The Forgotten Pistolero (1969)

Mexican Gen. Juan Carrasco returns home from war for what’s supposed to be a joyous reunion with his wife and two young children.

But during the fiesta that night, he’s murdered by his wife Anna (Luciana Paluzzi) and her lover Tomas (Alberto de Mendoza). The general’s men are gunned down so that it will appear French soldiers attacked the hacienda.

As for the children? The son Sebastian (Leonard Mann) is swept away by a nanny named Maria who raises him as her own. In fact, he comes to believe she’s his mother.

The daughter Isabella (Pilar Velazquez) falls for Rafael (Peter Martell), a peon and her brother’s best friend. She’s forced into marriage to a shopkeeper to nip that romance in the bud.

Meanwhile, Rafael is tortured and cast out. But he returns years later. He once promised Isabella he’d locate her brother. He’s determined to fulfill that promise.

Once they meet, Rafael fills Sebastian in on the truth about his past, then takes him off to meet his sister. She’s awaiting. She refuses to leave her hometown. She witnessed her father’s murder. And she’s determined that those responsible pay the price for their misdeeds.

Review:

Very well done film with strong performances by all five of the lead performers and a finale in a burning hacienda, complete with a couple of last-minute plot twists.

Director Baldi keeps the action coming fast and furious, which is pretty easy because Anna Carrasco and Tomas know Rafael is trying to return home.

And despite Anna’s aversion to more bloodshed, their henchmen — led by Miquel and Francisco — have clearly been directed to keep him from reaching his destination.

Meanwhile, the relationship between the two villains has deteriorated. Anna has moved on to other men. Tomas still loves Anna, but is coming to realize that he was merely being used to rid her of her husband.

The film also featured a rousing score from Roberto Pregadio.

But for all the positives, the 80-minute version of the film now in print feels like part of the back story is missing, specifically more detail on what happened from the night of the fiesta to the time our story is taking place. That might be because many sites list the film’s original running time as 88 minutes.

Directed by:
Ferdinando Baldi

Cast:
Leonard Mann … Sebastian Carrasco
Luciana Paluzzi … Anna Carrasco
Pietro Martellanza … Rafael Garcia
as Peter Martell
Alberto de Mendoza… Tomas
Pilar Velazquez … Isabella Carrasco
Piero Lulli … Francisco
Jose Martin Manuel … Miguel
Luciano Rossi … Ignacio, Isabella’ husband
Jose Suarez … Gen. Juan Carrasco
Barbara Nelli … Conchita / Melina
Silvana Bacci … Maria

aka:
Il Pistolero dell’Ave Maria
Gunman of Ave Maria
1 stiletto, 3 pistolia, 1 aghoni

Score: Roberto Pregadio

Memorable lines:

Tomas: “If we had not let the wretch live years ago, we would be free now.”
Anna: “No more bloodshed, Tomas, ever again.”
Tomas: “It’s not any remorse that torments you. Of that, you would be incapable.You are afraid, Anna. Yes, fear caused this vendetta.”

Francisco, tormenting Rafael with a saloon girl: “Ah, I almost forget. This man is no man at all. He has a little defect.”

Sebastian to Francisco: “If you have a god, then pray he doesn’t let you meet up with me another time. If not, that time will be the last.”

Tomas, after Isabella pretends, in front of her mother, to have been seduced by him: “Get after that little slut. I want her. Go on, now. Get after her. Go!”

Isabella, to Tomas, about her mother: “There have been and there are men besides you. And there will be always. As long as she can put up with those awful animals she attracts. Because my mother has no virtue. She has become addicted to her desires. It was nothing more than lust that made her your accomplice.”

Trivia:

This marked the second film, the first Western and the first top-billed role for Leonard Mann. He was reportedly discovered when an Italian producer spotted him on the street and thought his face looked a bit like Franco Nero and Terrence Hill.

Luciana Paluzzi, who plays the mother here, has a son with actor Brett Halsey, himself a veteran of a number of Spaghetti Westerns. This marked her only Spaghetti, but she was the top-billed female in the 1967 American-made Western “Chuka,” starring Rod Taylor. Her most famous role was as villainess Fiona Volpe in the 1965 James Bond film “Thunderball.”