''Bandido'' is a 1956 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film starring

Robert Mitchum Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He rose to prominence with an Academy Award nomination for the Best Supporting Actor for ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (1945), followed by his starring in ...

Ursula Thiess Ursula Thiess (May 15, 1924 – June 19, 2010) was a German film actress who had a brief Hollywood career in the 1950s. Thiess began her career on the stage in her native Germany and by dubbing female voices in American films as Ursula Schmidt. ...

Gilbert Roland Luis Antonio Dámaso de Alonso (December 11, 1905 – May 15, 1994), known professionally as Gilbert Roland, was a Mexican-born American film and television actor whose career spanned seven decades from the 1920s until the 1980s. He was twice no ...

, and

Zachary Scott Zachary Scott (February 21, 1914 – October 3, 1965)Obituary '' Variety'', October 6, 1965. was an American actor who was known for his roles as villains and "mystery men". Early life Scott was born in Austin, Texas, the son of Sallie L ...

. The film, set in the Mexican Revolution and filmed on location around Acapulco, was written by Earl Felton and directed by Richard Fleischer. Robert Mitchum also co-produced the film through his DRM Productions company.

Plot

In 1916 during the Mexican Revolution, American Wilson checks into a Mexican hotel in the midst of a pitched battle. Equipped with a suitcase full of

Mk 2 grenade The Mk 2 grenade (initially known as the Mk II) is a fragmentation-type anti-personnel hand grenade introduced by the U.S. armed forces in 1918. It was the standard issue anti-personnel grenade used during World War II, and also saw limited serv ...

s, he throws a few "samples" at the "Regulares" in the square, enabling revolutionary Col. Escobar to rout his enemies. Escobar's men praise Wilson, calling him "El Alacran" (the scorpion) for the sting of his grenades. Wilson offers to get Escobar's poorly equipped men weapons and ammunition, in exchange for half the loot, but Escobar decides to attack the next town without his help. When Escobar returns, defeated, Wilson explains that an American arms dealer named Kennedy is on his way to sell a large shipment of arms and ammunition to General Lorenzo. Wilson proposes capturing Kennedy and forcing him to turn over his wares to Escobar. Before Kennedy is captured, he sends an aide to Lorenzo to set a trap. Kennedy says the arms are at his fishing lodge. Escobar decides to send him there with some of his men, but Wilson, who is attracted to Kennedy's discontented wife Lisa, convinces Escobar to send her instead, much to Kennedy's dismay. Escobar orders that she be shot if no arms are found, but Wilson helps her escape and encourages her to flee north to the U.S. Angered by what he perceives as treachery, Escobar imprisons Wilson along with Kennedy, to await execution. Wilson somehow still has two hand grenades, which he uses to blow their way out. Escobar's men chase them and manage to shoot Kennedy. The rebels have to break off the search, however, when the Regulares advance on the town. Wilson takes Kennedy to a priest, who removes the bullet, and manages to get the actual location of the arms cache. When Lisa arrives with the Regulares, Kennedy becomes jealous and tries to shoot Wilson, only to be killed by Escobar, who had snuck back to ensure that his enemies do not get the weapons. Wilson and Escobar race to the coast and find the two barges bringing in the deadly cargo. They use some of Kennedy's goods to hold off the Regulares. Then the Regulares spot Escobar's rebels approaching and set up an ambush. Wilson fires at the barge carrying dynamite. The explosion devastates the hiding soldiers. The survivors flee. Wilson refuses Escobar's offer to join the rebellion and rides away to hopefully reunite with Lisa.

