Texas Adios (1966)

Franco Nero is Burt Sullivan, the sheriff of a Texas town who decides to travel to Mexico in search of the man who killed his mother when he was just 7 years old.

Younger brother Jim tags along in the search for a powerful Mexican rancher named Delgado. And it soon becomes clear that penetrating his circle of allies to confront him face to face won’t be easy.

When Sullivan finally does confront Delgado, he finds a man who’s built an empire of sorts south of the border and certainly isn’t inclined to give it up to travel back to the U.S.

He also learns a long-held secret. Jim is actually Delgado’s son. After killing Burt’s father, he apparently raped his mother, a woman he had long been fond of.

Burt is forced to return to Texas empty-handed; Delgado has made a captive of Jim.

But help might be on the way. Seems the small landowners are ready to revolt.

Review:

This film followed “Django.” In fact, it was released the same year and was known as “Django 2” in some markets.

But it lacks the style of the earlier film, which was directed by Sergio Corbucci. Here, instead, we get Ferdinando Baldi at the helm of his first Western. And it shows.

Just what motivates Burt to suddenly decide to track down his mother’s murderer? Judging from the opening scene, the town where he’s marshal isn’t exactly the safest spot west of the Mississippi.

And just how can Delgado, living in a mansion, feared by all around him, be difficult to find?

Elisa Montes and Silvana Bacci have small roles as women who help Jim. Luigi Pistilli plays a landowner struggling to hold onto his land. Jose Guardiola and Livio Lorenzon are among those aligned with Delgado.

The most memorable scene comes as Delgado tries to convince a rancher to sign over his land. He has the man’s three sons strung up. But Delgado shoots them down just as they’re about to hang, then has them stripped to the waist so they can be branded instead.

Directed by:
Ferdinando Baldi

Cast:
Franco Nero … Burt Sullivan
Alberto Dell’Acqua … Jim Sullivan
as Cole Kitosch
Jose Suarez … Cisco Delgado
Elisa Montes … Servant Girl
Jose Guardiola .. McCloud
Livio Lorenzon … Alcalde (Mayor) Miguel
Hugo Blanco … Pedro
Luigi Pistilli … Fernandez
Antonella Murgia … Burt’s Mother
Gino Pernice … Bank employee
Giovanni Ivan Scratuglia … Dick
Silvana Bacci … Paquita (barmaid)
Remo De Angelis … Juan
Mario Novelli … Bounty hunter

Runtime: 93 min.

aka:
Texas, addio
Goodbye Texas
The Avenger
Django 2

Theme song: “Texas, Addio” by Don Powell

Memorable lines:

Alcade: “You’re making a mistake. Texas is back there.”
Burt Sullivan: “Is that some kind of a hint?”
Alcade : “No, it’s an order.”

Fernandez: “Stay here and help us. We’re planning to rebel against Delgado. You two are Americans. You’re both free. You went through this already. You understand. Will you give us help?”
Burt Sullivan: “I’d like to. I really would. But I’m in too much of a hurry to wait for a revolution.”

Burt Sullivan: “You got a score to settle with the law. And I’ll see it gets paid.”
Delgado: “I’ve come a long way since I left Texas — land, money, this house and a name that’s known and feared all over Mexico. Do you expect that I’m going to leave behind all that I’ve ever done because you were blind enough to confuse revenge with justice?””
Burt: “You killed my father.”
Delgado: “That is a poor reason for you to think I’d give myself up to you.”

Alcade: “Listen to me. You can’t stop Cisco Delgado. Are you tired of living?”
Fernandez: “Yes. Under these conditions, who wouldn’t be tired of living?”

Trivia:

Elisa Montes has a small role here as a servant girl who helps Jim Sullivan escape from Delgado’s mansion, piquing the jealousy of Pedro in the process. She had already appeared in three Spaghetti Westerns — “Django the Condemned” (“Outlaw at Red River”), “Mutiny at Fort Sharpe” and “Seven Dollars on the Red.”

Silvana Bacci plays a barmaid who tips Jim off on where to find Delgado and pays a heavy price. She had small roles in a number of Spaghetti Westerns, including an uncredited part in “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.”