Man Called Gringo (1965) Poster

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6/10
So-so Schnitzel/Paella Western co-produced by Germany and Spain and directed by an American filmmaker
ma-cortes30 April 2016
The movie gets Western action , shootouts , a love story , thrills and results to be quite entertaining . Set in 1895 , when a group of outlaws take over a small frontier town called Dakota . This is a tale of fear , greed and murder , set in a little town where happens a lot of incidents and shootouts . There bandits and rustlers plan to stay awhile, as they carry out robbing , assaults to win money at whatever cost by means of crime and terror . These outlaws called Reno (Sieghardt Rupp) and Gringo (Daniel Martín) are undercoveringly hired by a corrupt lawyer named Ken Denton (Helmut Schmid) . As the nasty gang (Rupp and Martin , both of them played in ¨For a fistful of dollars) assault a stagecoach and kill the mines owner called Walton (Pietro Tordi) , whose daughter to take the ownership of the transport company . Moreover , villainous Ken Denton wishes to take her business . In the meantime , a gunslinger called Mace Carson (Götz George) arrives and decides to help the citizens take their community back , as he is appointed sheriff but the band refuses to give up easily.

Entertaining Chorizo/Schnitzel Western well produced by Alfons Carcasona with shoot'em up , action , violence , go riding , saloon brawls and amusement . It is a passable Western with a lot of surprises , thrills and including a love story between a drifter become a sheriff , Gotz George , and a beautiful owner , Alexandra Stewart . This film , realized in American Western style and no Spaghetti , contains Western-action , gun-play , fist-play and being enough amusing but mediocre . This Spanish/German western , probably won't be making too many top ten lists, but its an agreeable flick . It's a thrilling western that scrutinizes the greed and paranoia that afflicts an avaricious advocate at law played by Helmut Schmid , including breathtaking crossfire between protagonists when are besieged at a ranch against the enemies during the ending . It's a medium budget film with good actors , technicians , production values , pleasing results and turned to be shot entirely on location . Here filmmaker Roy Rowland delivers a decently-paced film , however he could be counted on to deliver solid "B" pictures which, at MGM , were often better than most other studios' . It's a stirring western with breathtaking gunfight between the brave protagonist Gotz George against the heartless Helmut Schmid and his nasty hoodlums : Daniel Martin and Rupp . Their dynamic together is also great and is what mostly keeps this movie going . Most players result to be too clean to compare with Sergio Leone's 'Man With No Name', so the result is nothing particular: too pretty for grit, too gritty for a traditional B and even a script co-written by Clark Reynolds can't do much . The film blends violence , thrills , high body-count and it's fast moving and exciting . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing shootouts or stunts every few minutes , including a spectacular final confrontation . Underrrated by some reviewers , but still interesting to watch . Atmospheric scenario with barren outdoors , dirty landscapes under sunny Spanish exteriors and a shimmer sun and fine sets by expert craftsmen . Striking and colorful cinematography by Manuel Merino , being shot on location in Colmenar Viejo , Manzanares Del Real and La Pedriza , Madrid .

Veteran MGM B director Roy Rowland ended his career with three cheap westerns co-produced with MGM and shot in Spain . The motion picture was professional but middlingly directed by Roy Rowland . Roy sharpened his directing chops at MGM with a series of shorts starting in the 1930s, then moved up to features in 1943 . Roy spent quite a bit of time at the studio, from 1943-51 and again from 1954-58 ; he had the good fortune to marry the niece of Louis B. Mayer and was the father of actor Steve Rowland . While not one of the studio's top-rank directors , he was a good professional who had a considerable success . Most were B-movies, but he occasionally handled such A-graders . His greatest hit was , of course , the fantasy movie titled The 5000 fingers of Dr T (1953) . Rowland made an action picture for independent release based on a Mickey Spillane "Mike Hammer" novel starring Spillane himself (Girl hunters (1963)) . He specialized in a variety of genres, including musicals : ¡Viva Las Vegas! (1956) The seven hills of Rome (57) , Two weeks with love (50) and dramas : Our wines have tender grapes 45 with Edward G Robinson (1945). He was also responsible for the tough, fast-paced Rogue Cop (1954), one of the few MGM films that could be considered "film noir" . Roy was a Western expert , as the last film he made at MGM was this "B" western with Stewart Granger, Gun Glory (1957) ; besides , he filmed Outriders with Joel McCrea , Bugles in the afternoon with Ray Milland and Many rivers to cross with Robert Taylor ; after which and then he traveled to Europe for a string of Spanish/Italian-made westerns such as Los Pistoleros De Casa Grande and Ley Del Forastero . His final film as director was a somewhat cheesy pirate movie (he was uncredited ; his Italian co-director Sergio Bergonzelli got sole credit) called El Tigre De Los 7 Mares and its sequel : Tormenta Sobre el Pacífico (1966) . He was associate producer on Nathan Juran's Spain-shot Western : Al Infierno, gringo (1969), after which he retired .
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6/10
German stab at a spaghetti western
Leofwine_draca16 July 2017
Warning: Spoilers
MAN CALLED GRINGO is a pretty decent German stab at the genre, a film that ably resembles the spaghetti westerns that were so popular during the period. The simplistic storyline sees a gunslinger arriving in a town populated by an outlaw gang who are busy oppressing the townsfolk, while all of the usual genre tropes and clichés play out in quick succession. This good-looking film features a romantic sub-plot that doesn't drag, some nice action stylistics, and a generally nice and solid, macho feel.
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5/10
An okay watch
pmtelefon6 November 2021
There's not much memorable about "Man Called Gringo". It's okay for what it is. The cast is fine. The story is fine. It's just that I'm going to forget everything about it in a few days. That said, I never wanted to turn it off while I was watching it. Honorable mention: a dreamy Alexandra Stewart.
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