George Hilton is Kitosch, a Mountie scout with a problem. He’s been fooling around with a chief’s wife; now that Indian chief is on his trail.
The Mounties threaten to hang him for the offense. But they also offer him an option: Leading a detail carrying $1 million in gold from the Toronto Bank to Fort Eagle.
Lead a slow-moving caravan? Kitosch figures that’s a sure way for his scalp to wind up on White Wolf’s possession.
Turns out, the Mounties let him make a run for it instead. And he winds up joining a different detail.
This one includes a wagon bearing five coffins, each containing the body of an American lawman killed in Canada. Plus a stagecoach carrying their five widows. Plus a Mountie troop serving as an escort.
But the detail arrives at Fort Eagle to discover the occupants have already been massacred by renegades terrorizing the region. And they’re sure to attack the fort’s new occupants.
Kitosch winds up taking command, passing himself off as Maj. Baker, an officer whose papers he’s found.
Oh, and about those coffins. They’re a ruse, filled with the very gold bullion that Kitosch balked at helping protect earlier.
But now that there’s the gold, five women and a troop of Mounties at risk, Kitosch is discovering his sense of duty.
George Hilton as Kitosch, posing at Maj. Baker in Kitosch, the Man Who Came from the North (1967)
Krista Nell as Eva learns Kitosch’s true identity in Kitosch, the Man Who Came from the North (1967)
Review:
Playful, spirited performances from Hilton and from Piero Lulli as the officer whose identity Kitosch’s steals help make this a fun, action-filled romp.
Krista Nell plays the pretty woman both men fall for. Ricardo Palacious is Kitosch’s fellow scout, who thinks his buddy’s gone a bit bonkers with this duty nonsense.
On the downside, some of the plot devices will no doubt leave viewers shaking their heads in wonder.
Okay, now just how would Kitosch know the smoke signal necessary to prompt renegades to attack their own men?
And would Kitosch and his entire force really be able to sneak back into a Fort Eagle undetected while renegades mill all about? In broad daylight, no less?
Then there’s the scene when one of the five women screams hysterically at the sight of the fort’s attackers. She’s sharply slacked by a sergeant. She immediately leaps into the sergeant’s arms and kisses him!
Piero Lulli as Maj. Zachary Baker, content to let Kitosch use his name in Kitosch, the Man Who Came from the North (1967)
Ricardo Palacios as Tournier prepares to come to a friend’s defense in Kitosch, the Man Who Came from the North (1967)
Directed by:
Jose Luis Merino
as Joseph Marvin
Cast:
George Hilton … David Kitosch
Piero Lulli … Maj. Zachary Baker
Krista Nell … Eva
Enrique Avila … Sgt. McCartney
Ricardo Palacios … Tournier
Gustavo Rojo … Joseph Donnell
Guillermo Mendez … Capt. Johnson
Jose Bastida … Cpl. Bates
Ricardo Diaz … Cpl. Brewster
Joaquin Solis … White Wolf
Luis Barboo … Malrue
Also with … Rafael Morales, Ada Touler as Adela Jimenez, Veronica Lujan, Rafael Vaquero, Francisco Nieto, Ricardo Rubinstein, Pablo Blanco, Manuel Ruiz, Javier Maiza
Runtime: 99 min.
aka:
Kitosch, l’uomo che veniva dal Nord
Music: Angelo Francesco Lavagnino
Gustavo Rojo as Joseph Donnell learns of the massacre in Kitosch, the Man Who Came from the North (1967)
Joaquin Solis as White Wolf, reaching an understanding with the Mounties in Kitosch, the Man Who Came from the North (1967)
Memorable lines:
Eva, as Kitosch steals clothing from a renegade: “Stripping a dead body? I hope you never lay a hand on me.”
Kitosch: “Don’t go flattering yourself, honey.”
Kitosch, upon hearing the story of a sheriff and his men, whose bodies are being returned to the U.S.: “Why this huge escort?”
Tournier: “That’s what’s called diplomacy. Uncle Sam wants the bodies of his heroes brought back ceremoniously.”
Maj. Baker, as John Smith, urging Kitosch, as Maj. Baker, to abandon the gold: “Gold is something we can always get more of. Men’s lives are not.”
Tournier to Kitosch, as he prepares to return to Fort Eagle and the danger that entails: “You are being ridiculous. This red coat has got a hold of you. You’re not a Mountie!”
Eva to Kitosch: “Nobody can tell where his own train is going.”
Kitosch ot his men: “Don’t shoot til you see the white of their eyes. Anyone wasting his ammunition will be hanged!”
Guillermo Mendez as Capt. Jackson presents Kitosch with options in Kitosch, the Man Who Came from the North (1967)
George Hilton as Kitosch finds a surprise visitor at Mountie headquarters in Kitosch, the Man Who Came from the North (1967)
Trivia:
Krista Nell appeared in 39 films before dying of leukemia in 1975 at age 28. She was the companion of actor Ettore Manni at the time. This marked the first of her eight Spaghetti Westerns.
The four other underutilized “widows” traveling with Krista in the film aren’t identified in most cast lists. On his Westerns All’Italiana blog, Tom Betts identifies three of them as Verónica Luján, Mercedes Taur, Adela Tauler.
This was the first of three Spaghetti Westerns directed by Jose Luis Merino. “Requiem for a Gringo” and “More Dollars for the MacGregors” followed. He also headed three Zorro films.
Krista Nell as Eva, shocked that a man would rob the dead of their clothes in Kitosch, the Man Who Came from the North (1967)
George Hilton as Kitosch keeps an eye on the renegades with (from left) Maj. Baker (Piero Lulli), Sgt. McCartney (Enrique Avila) and Tournier (Ricardo Palacios) in Kitosch, the Man Who Came from the North (1967)
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