Trinity Sees Red (1970)

Terence Hill plays Marco, an orphan who grows up to be a hired assassin in partnership with a fellow orphan named Jacobo (Mario Pardo). The two might also be brothers.

With one mission completed, the deadly duo are sent to Spain where the rich landowners are having trouble keeping the peons in line. They’re threatening to strike because of poor working conditions, and a hero is expected to arrive and rally them to revolt.

Marco and Jacobo, of course, are hired to nip this little revolution in the bud by killing the ringleaders. But Marco begins to sympathize with the peons, especially after falling for a dark-haired beauty named Soledad (Maria Grazia Bucella).

That creates a dilemma because Jacobo isn’t about to abandon such a lucrative assignment, leaving Marco torn between an old loyalty and a new conscience.

Fernando Rey plays Don Antonio, the landowner who has hired the assassins. He has two sons – Ramon, who urges even harsher treatment of the peons; and Carlos, who disagrees, for the most part, with his father’s cruel ways.

Jose is the other man in love with Soledad and a leader of the peons, a man Marco is asked to kill. William Layton plays Don Lucas, a landowner willing to negotiate with the peons.

Terence Hill as Marco in Trinity Sees Red (1970)

Maria Grazia Buccella as Soledad in Trinity Sees Red (1970)

Review:

First off, this is not a Trinity film. And it’s actually set in Spain, not the American West, The film was original titled “The Wind’s Fierce.” But it was the last film Hill made before “My Name is Trinity” became an international hit. So the name was changed to capitalize on the Trinity phenomenon.

Anyone fooled by the title is likely to be disappointed, because this film is deadly serious in tone and Hill’s character doesn’t even play fair. He and his partner gun down their victims – who are usually unarmed – in cold blood.

Director Mario Camus does a nice job of introducing us to the plight of the peons. In an early scene, Ramon and his men raid Soledad’s boarding house looking for a suspicious stranger.

They encounterea pretty teen serving girl, encourage her to dance for them, then engage in a shooting match to see who will get to take her virginity.

Ramon is so privileged, he even has a subordinate do the shooting for him. After winning, he makes a gift of the young girl to his friend Rafael, advising Soledad that he’ll foot the bill.

Soledad watches stoically. We later learn that she was taken to be a plaything for Ramon’s father at age 15.

The dilemma faced by Hill’s character is predictable from early on, but the action scenes are still well done, especially as the film builds to its climax and Marco begins working on behalf of those he was supposed to help suppress.

Fernando Ray as Don Antonio in Trinity Sees Red (1970)

Mario Pardo as Jacobo in Trinity Sees Red (1970)

Directed by:
Mario Camus

Cast:
Terence HIll … Marco
Maria Grazia Buccella … Soledad
Mario Pardo … Jacobo
Fernando Rey .. Don Antonio
Maximo Valverde … Ramon
Carlo Alberto Cortina … Agitator
Angel Lombarte … Jose
William Layton … Don Lucas
Manuel Alexandre … Agustin
Manuel de Blas … Rafael
Carlos Otero … Antonio
Andres Resino … Carlos

Runtime: 103 min.

aka:
La Collera del veto
Revenge for Trinity
The Revenge of Trinity
The Wind’s Anger
The Wind’s Fierce

Music: Augusto Martelli
Song: “Free” by Augusto Martelli

Maximo Valverde as Ramon in Trinity Sees Red (1970)

Andres Resino as Carlos in Trinity Sees Red (1970)

Memorable lines:

Soledad: “I suppose I should leave this place, but I’m not going to. I feel too much hate. And I keep hoping for some way to make them pay for it all.”

Don Lucas: “The only thing that is sacred is human life. … Violence is a very vicious spiral. It leads to more and more violence and bloodshed. And it knows no limits. And that will be what you get if you try to push these people to the brink of despair. Don’t forget, it’s very easy to start something, but only God knows how it will end.”
Don Antonio: “Lucas, you’ve been speaking with the preacher too much lately.”
Don Lucas: “No. My conscience.”

Marco, to Soledad: “One day, somebody put a gun in my hand and paid us to commit a murder. It couldn’t have been simpler. From then on, we’ve been on the run, running and killing. Always on the go. Never a moment to rest and think.”
Soledad: “I don’t want to know all that.”
Marco: “I know. But I have to explain why it’s impossible for us. If we stop for a minute, we’ll be smothered by our past life. Sooner or later, it’s going to catch up with me. I hate this place. I began thinking here.”

Angel Lombarte as Jose in Trinity Sees Red (1970)

William Layton as Don Lucas in Trinity Sees Red (1970)

Trivia:

Marketers clearly had no qualms about re-releasing and marketing this as a Trinity film. One popular poster for the film shows a Terence Hill flashing a devious smile as he squashes an ant. If Terence flashes a devious smile at any point in this film, I missed it.

Fernando Rey, a familiar face in Spaghetti Westerns, plays one of the rich landowners in this film. In the U.S., he was best known for the role of “Frog One” in French Connection (1971).

U.S. audience might best remember Maria Grazia Buccella as the female lead in 1968’s Villa Rides, starring Robert Mitchum, Charles Bronson and Telly Savalas. Those marked her only two “Westerns.”

ALERT – SPOILER FOLLOWS

According to this film’s listing on Terence Hill’s website, the ending in which he is shot by assasins was cut from later versions of the film so as not to kill off the beloved Trinity character.