Lawless Mountain (1953) Poster

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6/10
Adventure movie packing nice action , pursuits , assaults , romance and evocative outdoors
ma-cortes14 May 2023
Enjoyable action/adventure film stars the idol of the fifties José Suarez giving a nice acting as the upright hero . An adventure film set in the Andalusian mountains in which a courier man, nicely played by José Suarez , carrying a valuable shipment is assaulted by a group of bandits led by Luis Induni. Along the way he falls in love with a beautiful young woman , María : Isabel de Castro , who is about to marry a powerful local authority : Barta Barry . Meanwhile, he bets his horse against Barta Barry on a folkloric dancer -Teresita Abad who's usually dancing- who's accused for robbing , but he is deceived and loses him. So while celebrating a bullfight at a bustling plaza before the crowd, he takes the rejoneador's horse and escapes and being relentlessly pursued by a posse. Then, our starring joins the band of bandits and after fighting against the leader Induni he becomes the chief of the outlaws to rob , retrieve his stealen object , execute revenge and discover the true mastermind who benefits from raids .

This acceptable adventure movie is filled with thrills , intrigue , chases , go riding and breathtaking confrontations. This traditional ¨Bandido¨ movie is made in Andaluzi-Western style , in fact in some Western encyclopedias it is considered to be a ¨Spaghetti¨or ¨Paella¨ Western and in others it is deemed to be a ¨Zorro" movie . Decent screenplay dealing with ambition , revenge, justice and retribution that turn out to be the main axis of the plot . Although the story has been told before , appropriate filmmaking and fine acting win out , as it results in a passable adventure flick . It is a combination of moving drama and full of villainy , betrayal , romance , heroism and redemption . Fine acting by José Suarez as a bandit who joins a dangerous band to rob and destroy enemies . At the time José was an international actor performing as first figure the Italian films as El Magistrado , El Desafio and especially Calle Mayor (1956) with Betsy Blair, maybe his most well known film, for which he would receive awards as best actor. The success of this film at the Venice festival opened him the doors to the foreign cinema. He would go on playing mostly detective stories, drama, westerns and some comedies in Spanish and European productions , such as : Cartago en llamas, Siete Hombres de Oro , Adiós, Texas , La muerte de un presidente , Operacion Silencio and many others . Director Miguel Lluch took advantage of the marvelous Andalucian exteriors and shooting a hastily assembled attractive picture . In the movie appears usual support actors of the fifties and sixties , such as : Barta Barri , Carlos Otero , Isabel de Castro and special mention for Paco Martínez Soria in one of his first roles as a sympathetic outlaw and already standing out with his innate comic skills and his own Zaragoza accent.

This is a good-natured colorful romp with glamorous cinematography in black and white by Pablo Ripoll shot in natural scenarios , that gives us an accurate ambiance in the times it is developed , though a perfect remastering being necessary because of the copy is slightly washed-out . Being financed in medium budget by Ignacio F Iquino/IFI production . The motion picture was professionally directed by craftsman Miguel Lluch. The latter was an artisan who made all kinds of genres : Adventure , Comedy , Thriller , Drama , such as : El halcón del desierto , La chica del autostop , Crimen , El precio de un asesino , Los claveles , Fra Diávolo , Las estrellas , Sitiados en la ciudad , La montaña sin ley, Taxi , Un demonio con ángel, among others . Rating : 6/10 . Acceptable , passable but dated adventure movie. Rating : 5.5/10.
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