A Bullet for Sandoval (1969) Poster

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7/10
One of the best Paella Western with stellar cast as George Hilton and Ernest Borgnine
ma-cortes5 September 2012
Gazpacho with Spaghetti Western co-produced between Spain and Italy , though this time with production mostly Spanish and plenty of violence , crossfire and elements of Greek tragedy . A Confederation corporal named John Warner (George Hilton) deserts his unit at the night before a major battle during American Civil War (1861-1865) , after receiving an important message from Sandoval's son . John along with other rebels (Albert De Mendoza, Antonio Pica) escape ; later on , unites to bunch a motley band of characters (Jose Luis Martin , Leo Anchoriz , Gustavo Rojo) . Meanwhile John heads across the border to Mexico to marry his pregnant girlfriend before she gives birth . Her father named Pedro Sandoval (the recently deceased Ernest Borgnine) had forbidden their marriage, but the corporal is determined to marry her . Circumstances change when John Warner learns a surprise and he becomes into an outlaw who vows vendetta on everyone involved in his misfortune .

Director Julio Buchs achieved in "A bullet for Sandoval" possibly his best work of a modest career , with some memorable scenes and good camera movement as the initial prologue and first part in which we see the death-stricken the main star, furthermore the ending duel in ¨Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid¨ style and that makes only can say that this movie seemed to be a true surprise . The story is wrapped in an aura of sadness , a tragic event on the metamorphosis of Warner , a good man turned into a crazed psychopath . Worthwhile watching for a demonstration of the deep hating among two protagonists . It will lead a tragic ending , which is underlined by the idea of fatality, the inability to change his own fate . It's an exciting western with breathtaking showdown between the main star Hilton and the enemy Ernest Borgnine and his hoodlums . Uruguay-born George Hilton is fine as the hero / villain of this thrilling story . Hilton is fine, he ravages the screen, he jumps, shoots , bounds and leaps, hit and run , and finally kills . His performance is astonishing , above average to level of these films . George Hilton as the suffering and avenger gunslinger , in possibly her most important role that was able to defend in a Spaghetti . During this process , the protagonist John results to be a character initially positive , but he will degenerate to become a bloody and despicable gunman without feelings and inability to love . While Ernest Borgnine in a top-notch performance , is a rich , arrogant, overbearing and vindictive Mexican rancher unable to admit the affair between his daughter and a miserable foreman who has dishonored him and he will be victim of its own code of honor . Alberto De Mendoza is the tough but likable outlaw partner and although he doesn't reaches the level of Hilton , is also quite restrained , with some looks that say it all . Many other familiar faces from Chorizo/Spaghetti , there appears ordinary secondaries in Spanish/Italian Western such as Jose Luis Martin as a nasty rapist , Leo Anchoriz as a Friar Tuck-alike , Manuel De Blas , Luis Barboo , Lorenzo Robledo , George Rigaud , Alfonso Rojas , Dan Van Husen , Tito Garcia and several others. A special mention I want to highlight is the soundtrack of the film, Gianni Ferrio creates melodies that manage to finish to give the story a point even more dramatic and disturbing, making the images gain strength with the chords , a high-level work similarly the great composers of the genre . Acceptable photography by Francisco Sempere , though being necessary a right remastering , filmed on location in Las Rozas , Madrid , Lucainena de Las Torres, Andalucia, and of course , Almeria . The movie was produced by Atlantida Films/Jose Frade productions that financed several Western during the 60s and early 70s such as ¨Cuatreros¨ , ¨Mestizo¨ , ¨Challenge of McKenna¨ , ¨The mercenary¨ , ¨Los Compañeros¨, ¨twenty dollars for seven¨ and ¨Saddle tramps¨ , among others.

