''Por mis pistolas'' (aka ''With My Guns'') is a 1968 Mexican

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

western film directed by

Miguel M. Delgado Miguel Melitón Delgado Pardavé (17 May 1905 – 2 January 1994) was a Mexican film director and screenwriter best known for directing thirty-three of Cantinflas' films, under contract of Posa Films. He directed 139 films between 1941 and 19 ...

and starring Cantinflas and Isela Vega. Vega's film career took off after this film. The film is a satire to the

Spaghetti Western The Spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's film-making style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...

genre in vogue in the late 1960s.Pilcher, p. 199

Plot

Fidencio Barrenillo (Cantinflas) is an apothecary from a Northern Mexican border town in

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is d ...

who discovers the property deeds of an old

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

mine in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, ''La Veladora'', belonging to his ancestors, and decides to head to Arizona to claim his property. On the way he is captured by a tribe of Apaches and is about to be burned alive, but High Chief Caballo Recostado (Manuel Vergara) stops the burning ceremony since he has a toothache. Fidencio learns about this and offers to heal the Chief. He succeeds in pulling out the bad tooth, earning him the eternal friendship of the Apache Chief, who teaches Fidencio how to make

smoke signals The smoke signal is one of the oldest forms of long-distance communication. It is a form of visual communication used over a long distance. In general smoke signals are used to transmit news, signal danger, or to gather people to a common area ...

. After saying goodbye to the Apaches, Fidencio continues on his way to the ranch of his relatives, the Sánchez. In the nearby town of Hot Dog Springs, he stays at the saloon of Pat O'Connor (Jorge Rado), who controls the town through the terror imposed by a gang of gunmen he has at his command. Thanks to the fact that his room is next to Pat's girlfriend, Fidencio learns that they plan to attack his relatives' ranch, and together with the town sheriff (John Kelly) he heads to their ranch to warn them. Fidencio meets the Sánchez; his uncle Don Serapio (Manuel Alvarado), and the latter's sons and Fidencio's cousins, Pedro (Gregorio Casal), Pablo (Alfonso Mejía) and Lupita (Isela Vega), who welcome him and plan the defense of the ranch with weapons, but Fidencio comes up with another plan: he gives a powerful laxative to the gang under the guise of a friendly toast, thus preventing the assault. Over the following days, Fidencio sends to jail many of the gang members as well as Frank (Carlos Cardán), Pat's fierce lead enforcer. Pat's girlfriend discovers Fidencio's connection to the Sánchez as well as his quest for "La Veladora", and informs Pat. Seeking revenge, Pat assembles the gang and they head out to kill the group as they dig for the mine. Overwhelmed, Fidencio and Lupita send smoke signals asking the Apaches for help. Caballo Recostado and his Apaches make their appearance and defeat the thugs, who are all arrested. Fidencio then shows a piece of ore he found while digging, which is revealed to be silver. Overjoyed that he found the mine, Fidencio begins to plan his claim, and the film ends with him, the Sánchez, the Apaches, and the rest of the town holding a celebration party at the saloon.

Cast

* Cantinflas as Fidencio Barrenillo * Isela Vega as Lupita Sánchez * Gloria Coral as Winona * Quintín Bulnes as Tommy Bernard * Rhea Frichina as Katie (credited as Rhea) *

Carlos Cardán Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewhe ...

as Frank * Ivan J. Rado as Pat O'Connor (credited as Jorge Rado) *

Alfonso Mejía Alfonso Mejía Silva (16 November 1934 – 29 December 2021) was a Mexican actor. He was best known for his lead role as "Pedro" in ''Los Olvidados'' (known in English as ''The Young and the Damned''), for which he won the Best Child Actor award ...

as Pablo Sánchez * Manuel Alvarado como Don Serapio Sánchez *

John Kelly John or Jack Kelly may refer to: People Academics and scientists * John Kelly (engineer), Irish professor, former Registrar of University College Dublin *John Kelly (scholar) (1750–1809), at Douglas, Isle of Man *John Forrest Kelly (1859–1922) ...

as Sheriff Jim *

Eduardo Alcaraz Alfredo Vergara Morales (13 April 1915 – 18 April 1987), best known by the stage name Eduardo Alcaraz, was a Chilean-Mexican actor. Born in Santiago, he was based in Mexico since 1951. He appeared in films such as '' Escuela de rateros'' (1 ...

as Don Chuchito *

Pedro Galván Pedro A. Galván (1833? - December 12, 1892) was a Mexican general, 25th governor of the Mexican state of Colima (interim), and governor of the state of Jalisco. A main avenue in the residential area of the City of Colima bears his name. Mil ...

* Agustín Isunza as Don Pánfilo * Carlos Pouliot as Border Agent * Manuel Vergara as High Chief Caballo Recostado (as Manver) * Angelita Castagni * Arturo Castro *

José Torvay José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

Gregorio Casal Gregorio Casal (13 July 1935 – 25 April 2018) was a Mexican actor, best known for his work during the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. Acting Pepechuy, as most people called him, changed his name so that there would be no confusion with h ...

as Pedro Sánchez (credited as Jesus Casillas) * Ricardo Carrión as Willy * Héctor Carrión as Jimmy * Farnesio de Bernal as Barman *

Ramón Menéndez Ramón Menéndez (born January 21, 1950) is a Cuban-American film director and screenwriter. He is best known for writing and directing the 1988 film '' Stand and Deliver''. His other film directing credits include '' Money for Nothing'' (1993) ...

as Johnny *

Alberto Catalá Alberto is the Romance version of the Latinized form (''Albertus'') of Germanic ''Albert''. It is used in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. The diminutive forms are ''Albertito'' in Spain or ''Albertico'' in some parts of Latin America, Albe ...

as Pianist * Ramiro Orci as Villain *

Arturo Silva Arturo Silva is an American-born novelist, editor, and teacher. His notable works include ''Tokio Whip'' (2016) and ''Philosophy of the Shirt'' (1986). He was also the editor of ''The Donald Richie Reader'' (2001). Silva currently resides in Vie ...

* José Loza * Julio Martínez *

Salvador Lozano Salvador, meaning "salvation" (or "saviour") in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese may refer to: * Salvador (name) Arts, entertainment, and media Music *Salvador (band), a Christian band that plays both English and Spanish music ** ''Salvador'' ( ...

* Juan Garza as Gunman

References

Bibliography

* González, Rafael. ''60 años de rock mexicano: 1956-1979, Volumen 1''. Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial México, 2018. * Láscaris Comneno, Constantino. ''Cien casos perdidos''. Studium Generale Costarricense, 1984. * Pilcher, Jeffrey M. ''Cantinflas and the Chaos of Mexican Modernity''. Rowman & Littlefield, 2001.

External links

* {{Portal bar, Arizona, Film, Mexico 1960s Western (genre) comedy films 1960s parody films Films directed by Miguel M. Delgado Films set in Arizona Mexican Western (genre) comedy films 1968 comedy films 1968 films 1960s Mexican films 1960s Spanish-language films