Moviecut—Bandido!

Bandido!

What an uninteresting movie! The true story of the revolution is very interesting, but this lousy film is not. The dialogue is atrocious, as is the acting. Mitchum does his thing, which becomes more overrated by the year, and the rest keep pace. Thiess appears to not speak or understand English, but that's not why she was cast. The direction might even be worse! About halfway in, Mitchum steps off a train going about 2 mph and a guy is holding a horse for him, even though there were no such plans. How do scenes like this end up in movies? So stupid! Terrible!

About half as good as "The Professionals", 25% as good as "Vera Cruz" and a tenth as good as "Wild Bunch". As for Ursula Thiess she's maybe a third as good as Jane Russell who, it seems, director Richard Flesicher told her to imitate. In other words, your basic C minus western. PS...Can't tell you how depressing it is to see the great Zachary Scott, in the twilight of a fine career, having lost his real life wife to John Steinbeck, forced to play a butthole who loses his wife to Mitchum in crap like this.

It's 1916. Revolution is sweeping through Mexico. The crowd is streaming north towards the US but only a few are headed south. American arms dealer Kennedy (Zachary Scott) and his wife are getting the royal treatment by Gen. Lorenzo's regulares. They are closely followed by Wilson (Robert Mitchum). He's looking for Colonel José Escobar (Gilbert Roland) and helps the revolutionaries win a battle. They give him the name Alacran, a deadly scorpion. He has a proposal to steal Kennedy's arms shipment. The first thirty minutes are great. The premise gets a bit iffy at a certain point. I don't see how Wilson would get away with what he does. The escapes are way too easy. The romance is broadly melodramatic and poorly constructed. Obviously, they would torture the info out of the man. The second half has many issues which taints an otherwise fine first half. It does end with some good action although it could be even better.

How can a movie be this noisy and still put me to sleep? Is it the writing, which would have me believe: o An adventurer with seeming inexhaustible amounts of money would risk life and limb to GIVE away tons of arms and ammunition to `the revolution'? o That rebels would ride off and leave machine guns and light artillery pieces behind? o That Robert Mitchum, a prisoner scheduled to be shot, could hide two hand grenades in his jacket? o That Ursula Theiss, held hostage by seasoned rebels, would be allowed to keep a gun in her purse? Ursula Theiss (Mrs. Robert Taylor) is pretty, but her love scenes with Mitchum lack spark. Far better is the interplay between Mitchum and Gilbert Roland, as well as his scenes with Zachery Scott and José Torvay (Gonzalez). In fact Mitchum's scenes with practically everyone but Theiss are better than his with her. Not very smart when the plot devices hinge on the Mitchum / Theiss relationship. Dull, dull, dull, and LOUD!

I don't really know exactly what happened in Bandido! It's a typical Mexican western with lots of action scenes, contrived romances, and macho archetypes. Robert Mitchum is an arms dealer who becomes interested in Zachary Scott's wife while supplying guns to Gilbert Roland during the Mexican revolution. That pretty much sums up the plot, so if that doesn't rivet you, you're not going to like the movie. I've seen all three lead actors in better movies, and it felt like they knew they were making a lousy movie when you watch them sludge through their roles. "Another 1950s western? Alright. . ." they seem to say just as the camera starts recording. Unless you like having these types of cheesy westerns on television for background noise as you prepare dinner, feel free to skip this one and watch something else tonight.

...and nobody seems to care too much.The political background is completely absent and boils down to the "regular army" against the "rebels.Like in the good old Maximilian von Hasburg/Juarez days.Plus ça Change.. Enter Kennedy and his wife:he wants to sell ammunition to the Army ;his wife is some kind of bait;her husband" pawns" her when necessary . Enter Wilson:he sides with the rebels and of course he falls in love with... It's Mitchum's character ...nuff said Robert Mitchum does not seem to care a little bit about what happens in Mexico.His face remains impassive.As he tells Escobar "I have fun and I make money". A minor Fleischer,moderately entertaining.

You can usually count on Richard Fleisher to deliver the goods, and here he does not disappoint. Robert Mitchum as an American soldier-0f-fortune gives a good performance. However, the always reliable Zachary Scott virtually steals the movie in the heavy role. The film was shot on location and that certainly adds to the fun. I recommend this film.

This is a fun Robert Mitchum movie, with a little taste of the "Magnificent Seven". Mitchum plays an American adventurer who runs afoul of American gunrunner Zacary Scott. While attempting to steal the shipment of guns from Scott he becomes involved with Scotts wife as well as the noble cause of the revolution. He ultimately sees that the rebels get the guns. This movie is very enjoyable, with the always good performance of Gilbert Roland (as the rebel general) and several other recognizible Hispanic actors such as Rudy Hoyos. I haven't seen this movie shown on TV even on cable for years. I would definitely like to see it released on VHS. The movie has some pretty good action scenes so if you get a chance to see it, DO!