1966), which she once called “the silliest film ever made.”