''A Town Called Bastard'' (also known as ''A Town Called Hell'' on DVD and Blu-ray) is a 1971

international co-production A co-production is a joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint vent ...

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 filmmaking style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...

. It was shot in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

with Robert Shaw,

Telly Savalas Aristotelis "Telly" Savalas (; January 21, 1922 – January 22, 1994) was a Greek-American actor. Noted for his bald head and deep, resonant voice, he is perhaps best known for portraying Lt. Theo Kojak on the crime drama series '' Kojak'' (1973� ...

Stella Stevens Stella Stevens (born Estelle Caro Eggleston; October 1, 1938 – February 17, 2023) was an American actress. She was the mother of actor Andrew Stevens. Stevens began her acting career in 1959 in the film ''Say One for Me'', winning the Golden ...

and

Martin Landau Martin James Landau (; June 20, 1928 – July 15, 2017) was an American actor. His career began in the 1950s, with early film appearances including a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's '' North by Northwest'' (1959). His career breakthrough c ...

. It was released on

blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

on 18 August 2015. The film was retitled ''A Town Called Hell'' for US release as the word "bastard" was thought offensive.

Plot

In 1903 Mexico, a small town is presided over by a tyrant who commands a grizzled outlaw and his men. Also in town is a priest with a violent past, who has abandoned his clerical duties. A widow arrives with her faithful servant promising to pay $20,000 in gold if the man who killed her husband is found and delivered to her. Further violence erupts when a brutal army Colonel arrives on the scene searching for an elusive rebel leader. The colonel and the priest knew each other years before.

Cast

Production

The film was financed by Benmar, a wholly owned filmmaking subsidiary of Scotia Investments, the leisure activities group. Benmar was headed by Benjamin Fisz in association with Boris Marmor. They had just invested in ''Royal Hunt of the Sun''. Scotia purchased Benmar and a number of other companies from Marmor in June 1969. Benmar teamed with writer-produced Philip Yordan who had made several films in Spain. Fisz, Marmour and Yordan built a Western street in Spain that was to be used for the film. Fisz hired Robert Adrey to write the script and, according to Bernard Gordon, who often worked for Yordan, "Yordan was supposed to rewrite and cure its problems."Gordon p 235 (Gordon described the script as "a bloody, violent, and confusing exercise that, presumably, catered to the booming desire for more and more sensational films.") Filming began in Spain in July 1970. Howard Brandy was Fisz's assistant. Production partly took place at a Mexican fortress set built at Madrid 70 Studios near Daganzo created by Yordan. This street would be later used by ''Captain Apache'', ''Bad Man's River'', ''Pancho Villa'', and ''Horror Express''. Bernard Gordon says when he saw the first cut of the film "We all agreed it didn't make sense and that production would have to be reopened. Again, I realized this was a commonplace with Yordan. Finish a film inadequately, then worry about making changes when it was, in effect, too late. Strangle a production with too little money, then spend a great deal more than was saved on fixing up." Gordon wrote additional scenes which were shot by Irving Lerner. The film was not a box office success. In October 1970 Benmar announced they would follow ''Bastard'' with ten projects (''Captain Apache'', ''They All Came to Kill'', ''Hideout'', ''How to Become a Vampire'', ''Journey Man'', ''Big Blonde'', ''The Tribe that Lost Its Head'', ''Her Private's We'', ''Blood Hunt Mafiosa'' and ''Trafalfa''), but only ''Captain Apache'' was made. In April 1972 Scotia sold off the rights to five of its pictures, including ''Bastard'', ''Psychomania'', ''Captain Apache'' and ''Bad Man's River''.

Reception

''Kine Weekly'' said "Story, based on fact, powerful, violent and brutal, but in character, direction brooding, cast excellent. Very strong X attraction."

References

Notes

External links

*
A Town Called Bastard
at Spaghetti Western Database
A Town Called Bastard
at BFI
A Town Called Bastard
at

TCMDB Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of ...

Review of film
at Spinning Image {{DEFAULTSORT:Town Called Bastard, A 1971 films Mexican Revolution films 1971 Western (genre) films British Western (genre) films Spanish Western (genre) films English-language Spanish films Films directed by Robert Parrish Films shot in Almería Films set in 1895 Films set in Mexico 1971 drama films 1970s English-language films 1970s British films English-language Western (genre) films