The motion picture was pretty well directed by Julio Buchs who also wrote the script along with Federico De Urrutia ; sometimes it is falsely claimed the movie was co-directed by Lucio Fulci, but this is not true, actor George Hilton has stated so in many interviews . Julio Buchs was an expert on thriller as he proved in ¨Salario De Crimen¨, ¨Alta tension¨ and ¨Trumpets of Apocalypse¨ and Spaghetti such as ¨Los Desesperados¨, ¨I'll kill him and return alone¨ also titled ¨El Hombre Mató Billy Kid¨ and ¨Mestizo¨ or ¨Django does not forgive¨ . Along with ¨A bullet for Sandoval¨ the Buchs's best film was ¨Encrucijada Una Monja¨ with Rosanna Schiaffino playing a similar character to ¨Audrey Hepburn's The nun's story¨ ; both of them were well directed by Julio until his early death at 46 years old .
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6/10
No bullet, just a lot of bull!
lastliberal31 July 2010
Saturday continues with another Spaghetti western with Ernest Borgnine and George Hilton.

The story takes place during the Civil War. Hilton got Borgnine's daughter pregnant, and she died delivering. Hilton comes back to marry her, finds, out she's dead, and takes the baby, who dies because no one would defy Don Pedro Sandoval (Borgnine) and give him milk.

After the baby dies, he flips and gathers some murderers to get revenge on all who were responsible, particularly Sandoval.

Great knife fight between the two of them at the end, and I assure you it wasn't a bullet that did him in.

Good action throughout.
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5/10
A good set up, but this film's a bit of a drag
Leofwine_draca11 December 2017
Warning: Spoilers
A BULLET FOR SANDOVAL is a dark and mean-spirited spaghetti western that offers a leading role for genre stalwart George Hilton who has a more involved reason for revenge than most. He plays a gunslinger whose pregnant girlfriend falls ill, leaving him to bring up his son alone. Unfortunately for him, his girlfriend's tyrannical father kicks him out, leading to tragic circumstances. Hilton then goes gunning for revenge. This is a great story, but the film as a whole gets dragged in one too many sub-plots that are utilised merely to pad out the running time. The budget is obviously low and aside from an entertaining Borgnine the performances are understated. It could have been so much better.
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7/10
Vengeance of Mermaid Man
Bezenby5 September 2018
This one is really bleak and nihilistic, so watch out for that. Set during the American Civil War, we have Confederate soldier George Hilton having to go AWOL in order to save the honour of a woman who has just borne his child. George has several problems, however, one being that the army aren't too lenient on deserters, and his lady's father, Sandoval (a very loud Borgnine, just the way we like him!), really hates his guts and wants nothing to do with him. Plus, he gets caught and sentenced to death in pretty short order.

Killing his captor and heading south with a couple of mates, George finds that the town his fiance lives in is suffering from an outbreak of cholera, his missus has just died, and Sandoval has just dumped the kid on him and banished him. Further still, George finds that his kid is starving to death, but no one will feed him as they think the kid has cholera. The kid dies, and George turns to the dark side and starts murdering everyone who turned him away. Is this a Western or an Adam Sandler film?

George gets himself a gang of bandits while on the other side of things Sandoval keeps getting madder and madder and madder to the point where he denies he even had a daughter in the first place (although in secret he's shattered inside that she's gone - nicely performed by Borgnine). Both men are gearing up for a confrontation that they cannot avoid, as both of them have lost their souls...

We all like Ernest Borgnine, right? You can't go wrong with him here, as a stubborn but honourable man consumed by grief. George Hilton too does a nice turn as the loved up soldier turned blank-eyed killer and it's the fact that both characters have more depth that carries the film. Neither of them are particular evil men, but through circumstance they are both turned into monsters.

Good film. Loved the custard-pie fight at the end!

Wait...no...that didn't happen.
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Bullet for Sandoval
Michael_Elliott9 April 2008
Bullet for Sandoval, A (1969)

*** (out of 4)

Interesting Spaghetti Western takes place during the Civil War when a soldier (George Hilton) gets word that his pregnant girlfriend is dying. By the time he reaches the house she has died and her jealous father (Ernest Borgnine) makes him leave with their newborn son. Without the resources to take care of the child, it dies and soon the soldier sets out for revenge. This film has a great revenge story going for it but by the time it ended I was pretty mad at the movie because it could have been so much better. The film has several subplots and none of them are as interesting as the revenge story so these subplots get in the way and in the end they really pull the film back some. The film's main story is still good enough to make this worth watching as it features some great action sequences as well as two good performances by the leads. Hilton is very good in his mainly silent role and Borgnine delivers a maniac style performance. The ending is very strange and bizarre but it works well with the film even though the revenge takes a few different turns.
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6/10
Become the killer
BandSAboutMovies10 November 2023
Warning: Spoilers
John Warner (George Hilton) deserts the Confederate Army when he learns that his lover Rosa (Annabella Incontrera, Black Belly of the Tarantula) is about to deliver his child. He's captured but has two friends who allow him to escape and he makes it home just in time to learn that she's died. Even worse, the child's grandfather Don Pedro Sandoval (Ernest Borgnine) rejects the child, who also dies from a fever that could have been helped with all the money that the rich Sandovals have horded.

