Torrejon City (1962)

Tony LeBlance is Tom Rodriguez, an Easterner bound for Torrejon City in Wyoming Territory.

It’s an eventful trip. He’s spooked by a dead body he finds sitting by a tree. His horse is spooked by a snake, tossing off short-sighted Tom and causing him to break his glasses.

The reception in town is even stranger. Strangers throw down their gun belts as soon as he approaches. When Tom compliments one resident on his musical skills, the man hands over his harmonica and scampers for cover.

Seems Tom is a dead ringer for Tim “El Malo,” a vicious bandit causing havoc in these here parts.

After getting a surprisingly warm reception from the gals working at the local saloon, unsuspecting Tom is quickly disarmed by the law and winds up with a noose around his neck.

He’s saved when the real bandit and his gang ride into town. Spooked by confronting a look-alike, “El Malo” orders his gang right back out of town.

And that’s enough for the townsfolk to decide that they’d be safe with Tom Rodriguez as their new sheriff.

Turns out “El Malo” is Tom’s long-lost cousin. And the bandit is taking his orders from a mysterious masked stranger, prowling around in all black.

Turns out there’s also a pretty newcomer in town named Ruth (May Heatherly), who turns Tom’s head in a heartbeat.

But she’s got a problem too. Saloon owner Mac (Francisco ‘Paco’ Moran) holds the mortgage on her uncle’s ranch and is about to foreclose because he’s fallen behind on paying back his loan.

Review:

It’s the old case of look-alikes leading to mistaken identities, with one actor playing two lead roles in a comedy Western.

You’ll get a couple of surprises near the end. But getting there is a rather slow and predictable slog.

The film does include two novel gimmicks. Saloon owner Mac has a set of iron bars he can lower, to keep rowdy patrons away from the can-can girls whenever they show signs of getting too rowdy.

And since Tom is short=sighted and has lost his glasses, a shorter townsman agrees to walk behind him, guns drawn and shoot on his behalf. It doesn’t work much better, because the shorter man can’t see either.

But it sure must have presented a fearsome sight since Tom draws his guns too and winds up walking toward his foe with four guns ready to fire. Shame director Leon Kilmovsky didn’t make better use of those gimmicks.

And, yes, Spaghetti fans, the films includes a pointless barroom brawl. Seems those were a feature of even the earliest Eurowesterns.

Directed by:
Leon Klimovsky

Cast:
Tony Leblanc … Tom Rodriguez / Tim ‘El Malo’
May Heatherly … Ruth
Antonio Garisa … Uncle Sam
Beni Deus … Dog, mayor
Venancio Muro … Fiscal
Francisco ‘Paco’ Morán … Mac
Mara Laso … Peggy, singer
Mary Begoña … Saloon girl
Xan das Bolas … Chief Falcon Eye
Luis Sánchez Polack … Undertaker
Esther Cruz … Judge
as Himilce
José Canalejas … Mejicano, bandit
Simón Arriaga … Vulture, bandit
Juan Antonio Peral … Butch, bandit
José Luis Lizalde … Banker
as Zalde
Antonio Moreno … Sheriff Morris
Maria Alvarez … Prostitute

Also with: Agustin Bescos, Victor Iregua, Enrique Núñez, Luis Alonso, Heredia, Gonzalo Esquiroz

Runtime: 80 min.

Music: Gregorio Garcia Seguar

Memorable lines:

Tom Rodriguez, when a Torrejon City resident hands him his harmonica: “It was just a compliment. What generous people?”

Tom Rodriguez, to a saloon girl who’s insisting he’s a notorious bandit: “What would you say if I called you fat.”
Saloon girl: “I’m not fat!”
Tom: “Funny. Nor am I bad.”

Tim “El Malo” after coming face to face with his look-alike for the first time: “Let’s go. We don’t have to do anything here. Apparently, I’m already been doing it.”

Trivia:

* Tony Leblanc was 40 when this film was made an already had a long list of screen credits. He also trained as a dancer and singer; he’s credited with singing the theme song here. And as a young man, he excelled as a boxer and soccer player.

* The same plot — good man travels West and is mistaken for an outlaw — was used in another early Eurowestern, 1961’s “Dynamite Jack” starring the French actor Fernandel.

* This marked the film debut of May Heatherly, who was born in L.A. but moved to Spain with her family and got her start in films there. She enjoyed a long career in acting and appears in six U.S. TV shows, including a 1962 episode of “Gunsmoke.”

* According to IMDb, Heatherly also trained as a bullfighter at one point and considered making a career of it before learning that Spanish law didn’t allow female bullfighters.

May Heatherly as Ruth, showing her appreciation to Tom for getting her uncle an extension on his loan in Torrejon City (1962)

A townsman offers Tom Rodriguez some six-gun support in his showdown with Tim ‘El Malo’ in Torrejon City (1962)