CAST: Mario Almada, Fernando Almada, Gregorio Casals, Alexandro Ruiz, Irene Arcila, Jacaranda Alfaro, Laura Tovar.
CREDITS: Director: ALFREDO B. CREVENNA. Original screenplay: Matias Zuniga. Photography: Fernando Alvarez. Music: Tino Geiser. Producer: Orlando R. Mendoza. Made in 1989. Copyright 2005 by UCI. A UniCine DVD. 90 minutes.
COMMENT: Impressive, big-budget Mexican western, with fine direction by Alfredo B. Crevenna. In the olden days, Hollywood had a few directors like Mike Curtiz and W.S. Van Dyke who could shoot fast yet artistically. However, they were in the minority. Most directors who could shoot really fast wound up on Poverty Row. Unlike the Hollywood system, Mexican cinema tends to value artistry as well as speed. So just because a director like Crevenna is prolific does not mean that he's a write-off. Far from it! Crevenna teed off with a German language short in 1937, but then escaped to Mexico. Starting with "Adam, Eve and the Devil" (which he co-screenplayed as well as directed), released on August 10, 1945, Crevenna amassed no fewer than 150 Mexican directorial credits before he died in 1996. This A-grade western, filmed against awesome scenery, not only features some astounding action footage, but is vividly brought to life by an outstanding cast in which even small roles are strikingly brought to life. However, the movie moves at such a rapid pace and jams so much action and narrative into its 90 minutes running time that I still wonder if it either generated or was spun off a TV series.
CREDITS: Director: ALFREDO B. CREVENNA. Original screenplay: Matias Zuniga. Photography: Fernando Alvarez. Music: Tino Geiser. Producer: Orlando R. Mendoza. Made in 1989. Copyright 2005 by UCI. A UniCine DVD. 90 minutes.
COMMENT: Impressive, big-budget Mexican western, with fine direction by Alfredo B. Crevenna. In the olden days, Hollywood had a few directors like Mike Curtiz and W.S. Van Dyke who could shoot fast yet artistically. However, they were in the minority. Most directors who could shoot really fast wound up on Poverty Row. Unlike the Hollywood system, Mexican cinema tends to value artistry as well as speed. So just because a director like Crevenna is prolific does not mean that he's a write-off. Far from it! Crevenna teed off with a German language short in 1937, but then escaped to Mexico. Starting with "Adam, Eve and the Devil" (which he co-screenplayed as well as directed), released on August 10, 1945, Crevenna amassed no fewer than 150 Mexican directorial credits before he died in 1996. This A-grade western, filmed against awesome scenery, not only features some astounding action footage, but is vividly brought to life by an outstanding cast in which even small roles are strikingly brought to life. However, the movie moves at such a rapid pace and jams so much action and narrative into its 90 minutes running time that I still wonder if it either generated or was spun off a TV series.