Warner then decides that all hope is gone, so he becomes an outlaw, mostly seeking to make the life of the Sandoval family as bad as possible. This whole movie is about revenge and two men who ultimately will do anything to one another even if it destroys themselves.

Director Julio Buchs also made Murder by Music and Django Does Not Forgive. There were rumors that Lucio Fulci directed this - the opening with a man cutting rings off dead fingers and pulling out fillings seems to be something he'd craft - but no, it's not him.

It also has a great AKA title: Those Desperate Men Who Smell of Dirt and Death.
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4/10
A Bullet for Sandoval
Scarecrow-8814 December 2009
Warning: Spoilers
George Hilton has a big role in this spaghetti western where he portrays an embittered Confederate deserter whose infant child dies of cholera and starvation due to the apathy of others who deny him milk for the baby. In retaliation all those who he blames for the death of his child, especially one Don Pedro(..portrayed by a unsympathetic Ernest Borgnine who hates Hilton's John Warner so much he denounces his own daughter's existence because she fell in love with him), a wealthy man who practically owns the village of Los Cadres, the place where the cholera broke out, whose disease has created a widespread panic plaguing the surrounding areas. Evolving into a remorseless outlaw, with a growing pack of cutthroats and dangerous gunmen joining him, Warner sets his sights on destroying Don Pedro Sandoval in every way possible, blaming him for the death of his child.

I think the major mistake of A Bullet for Sandoval is establishing, effectively I thought, Hilton's Warner as a legitimate tragic hero only to transform him into a murderous thug. I never personally thought Hilton was as good as some loathsome killer gathering a brood of gunfighters as he was a mistreated soldier, stripped of any form of dignity due to leaving his regimen before their battle against a major Yankee outfit because he took off with Don Pedro's son, who had informed him of his beloved's sickness and the child he never knew he had. Seeing a pitiful Warner, in a hopeless quest to find a sympathetic figure to provide him with milk for his baby really tugged on my heartstrings and I certainly found his situation devastating. Then, the film, after the baby's death, strips him of his humanity, and he becomes some outlaw collecting his own personal army..I never bought Hilton as an effective heavy, and believe in switching his personality costs the film some major dramatic punch. Borgnine, while attempts at showing a remorse for losing his daughter, while at the same time hating her for the love affair with Warner, never earned an ounce of empathy from me, and I imagine others will have just as hard a time caring about his fate. If anything, the film removes anyone to care about. That is a mistake, in my mind, that the film never recovers from. Almost every time he's on screen Don Pedro is berating someone, loudly barking at others for allowing Warner to roam free, failing to accept his responsibility for what transpires.

As you expect, the movie prepares you for the eventual showdown between Warner and Sandoval. It's really about waiting and fate. How long will Warner and those he associates himself with last as a unit? When Sandoval and other ranchers plea with the Confederacy for man/firepower, will Warner be able to successfully avoid a court martial or certain death? Can Warner and those men not killed by the soldiers, attempting to flee a set-up after one of their own betrays them, survive in Mexico? Will they attempt to re-enter America? You just know that Warner and Sandoval will meet face to face to settle their differences. The major bugaboo that bothered me was the reason Sandoval hated Warner so much to begin with. There's mention that Sandoval thought Warner was only interested in his wealth and ranch, but to hate him with such guile, the film doesn't seemed too worried to address this very important question with great detail.

