The Great Treasure Hunt (1972)

Mark Damon is Dean Madison and Stelvio Rossi is Sam Madison. They’re brothers and wanted outlaws.

One day, Dean wakes to a headline in the local newspaper announcing that Sam has been caught trying to rob the Denver bank and has been sentenced to hang.

“Where’s Dean Madison?” the story wonders. Bound for Denver, of course, to rescue his brother.

Once there, he runs into con artists Andre the Frenchman and his niece Agnes (Rosalba Neri). Once upon a time, Andre cracked safes for a living. He decided that was too dirty of a job.

These days, the duo run a poker scam. Agnes pretends to be low on dough and offers herself up as part of the jackpot.

Cowpokes are so distraced by her beauty, her smile and her cleavage — and the thought of a night with her — that they won’t notice Andre dealing from the bottom of the deck to ensure she wins the next hand.

At least that’s how it’s supposed to work. When it doesn’t, Dean happens to be in the saloon to bail them out of the jam. And to convince them to stage a bank robbery as a distraction so he can save his brother.

Next thing you know, all four have been recruited by a blind revolutionary named Felipe. The goal: Steal $1 million in gold Gen. El Supremo has locked away in a fortress in Chihauhua.

Mark Damon as Dean Madison, coming to the rescue of a pair of card cheats in The Great Treasure Hunt (1972)

Stelvio Rossi (Sam Cooper) as Sam Madison, not liking the way El Supremo deals with peasants in The Great Treasure Hunt (1972)

Review:

Middling Spaghetti comedy that, given its star power, could have been better in the right hands.

Our gang of thieves cook up an elaborate scheme to rob El Supremo of his fortune.

Of course, Agnes is central to the plot. First, she has to turn El Supremo’s head, which proves quite easy.

Then she has to get close enough to him to steal the key to a safe that he wears around his neck. Naturally, that leads to another game of poker with her womanly charms on the line.

Rosalba Neri fans will enjoy this one because she’s a central character, on screen throughout, unlike several of her Western roles, which are more like cameos.

In fact, her willingness to hop from riding one brother’s horse to the other’s causes friction between the Madison boys as well.

Rosalba Neri as Agnes. offering a card bet a cowboy can’t refuse in The Great Treasure Hunt (1972)

Alfredo Mayo as Andre the Frenchman, providing a lesson about safes in The Great Treasure Hunt (1972)

Directed by:
Tonino Ricci

Cast:
Mark Damon … Dean Madison
Rosalba Neri … Agnes
Stelvio Rossi … Sam Madison
as Sam Cooper
Luis Marin … Felipe
Giancarlo Badessi … Gen. El Supremo
Alfredo Mayo … Andre the Frenchman
Bruno Are … Sheriff of Denver
Calisto Calisti … Chris

Also with: Angelo Susani, Bruno Boschetti, Jose Luis Chinchilla, Adolfo Thous

Runtime: 94 min.

aka:
Monta in sella, figlio di…!
Five for the Gold of Las Quadros
The Great Chihauhua Treasure Hunt!

Music: Luis Bacalov

Luis Marin as Felipe, the revolutionary who recruits the gang of four in The Great Treasure Hunt (1972)

Giancarlo Badessi as Gen. El Supremo, with the key to his treasure around his neck, in The Great Treasure Hunt (1972)

Memorable lines:

Agnes: “Wait a second. What if I put myself up as collateral, against your $100? If you lose, all you lose is one pot. If I lose … well, I lose something very important to me.”
Reggie: “Madam, do you realize what you’re saying?”
Chris: “Shut up, will you Reggie! Mind your business, hear! I accept … If I win, there’s gonna be a lot of hooping and hollerin’ around here tonight.”

El Supremo: “Poker is like a beautiful woman, always full of surprises.”
Agnes: “Then you should be very careful, general.”

El Supremo, waiting for Agnes to fulfill her end of the bet: “Was it necessary that I take this bath just right now?”
Anges: “Was it necessary? You had a stink that could knock out a skunk. I’ll bet the last time you saw water was when you were baptized.”
El Supremo: “I like a woman with spirit.”

Dean Madison to his brother Sam, as he heads off with Agnes: “Be careful of professional card players. You might lose your shirt. And your pants too.”
Agnes: “Only if he plays stud.”

Rosalba Neri as Agnes enchants a card player named Chris (Calisto Calisti) with a smile and a low-cut dress in The Great Treasure Hunt (1972)

Sam Madison (Stelvio Rossi), Agnes (Rosalba Neri), Dean Madison (Mark Damon) and Andre (Alfredo Mayo) face a troubling prospect in The Great Treasure Hunt (1972)

Trivia:

Longtime Spaghetti star Mark Damon would make just one more such film, another comedy, “They Call His Veritas” (also 1972).

This was the third of 22 films directed by Tonino Ricci and his first Western. He’d try his hand at Western comedy again with 1973’s “Bad Kids of the West.”

Giancarlo Badessi, who plays El Supremo here, would later play Claudius in Bob Guccione’s hardcore feature film, “Caligula” (1979).

Stelvio Rossi as Sam Madison and Mark Damon as his brother Dean, vying for the affection of Agnes in The Great Treasure Hunt (1972)

Rosalba Neri as Agnes, dripping diamonds, undressing and distracting El Supremo in The Great Treasure Hunt (1972)

Giancarlo Badessi as Gen. El Supremo, anticipating his poker prize as Agnes undresses in The Great Treasure Hunt (1972)

Rosalba Neri as Agnes, helping Andre rob a bank in The Great Treasure Hunt (1972)