Seven Guns for the MacGregors (1966)

After the MacGregor elders fend off an attack on their ranch, six of their sons head off to Las Mesas to sell their horse herd.

Elder son Gregor MacGregor (Robert Woods) is in charge, and figures Las Mesas is the best destination if they’re hoping to steer clear of a south-of-the-border bandit known as Santilllana (Leo Anchoriz).

Problem is, only one man is buying horses in Las Mesas — a man named Crawford. And his price amount to $5 per head, barely enough to cover the MacGregor’s feed bill to get the herd to market.

When Gregor balks at such a low price, a barroom brawl breaks out. All the MacGregors wind up in jail on a charge of disturbing the peace. By the time they escape, their horse herd has disappeared.

So they set off in search of the thieves and wind up lending assistance to a pretty young lady named Rosita who’s dad has been killed in what might have been an Indian attack. Or else horse thieves pretending to be Indians.

Gregor heads back to town in search of answers and finds them — Crawford is in cahoots with Santillana, and the sheriff is involved too.

How to fight back? Gregor figures the best way will be to pose as an outlaw named Kid Thompson and infiltrate the gang. The ruse works very well, for a while.

Review:

Some of the dialogue — like that between Gregor MacGregor and Rosita when they’re held captive by Santillana — will make your eyes roll. The ending might, too.

But there’s also plenty to smile about as Giraldi manages his sizeable cast through a host of large-scale battle scenes, a barroom brawl so robust the combatants wind up crashing through the side of the saloon and a climatic knife fight on a water wheel.

One of the better roles for Robert Woods, who was appearing in his third of many Spaghetti Westerns. Ennio Morricone provides the score, which explains why you might wind up with that theme song stuck in your head.

Directed by:
Franco Giraldi

Cast:
Robert Woods … Gregor MacGregor
Manolo Zarzo … David MacGregor
Fernando Sancho … Miguel
Leo Anchoriz … Santillana
Agata Flori … Rosita Carson
Perla Cristal … Perla (Santillana’s woman)
Nazzareno Zamperla … Peter MacGregor
as Nick Anderson
Paolo Magalotti … Kenneth MacGregor
as Paul Carter
Alberto Dell’Acqua … Dick MacGregor
as Albert Waterman
Julio Perez Tabernero … Mark MacGregor
Saturnino Cerra … Jonny MacGregor
George Rigaud … Alastair MacGregor
Francisco Tensi … Harold MacGregor
as Harry Cotton
Anna Maria Noe … Mamie MacGregor
Margaret Horowitz … Annie MacGregor
Chris Huerta … Crawford

aka:
Sette pistole per i MacGregor

Music: Ennio Morricone

Runtime: 100 min.

Memorable lines:

Alister MacGregor, when rustlers threaten to set fire to the MacGregor homestead: “We’re old, mister, and catch cold easily. The heat might help us warm up our bones a little.”

Santillana: “So, you want to play games, do you? Do you know the one we’ve got called whip the truth out of the prisoner?”

Gregor to Rosita: “I’ve had enough of this nonsense. Anyway, among us Scotsmen, women aren’t allowed to argue.” He knocks her out with a punch to the jaw.

Santillana, who likes to watch men being dragged through fire, after capturing six of the MacGregor brothers: “We’ll have a gringo barbecue tonight!”

Trivia:

This film was followed by a sequel the very next year called “Up the MacGregors.” Nearly all of the cast returned, including six of the brothers, all of the elders and Agata Flori as Rosita Carson. The big exception — Robert Woods. The role of Gregor was taken on instead by David Bailey.

Albert Dell’Acqua, who plays the role of Dick MacGregor, the youngest brother, would later assume the stage named Robert Widmark — which is awfully similar, of course, to U.S. star Richard Widmark. This marked his first major film role; he wound up appearing in more than a dozen Spaghetti Westerns.