There are some action scenes, but most of them lack vigor and punch. And, there are several build-ups to stare-down gunfights which never reach the level expected for this genre. There's lots of potential for A Bullet for Sandoval, but for some reason director/writer Julio Buchs doesn't wish to stage full scale shootouts which is a standard for any great spaghetti western. There's also enough story here to build from if Buchs had stay the course. Too bad.
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4/10
Never get into a knife fight with Ernest Borgnine!
Space_Lord30 January 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Now people who know me will tell you I'm into westerns. Spaghetti or otherwise. So when I found this DVD for less than $10, I thought I had stumbled across a bit of a bargain. Fulci co-directing a western? Bring it on!!! But after viewing I felt somewhat... indifferent. On one hand the film exudes atmosphere and does a great job building towards a climax. On the other hand you have an anti climactic ending where the bandit Warner leaves his enemy Sandoval (Borgnine) at the mercy of a rampaging bull rather than finishing him off himself like a real man.

That's why I was disappointed! Sandoval didn't get the bullet promised in the title, he got a bull!!! But I guess "It's a bull for Sandoval" just doesn't sound right!
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4/10
It's hard to care about anyone in this flick...
planktonrules15 December 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Because hundreds of Italian westerns were made, they couldn't all be classics! In fact, a bunch had to fall in the at best mediocre range--and "A Bullet for Sandoval" certainly is that. Despite a starring role for Ernest Borgnine, this wasn't enough to elevate this movie to anything other than a time-passer for those obsessed with the genre.

The film begins with an idiot being told his girlfriend is about to give birth to his baby. Despite this being during the Civil War and the man being in the Confederate army, he just runs away--and so it's hard to really empathize with the guy even though he wants to return and marry the lady and do the right thing. When he arrives, however, he finds that his girlfriend is dead! And, her father threatens to kill him unless he leaves and takes the baby with him! He and his partners leave and try to find lodging and food, but because a Cholera outbreak has occurred, folks are very unfriendly and refuse help. The baby soon gets sick and dies and the man vows to make the towns and the baby's grandfather pay. Now this was actually a pretty good idea for a film (despite the whole AWOL angle). However, the man and his friends went far beyond exacting revenge--the gang grew and they terrorized EVERYONE. Because of this, you really had no empathy for him or his nihilistic cause. On the other hand, the father (Borgnine) wasn't exactly likable...and in fact NO ONE in the film was the least bit likable or multi-dimensional. They were all either scum or victims! Because of this and the film's not taking advantage of a decent plot idea, I found myself happy when the whole thing ended (and on a very, very downbeat note).
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8/10
One of the best spaghettis..
Mike-94519 September 1999
Anybody who is into spaghettis should watch this film. The plot is about a woman that dies after giving birth to the son of her lover (George Hilton), a soldier away on duty. The father of the woman (Ernest Borgnine), hates Hilton and blames him for her death. The hatred the men have for eachother consumes them both and they spend the film stalking eachother, until they finally settle the account at the end, with one of the best and climatic endings I have ever seen in any movie.

For a start, the acting in this spag, is better than 90% of the spags I have seen. The atmosphere is dripping with a sense of fate and destiny...a sort of weird nihilism between the two men. The cinematography is gorgeous and the film moves from scene to scene very smoothly...making it easy to watch.

The ending is an unusual one for a spaghetti. Its simply brilliant.
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1/10
Bullet for Sandoval?
mistymountain24 August 2010
Warning: Spoilers
I'm not really a fan of westerns myself, but someone told me that this is a classic spaghetti western and that I must see it. Well, i did and let me tell you, I was not impressed. The casting first of all has something to be desired. They hired a South American actor, George Hilton to play an American soldier, John Warner, who goes AWOL to see his dying girlfriend, Rosa. Her father, Don Sandoval, a Mexican lord, despises Warner and blames him for his daughter's death.Well, Rosa died not necessarily because of childbirth, but probably from cholera. Don Sandoval is played by American actor, Ernest Borgnine. So, you have a Hispanic playing an American, and an American playing a Mexican. But wait, there's more. Warner reaches Don Sandoval's home, comes in, sees Sandoval and is about to leave, when Rosa's brother begs his father to let Warner see his infant son. So, Sandoval tells Warner to take the baby and leave. Warner hides out with the infant, and tries to get some milk for the baby while visiting a town, but the townspeople turn him away. Eventually, we don't know whether the baby died of starvation or from cholera. But, Warner swears that he'll get revenge for his son's death. So, for the rest of the movie, you see Warner and Sandoval plotting revenge against each other. But in the end, Warner's involved in a bloody shootout, and let's just say that Sandoval never got his.
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4/10
Not particularly good
dbborroughs15 February 2011
Warning: Spoilers
I had been always told this was a great film. What I found when I finally saw it was that it's a messy film.

