''Tepepa'', also known as ''Blood and Guns'', is an Italian

epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements Epic or EPIC may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and medi ...

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 ...

film starring

Tomas Milian Tomas Milian (born Tomás Quintín Rodríguez-Varona Milián Salinas de la Fé y Álvarez de la Campa; 3 March 1933 – 22 March 2017) was a Cuban-born actor and singer with American and Italian citizenship, known for the emotional intensity and ...

and

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

. The film was directed by

Giulio Petroni Giulio Petroni (21 September 1917 – 31 January 2010) was an Italian director, writer, and screenwriter, best known for his spaghetti westerns ''Death Rides a Horse'' (1967), with Lee Van Cleef in one of his first starring roles, '' A Sky Full of ...

. It was co-produced with

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, where the film was released with the title ''Tepepa... Viva La Revolución''.

Plot

The government of "comrade" Madero does not satisfy the

peon Peon (English , from the Spanish ''peón'' ) usually refers to a person subject to peonage: any form of wage labor, financial exploitation, coercive economic practice, or policy in which the victim or a laborer (peon) has little control over emp ...

Tepepa, who continues his guerilla battle as a revolutionary, against the government troops together with a group of faithful fighters. Tepepa is feeling mocked by the ex-revolutionary Madero, who is now head of state. Tepepa finds himself several times facing the fearsome chief of police, Colonel Cascorro, and is constantly persecuted by an English doctor, Henry Price, eager to avenge a girl from a rich family, with whom the doctor was in love, and whom Tepepa had raped, causing her to suicide. During the last fight Cascorro finally manages to wound Tepepa, who has escaped him several times, but in the decisive battle Cascarro is killed by the revolutionary. Meanwhile, the doctor, who despite his hatred for Tepepa had remained at the side of the revolutionaries, manages to take revenge on the peon, killing him with a scalpel immediately after extracting the bullet from his wound. The Doctor then packs his horse to leave, only to be shot by Paquito. The death of Tepepa, however, does not mark the end of the revolution, and others will continue the battle in his place.

Cast

as Jesus Maria "Tepepa" Moran *

as Colonel Cascorro *

John Steiner John Steiner (7 January 1941 – 31 July 2022) was an English actor. Tall, thin and gaunt, he attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and performed on-stage for the Royal Shakespeare Company, but was best known to audiences for his roles i ...

as Doctor Henry Price *José Torres as Pedro "El Piojo" Pereira *Luciano Casamonica as Paquito *Annamaria Lanciaprima as Maria Virgen Escalande * George Wang as Mr. Chu * Paco Sanz as President Madero *

Clara Colosimo Clara Colosimo (23 May 1922 – 15 June 1994) was an Italian film actress. She appeared in 65 films between 1968 and 1991. Selected filmography * ''Alfredo, Alfredo'' (1972) * '' Sex Pot'' (1975) * '' Il mostro'' (1977) * '' Zanna Bianca e ...

as Sergeant's Wife *

Giancarlo Badessi Giancarlo Badessi (1928 – 2011) was an Italian actor. Life and career Born in Lecco, at the age of almost 40 Badessi gave up his daily job as an accountant to embrace the theatre, making his debut in a stage play directed by Giancarlo Cob ...

as Sergeant * Rafael Hernández as Pedro *

Paloma Cela María Luisa Cela Molinero (4 March 1943 – 30 March 2019), better known by her stage name Paloma Cela, was a Spanish actress and model. Biography Born in Madrid, Spain, she started out as a model and made her cinema debut in the 1967 film ''O ...

as Consuelo *Ángel Ortiz as Urelio

Production

The film stars Tomas Milian and Orson Welles in opposing roles. Director Giulio Petroni expressed disappointment with Welles. Petroni claimed that the atmosphere on the set was "terrible," and that Welles called Milian (who idolized Welles) a "dirty Cuban".

References

External links

* 1969 films 1969 Western (genre) films Spaghetti Western films Spanish Western (genre) films Mexican Revolution films 1960s English-language films English-language Italian films English-language Spanish films 1960s Italian-language films 1960s Spanish-language films Films directed by Giulio Petroni Films scored by Ennio Morricone Films about revolutionaries Films shot in Almería 1960s multilingual films Italian multilingual films Spanish multilingual films 1960s Italian films {{1960s-Western-film-stub