Van Heflin is Irish Gallagher, a gold miner in the right place at the wrong time, specifically south of the Rio Grande in 1911 when the Mexican revolution breaks out.
The corrupt Col. Ruiz seizes his mine, the Federales kill his partner and only the intervention of revolutionaries under lovely Raquel Noriega (Julie Adams) saves his life.
Gallagher’s convinced a trip to Mexico City will straighten out the mess; instead, he finds himself wanted for murder. From that point on, he casts his lot with the revolutionaries.
They include: Arturo, a leader in love with Raquel but afraid to take risks; Tomas, who provides comic relief; and Raquel, of course. Her parents were killed by the Federales, and her sister (Elena) was swept off by Ruiz. She’s concerned about that sister, though Elena prefers the comfort of living as the lover of an army commander.
One day a neighboring revolutionary (Noah Beery Jr. as Orozco) comes calling. He wants to capture the city of Juarez, but needs Arturo’s help. Orozco is confident of victory, if only Arturo can keep Ruiz and his men from delivering reinforcements to the city.
Arturo doesn’t like the risk; so the revolutionaries oust him as commander in favor of Gallagher and Raquel. Gallagher agrees to side with the revolutionaries on one condition; that he get his mine back when the fighting ends. Oh, and he might want Raquel, too.
Review:
Eventually, Boetticher would become a master of his craft, carving out some impressive Western character studies with Randolph Scott as his leading man.
But here the emphasis is on action, and he keeps the action coming fast and furious and well staged for the most part. And while the film was shot in 3-D, he resists the temptation to throw the action at the viewers.
Van Heflin turns in a typically fine performance. And, for trivia buffs, Julie Adams spent much of the film astride Pie, the horse Jimmy Stewart rode in most of his Westerns. Noah Berry Jr.’s turn as a Mexican bandit strikes a false note, but he’s only on screen for a limited time
Directed by:
Budd Boetticher
Cast:
Van Heflin … Irish Gallagher
Julie Adams … Raquel Noriega
Abbe Lane … Elena Noriega
George Dolenz … Col. Ruiz
Noah Beery Jr. … Orozco
Rodolfo Acosta … Arturo Torres
Antonio Moreno … Father Perez
Pedro Gonzales-Gonzales … Tomas
Paul Fierro … Carlos
Mario Siletti … Marco
Rico Alaniz … Capt. Gomez
Runtime: 81 min.
Memorable lines:
Gallager to Col. Ruiz, on his offer of protection in return for half of is gold: “I’ll make it simple for you Ruiz. I don’t mix in your business, don’t you mix in mind. How you run this end of Mexico, that’s up to you. I don’t care how much you steal. Just don’t steal from me.”
Orozco to Torres: “You’ve got a lot to learn, Torres. Let me tell you this: We’re all fighting in the same revolution. It takes all kinds to win a revolution, my friend. The thieves, the saints and the bandits. Not all good. Not all bad. But all for Mexico.”
Gallagher to Raquel: “So you’re going to set everybody straight, like a little Joan of Arch in riding pants. Why don’t you grab a sewing basket and let the men do the fighting?”
Raquel: “I would. Only there aren’t enough real men left.”
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