It's about a southern soldier who deserts to marry his girl who is about to give birth during a cholera epidemic. Eventually making it home he is refused permission to marry by the girls father. She dies, the baby survives and the father rides off with a friend and the baby. Picking up a monk they travel a short while before the baby dies. Dad swears revenge and after picking up some other bad man goes after the father of his dead lover.

Things happen and only enough is explained to move things along. As I said to dad, I'm watching simply to see if they pull it out in the end. It never did.

On some level the pieces work but as a whole this film just doesn't work.
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3/10
Silly melodrama that just stops short of being camp.
mark.waltz26 September 2023
Warning: Spoilers
The hammy performance of Ernest Borgnine, playing a wealthy Mexican land owner, would almost be offensive if it wasn't so unintentionally funny. He's the father of the young woman who died of cholera during childbirth, having the illegitimate baby of American confederate soldier George Hilton. He has deserted his post to find her, only to arrive too late, and to be handed his child by the irate father who obviously had lustful feelings for his own daughter.

At least Hilton was of Hispanic descent, but he's playing an American so his nationality makes no difference. Borgine is a kit as believable as a Mexican as Charlton Heston was in "A Touch of Evil", but at least Heston didn't call attention to his miscasting by overacting. Borgine bellows every line as if he thought he was Big Daddy of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", and he's closer to Big Show-Off, his performance ineffective and cheesy. If watched for the laughs at the film, it can be somewhat digestible, but after some really bad moments, those laughs nearly had me choking.
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8/10
A Bullet For Sandoval
steeplejack1724 February 2006
This movie is in my top 20 list of the best spaghetti westerns. Ernest Borgnine was great for his only contribution towards the genre as Don Sandoval who blames the death of his daughter(Rosa) at the hands of John Warner (George Hilton) who wanted to marry Rosa but was not allowed due to the jealousy of Don Sandoval. Rosa dies giving birth to there child a boy who dies due to Sandoval's rage and jealousy and as well as the towns people's lack of help due the child being from a town having cholera. This last act makes warner turn outlaw punishing everyone who did not help. It is a great little story of revenge and hate that makes one of Hilton's best spaghetti roles ever. The ending is one of my favorites. A real comparison to the ending of "The Wild Bunch". The music was good and the acting and character profiles of the Warner gang was fabulous.
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8/10
Not a bad western flick at all
dannyrest20 July 2021
Not the worst nor the best. And compared to the garbage people claimed were westerns in 2020/2021 this was far better.

The idea for the plot was great, the acting was a little wooden by some of the other characters. Ernest Borgnine was probably the only one that did a great job of making their character believable.

The editing for the film leaves one scratching their head though. At one point in the movie it seemed like a portion was cut out or missed. It went from talking and riding straight into a gunfight.
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8/10
Well Told Revenge Story
FightingWesterner14 November 2009
Confederate soldier George Hilton abandons his post in order to go and marry the expectant mother of his child, the daughter of wealthy Spanish landowner Don Pedro Sandoval (Ernest Borgnine), before it's too late. Captured, he escapes and arrives in time to find the baby's mother having already died in child-birth.

Her angry father sends the wanted Hilton and the baby out into the darkness where he gathers together a group of misfits to wreak vengeance on all who refused to help his son, especially Sandoval.

One memorable scene has Hilton attacking a petty fearful man who previously denied the starving infant milk, drowning him in a bucket of it.

A good Spanish/Italian co-production, the first half of A Bullet For Sandoval is so strong in terms of character development and emotions that the rest of the movie suffers by comparison.

Still, it's definitely worth watching and one of the best European westerns, with good performances by Hilton and Borgnine and a great climax in a bullfighting arena.
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