Chaco (1971)

George Eastman is Chaco, a half-Mexican, half-American cursed with the same trait as his grandfather, Pretty Billy. Girls just won’t leave him alone.

So he finds himself at the end of a noose, about to be hanged by the male relatives of a virgin he’s just ruined. Until the former virgin shoots him down from the rope at the last minute.

Chaco flees back to his home in San Rosario, but the family hires a Gringo bounty hunter (Lincoln Tate) to track him down.

Of course, it seems Chaco’s always on the run from someone. Asuncion (Antonella Steni) is determined to make him marry her before she becomes a spinster.

And Chaco winds up embroiled in a scheme to steal a prized peace of grazing land. The owners who want to keep that land get financing for a cattle drive from a shopkeeper named Toby.

But Don Felipe has his eyes on the property, pus a henchman named Sanchez ready to grab it for him and an imported cowboy ready and willing to help out with a stolen herd.

Before long, the owners are dead and Chaco is in jail, framed with their murders.

Review:

Basically a long chase film with Lincoln Tate’s character capturing, losing and trying to capture Chaco again while he tries to dodge marriage and keep his neck out of a noose.

Remo Capitani and Thomas Ruby play the corrupt jail keepers responsible for keeping Chaco locked up, as long as someone doesn’t offer too much for his release.

And in one of the briefest cameos you’ll find, Italian screen beauty Scilla Gabel is the former virgin Susanna who rescues Chaco from the one noose he winds up in. Though there seems to be some dispute that the woman playing Susanna is really Scilla.

In a twist worth noting, Chaco is fond of playing the harmonica. Only his harmonica has a retractable blade that can turn it into a knife. That weapon proves handy more than once over the course of the film.

Directed by:
Gino Mangini (Luigi Mangini)

Cast:
George Eastman … Chaco
Lincoln Tage … Gringo
Antonella Steni … Asuncion Juanita Maria Magdalena Hermadariz
Franco Lantieri … Sanchez
Furio Meniconi … Don Felipe Antonio de Martinez
Remo Capitani … Sgt. Hernandez
Thomas Rudy … Cpl. Manuel
Jose Manuel Martin … Cherokee
Jesus Guzman … Toby Velasquez
Pipino Desiderio … Timothy
Fulvio Pellegrino … Pat
Josefina Serratosa … Conchita
Pinuccio Ardia … Sam
Scilla Gabel … Susanna

Runtime: 97 min. (86 min. Wild East version)

aka:
Chaco
Bastardo, vamos a matar

Memorable lines:

Chaco: “You know what my grandfather used to say — ‘You should never trust a woman. They’re all daughters of the devil. And once they put their eyes on you, you are finished.’ So I never look at them. But ugly or pretty they swarm on me like bees making honey. It’s probably my family destiny.”

Chaco: “Bring ’em back alive, hey, senor? You make good money. Soon, I bet you save enough to buy a ranch.”
Gringo: “That depends on the fish. If they’re all as small as you, it will take a long time.”
Chaco: “Well, sheriff, why waste you time? Throw back this one and go after bigger fishes. I’m right, no?”

Gringo: “You raped a white woman. And down there, they hang a Mexicans for even looking at a white woman.”
Chaco: “Rape can work two ways, you know?”

Chaco: “Will you tell me where we’re going?”
Asuncion: “Sante Fe.”
Chaco: “Hmm, at this rate, we’ll get there in two years.”
Asuncion: “I am not in a hurry.”
Chaco: “And when we get to Sante Fe, what happens then?”
Asuncion: “You’ll have a house, nice wife and children.”

Trivia:

Lincoln Tate was making his Spaghetti Western debut in this movie. He had appeared on the TV series “The Big Valley,” “Lancer” and “Iron Horse” and previously had an uncredited role in “Texas Across the River,” the 1966 comedy-Western starring Dean Martin.

This marked the only Spaghetti Western and the last of five films directed by Gino Mangini.