Memorable, crazy movie

Fantastic!

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

One thing is make a movie with big budge as Once Upon a Time in the West a super-production by Sergio Leone...another thing is make a low budge western even with great director John Sturges...like this!! Daring go to Spain making this flap movie Bronson could be buried your career,but after this came Death Wish series and saved your skin Chino isn't a good plot. Weak casting...a medium western. I'd watched this movie in 1988,now l revisited the movie in a bad copy from VHS transferred to an original DVD from Continental. Maybe with a good restoration the movie can be better image to me, but l have my doubts if can be possible in near future.

" Valdez, Il Mezzosangue" is in sharp contrast to Bronson's late seventies action-packed movies.There's a pastoral ,almost ecological feel to it;one very violent scene of flogging and that's it.SPOILERS Chino is a half-breed ,who lives on the fringe of white society;the day he tries to integrate well in this group,by marriage to a rich landlord's sister,racism emerges and his dream of a family (in which ,although he seems jealous ,his protégé can find a real home)is short-lived.It looks like a movie-for-the-whole-family but it is not: its conclusion is not what the audience expects :no happy end ,the establishment wins.All that concerns horse -breeding is really excellent: we feel Chino's love for his animals ,particularly in the scene when Bronson takes care of the mare that gives birth;the friendship with his Young protégé ,and the boy's impressive nightmare .Marcel Bozuffi ,a very efficient French actor ("Z")plays a good villain,without overplaying :his face full of hate is enough to show his contempt for Chino.On the other hand ,the love affair between Chino and Catherine (Jill Ireland ,Mrs Bronson)does not convince,being too predictable with a touch of male chauvinism ("Women should not ride horses")Veteran John Sturges,helped by an obscure Italian director,proves he can age gracefully.

This Italian/Spanish co-production concerns upon a mestizo , Chino Valdez (Bronson at fifty-one years of age) , the Halfbreed , he's a horse breeder rancher who fights to maintain his way of life by facing off foes . 'The Valdez Horses' refers to Chino's equine herd . The half-Indian man lives solitary until the arrival a young (Vincent Van Patten) . Chino decides to take him in and teach him the art of rodeo , raising , breeding and round-up horses . The movie follows the Bronson's adventures and his imposing black stallion that represents the freedom and proud what the white men impede him to enjoy . Meanwhile , Chino has a sensitive romance , as he falls in love with the sister (Jill Ireland) of a wealthy owner (Marcel Bozzuffi) who doesn't approve the relationship and taking the subsequent vengeance. It is a Spaghetti Western shot in Almeria (Spain) where by that time lots of Maccaroni/Paella Westerns were shot , and its source 'The Valdez Horses' , a novel written by Lee Hoffman (published in 1967) ; but being a little bit boring and slow-moving , although there are some shootouts , action , and emotion . Interesting storyline though monotonous and tiring by Clair Huffaker , he was a prestigious screenwriter who wrote several notorious westerns . Clair Huffaker is credited as the sole writer on American prints , though in the Italian ones is also signed by Massimo De Rita and Arduino Maiuri . There's a brief exploring about Native American Indians and dream sequences that tend to undermine the easy action . As always , Charles Bronson performs a tough and silent man in lame manner , he plays as Chino Valdez , he is mixed Native American Indian/white European genealogy , he's a horse breeder who breeds , tames , and trains ; while Jill Ireland (Bronson's real wife) , as his sweetheart , is enjoyable and enticing . This film is one of Charles Bronson's 70s westerns , his westerns made during the seventies include Red sun (1971) by Terence Young , Chato (1972) by Michael Winner , From noon till three (1976) by Frank D Gilroy , Nevada Express (1975) by Tom Gries and White Buffalo (1977) by J. Lee Thompson , being most of them produced by Dino De Laurentiis . Spectacular outdoors well shown by cameramen Armando Nannuzzi and Godofredo Pacheco , but the film-copy is a little worn-out . Set in New Mexico , USA , this movie was actually filmed in Almería , desert of Tabernas , Andalucía , Spain . Musical score by Guido and Maurizio De Angelis is effective and evocative , they are composers of numerous spaghetti western soundtracks . Weak though slick direction by John Sturges, , he previously made classic westerns as ¨Gunfight OK Corral¨, ¨Last train from Gun Hill¨ and ¨The magnificent seven¨ and his former Western film had been ¨Joe Kidd¨ with Clint Eastwood . Being fifth and ending film that filmmaker Sturges made with star Charles Bronson . This Italian/Spanish/USA co-production was premiered in Europe in 1973 but didn't open in the USA until 1976. In the Italian version appears credited as co-director Duilio Coletti . Duilio was a good craftsman who mainly filmed adventure genre such as ¨Captain Fracassa¨, ¨Il Fornaretto Di Venezia¨, The Mask of Cesare Borgia" , "Merchant of Slaves" and wartime genre , such as ¨Anzio¨ co-directed by Edward Dymitryck , ¨Divisione Folgore¨, "The Earth Cries Out" , "Hell Raiders of the Deep" , and ¨Under ten flags¨ . The motion picture is a Charles Bronson vehicle along with his wife, Jill Ireland , both of whom sadly deceased . Rating : Acceptable and passable.

Not Bronson's best effort, but not a total washout either. An often used storyline where the big rancher wants to take over the entire range, forcing out the little man. Things are made even more tense when the little man falls for the big man's sister. Except for a "Chato's Land" type shootout and a couple of fist and knife fights, there wasn't a lot of action, and the tale was somewhat holey. Question: Why does the man always burn his house down when he decides to vacate his frontier home? How is it that stone houses burn so good? Where did Chino get hay bales in 1870?