Tiger from the River Kwai (1975)

Krung Srivilai is Tiger, a martial arts expert sent from his native Thailand to the wild west to deliver ashes and valuable jewels to a relative of the deceased.

Unfortunately, news of the jewels gets to outlaw Jack Mason (Gordon Mitchell) and his band of bandits.

So they begin accosting anyone from the orient, including local restaurant owner Won Lon (Kam Won Lon), as they search for the treasure.

Their search eventually leads to the nearby town, where the sheriff (George Eastman) prohibits firearms, but where Mason’s more than willing to buck the law with a fortune jewels at stake.

He and his men kidnap Won Lon’s wife in order to get the information he wants.

And when that doesn’t work, he takes helpless women, children and old men captive, promising to gun them down one by one until the jewels are turned over.

Mason gets an unexpected assist from a sheriff’s deputy who turns bad.

But Tiger and Won Lon are going to get some help too.

Krung Srivilai as Tiger, in the old west and determined to fulfill his mission in Tiger from the River Kwai (1975)

Kam Won Lon as Won Lon, reacting to news that his wife has been kidnapped in Tiger from the River Kwai (1975)

Review:

I almost dreaded hitting play on this one. A martial arts Spaghetti combo released in the mid-1970s with Gordon Mitchell high in the cast list? Oh, boy, what could possibly go wrong?

But give this one a chance, and you’ll find it’s a bit of campy fun.

The Won Lon character rides a donkey with a habit of stopping and refusing to continue on their journey.

Until trouble starts, at which point the donkey nobs that, yes, he’s willing to start moving again.

Won Lon is also a master at flinging acupuncture needles into gun hands. Meanwhile, Mitchell is at his nastiest, gunning down children, women, old men and even a lover when she gets in his way.

As for Tiger, turns out he’s a master at martial arts and the art of recuperation. He can barely limp into town after an encounter with a couple of Jack’s henchmen. But after a few kisses from a female seductress, he leaps tiger-like from her second-floor bedroom window and never limps again. Then he’s shot in the shoulder, but recovers with the help of just two of Won Lon’s acupuncture needles.

And just watch everyone’s reaction, including that of Sheriff Sam (Eastman), when Tiger reveals the elephant made of jewels for the first time.

Gordon Mitchell as Jack Mason, forever trying to discover the location of the missing jewels in Tiger from the River Kwai (1975)

George Eastman as Sheriff Sam, trying to enforce his no guns policy in Tiger from the River Kwai (1975)

Directed by:
Franco Lattanzi

Cast:
George Eastman … Sheriff Sam
Krung Srivilai … Thai / Tiger
Gordon Mitchell … Jack Mason
Loredana Famese … Mary
Bruno Arie … James
Kam Won Lon … Won Lon
Mauro Mannatrizio … Jordan
Nuccia Cardinali (?) … Judy Lon
Giovanna Mainardi … Mrs. Stone
Nello Palladino … Grampa Stone

Also with:: Michele Branca, Luigi Guerra, Lina Franchi, Marcello Meconizzi, Filippo Antonelli, Dane Putzu, Luigi Mannola, Angela Florenciaig, Lello Segatori

Runtime: 88 min.

aka:
La tigre venuta dal fiume

Music:
Alberto Baidan Bembo

Bruno Arie as James, with one of Jack Mason’s henchmen under his knife in Tiger from the River Kwai (1975)

Mauro Mannatrizio as Jordan, Sheriff Sam’s not-always-loyal deputy in Tiger from the River Kwai (1975)

Memorable lines:

Sorry, I watched a French language version of this film.

Gordon Mitchell as Jack Mason tries to make Tiger (Krung Krivilai) talk in Tiger from the River Kwai (1975)

George Eastman as Sheriff Sam admires the jewel elephant in Tiger from the River Kwai (1975)

Trivia:

* I’m not sure the cast lists available correctly identify the female characters. I could swear that’s Nuccia Cardinali playing the seductress early in the film, which means someone else is in the role of restaurant owner Won Lon’s wife.

* Krung Srivilai started his career in action films in the early 1970s. He later entered politics in Thailand. This marks the only IMDb credit for Kam Wong Lung.

* On the Spaghetti Western database, Tom Betts of Westerns All’Italiana writes that Gordon Mitchell told him Srivilai had trouble understanding the need to pull his karate punches, leaving the U.S. actor “pretty beat up” after their fight scenes.

A friendly townswoman offers to help nurse Tiger back to health in Tiger from the River Kwai (1975). I believe this is the part played by Nuccia Cardinali. Can anyone confirm?

Won Lon’s wife reacts to seeing human blood on the sack of grain he’s carrying in Tiger from the River Kwai (1975). Does anyone know who plays this part? I don’t believe it’s Nuccia Cardinali (see above).

The young girl who sees her relatives killed, then is kidnapped in the quest for a jewel elephant in Tiger from the River Kwai (1975). Does anyone know who plays this part?

A woman who confesses her love for Jack Mason (Gordon Mitchell) tries to even the score in Tiger from the River Kwai (1975). Does anyone know who plays this part?

Kam Won Lon as Won Lon, getting his donkey to agree to move on after a brush with trouble in Tiger from the River Kwai (1975)

Krung Srivilai as Tiger and Kam Won Lon as Won Lon approach the kidnappers in Tiger from the River Kwai (1975)