Cast

as Wilson *

as Lisa Kennedy *

as Colonel Escobar *

as Kennedy *

Rodolfo Acosta Rodolfo Pérez Acosta (July 29, 1920 – November 7, 1974) was a Mexican-American character actor who became known for his roles as Mexican outlaws or American Indians in Hollywood western films. He was sometimes credited as Rudolfo Acosta ...

as Sebastian * José Torvay as Gonzales * Henry Brandon as Gunther * Douglas Fowley as McGhee *

Victor Junco The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

as General Lorenzo * Alfonso Sánchez Tello as General Brucero *

Arturo Manrique Arturo Manrique (1910–1971) was a Mexican film actor.Riera p.220 Selected filmography * '' The Woman of the Port'' (1934) * ''The Treasure of Pancho Villa'' (1935) * '' Luponini from Chicago'' (1935) * ''Judas Judas Iscariot (; grc-x-bi ...

as Adolfo *

José Ángel Espinoza José Ángel Espinoza Aragón (2 October 1919 – 6 November 2015), also known as ''Ferrusquilla'', was a Mexican singer-songwriter and film actor. He was the father of actress Angélica Aragón. There is a statue of him along Olas Altas Promen ...

as Driver * Margarito Luna as Santos *

Miguel Inclán Miguel Inclán (1897–1956) was a Mexican film actor.Agrasánchez p.159 He became known for his villainous roles during the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. Selected filmography * ''Nobleza ranchera'' (1938) - Pánfilo * '' The Cemetery of the Eag ...

as Priest * José Muñoz as Man in Wagon * Manuel Sánchez Navarro as Hotel Manager * Antonio Sandoval as Indian Boy * Alberto Pedret as Scout

Production

The film was based on an original screen story by Earl Feltoncalled ''Horse Opera''. It was about an American movie company in the early 1900s who is captured by

Pancho Villa Francisco "Pancho" Villa (, Orozco rebelled in March 1912, both for Madero's continuing failure to enact land reform and because he felt insufficiently rewarded for his role in bringing the new president to power. At the request of Madero's c ...

. The hero was a soldier of fortune, the right hand man to

, who falls for the movie company's leading lady, rescues her from Villa, takes her to Hollywood and becomes a movie star. A producer, Robert L Jacks liked it and set up the film at United Artists, with Robert Mitchum to star and Richard Fleischer to direct. Fleischer had worked with Felton several times but says the screenwriter wrote a script which diverted significantly from the original treatment, removing the movie company, the leading lady, Hollywood and Pancho Villa. Fleischer wanted to pull out of the project but United Artists were worried they would lose Mitchum and threatened to sue. This film was shot on location in Mexico at

Cuernavaca Cuernavaca (; nci-IPA, Cuauhnāhuac, kʷawˈnaːwak "near the woods", ) is the capital and largest city of the state of Morelos in Mexico. The city is located around a 90-minute drive south of Mexico City using the Federal Highway 95D. The na ...

, Tepetlán, Palo Balero in

Xochitepec Xochitepec is a ''municipio'' (municipality) of the state of Morelos, in central Mexico. Xochitepec is also the name of its principal township and seat of the municipal government. It is located approximately 13 km (8.1 mi) to the south ...

Yautepec de Zaragoza Yautepec is a municipality located in the north-central part of the Mexican state of Morelos. The municipal seat is the city of Yautepec de Zaragoza. It stands at . The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of Yaut ...

, Acapulco,

Iguala Iguala (), known officially as Iguala de la Independencia, is a historic city located from the state capital of Chilpancingo, in the Mexican state of Guerrero in southwestern Mexico. Geography The city of Iguala stands on Federal Highway 95 ab ...

and the Hotel Hacienda in

Cocoyoc, Morelos Cocoyoc is a city in the north-central part of the Mexican state of Morelos. It is located at 18°53′N 99°04′W. The city lies within the municipality of Yautepec. Cocoyoc reported 10,178 inhabitants in the 2020 census and is the third-largest ...

Reception

Fleischer wrote that the film "turned out to be quite a good, commercially successful picture. It has, however, absolutely nothing to do with the picture I started out to make."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bandido (Film) 1956 films 1956 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films CinemaScope films 1950s English-language films Films directed by Richard Fleischer Films set in 1916 Films shot in Mexico Mexican Revolution films Films about arms trafficking United Artists films 1950s American films