Savage Guns (1961 film)

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This article is about the 1961 film. For other uses, see Savage Guns.
The Savage Guns
Directed by Michael Carreras
Produced by Jimmy Sangster
José Gutiérrez Maesso
Written by Story:
Peter R. Newman
Screenplay:
Edmund Morris
Starring Richard Basehart
Don Taylor
Alex Nicol
José Manuel Martín
Fernando Rey
José Nieto
Music by Anton Garcia Abril
Cinematography Alfredo Fraile
Editing by Pedro del Rey
David Hawkins
Distributed by MGM
Release date(s) November 1961 (Spain)
March 8, 1962 (Finland)
May 11, 1962 (Sweden)
October 1, 1962 (USA)
Running time 83 min.
Country United Kingdom/Spain
Language English
Gross revenue 6,922,551 ₧ (ESP)
IMDb profile

The Savage Guns (Spanish: Tierra brutal) is a 1961 Eurowestern film, a joint production by the United Kingdom and Spain. Based on a specially commissioned screenplay, The San Siado Killings, written by Peter R. Newman and directed by Michael Carreras, the film is credited as the first traditional Spaghetti Western.

The film was noticeably set apart from previous "classic" American westerns starring an American leading cast (Richard Basehart, Don Taylor and Alex Nicol) and Spanish actors in supporting roles (José Manuel Martín, Paquita Rico, María Granada, Fernando Rey and José Nieto) as well as its unique use of the deserts, palm trees, agaves and whitewashed villages of southern Spain. It was also the first western to be shot on location in Almeria, Spain, an area which would be often used in later Spaghetti Westerns during the next two decades.

Twenty-five westerns would be produced in the area during the next two years, primarily by German, Spanish and Italian film studios, although the majority of these films were considered low quality until the release of Sergio Leone's Fistful of Dollars in 1964, its popularity leading to the Dollars trilogy and ultimately of the Spaghetti Western-genre. [1]

Contents

[edit] Cast

  • Richard Basehart as Steve Fallon — a wounded drifter who is taken in by Mike and Franchia Summers. Eventually nursed back to health, he decides to help the Summers in their fight against Danny Pose and Ortega.
  • Don Taylor as Mike Summers — a former major in the Confederate Army, he lives with his wife on their ranch outside Sonora. Although he and his wife are victims of the Danny Pose, his experiences during the American Civil War have caused him to become a pacifist.
  • Paquita Rico as Franchea — the wife of Mike Summers.
  • José Nieto as Ortega — a local land baron who attempts to dominate the area by buying up cheap land from rival ranchers in the valley. He using a bandit gang to force ranchers to sell to him as well as to terrorize the local townspeople.
  • Alex Nicol as Danny Pose — an outlaw and bandit leader in the pay of Ortega, his gang collects extortion money for Ortega. He is both violent and ruthless, however he displays cowardly traits when confronted alone.
  • Maria Granada as Juana — the sister of Franchia, she becomes involved in a romantic relationship with Steve Fallon.
  • Fernando Rey as Don Hernán —

[edit] Plot

The film takes place in a small valley of Sonora, Mexico, near the Arizona Territory, around 1870. Steve Fallon, a drifter and gun-for-hire, is seriously wounded while on the trail and is found by Mike Summers and his wife, Franchea. He is taken into their home and, while recovering, he learns that a local land baron, Ortega, is pressuring local ranchers to sell their land to him with the help of Danny Pose and his gang of outlaws. Fallon also develops feelings for Fanchea's sister, Juana.

Mike Summers, a former Confederate officer, had become a pacifist following his experiences during the American Civil War. Refusing to even wear a gun, he is defenseless when Danny Pose arrives at the ranch to collect "protection" money. Confronted by Fallon, Pose is disarmed and looses to Fallon in a brawl. He is eventually run out of town after a gunfight with Fallon ends with three of his companions dead.

Ortega responds by taking over the gang himself and leading a raid against the Summers ranch and, in one of the films most graphic scenes, he has Fallon's hands crushed under a wagon. Danny Pose soon returns, under the belief that Fallon has been killed, and turns on Ortega murdering his former employer. Riding to the Summers ranch, he sees the helpless Fallon and proceeds to shoot him when Summers grabs a nearby gun and kills Pose in order to save Fallon's life. [2]

[edit] Production

Having formed an independent film company, Capricorn Productions, with writer and director Jimmy Sangster, this was Carreras first film since breaking away from Hammer Studios. By 1960, Hollywood studios had drastically cut down on producing western films and problems with distribution left European countries in short supply. Producer José Gutiérrez Maesso, later writer of The Ugly Ones, Django and The Hellbenders, had noted the advantages of the areas desert landscape after visiting Almeria during the late 1950s.

Carreras had soon developed a unique idea for producing a European western using the desert location of Almeria, Spain as an alternative to the southwestern United States. Successfully organizing a collaboration between Capricorn and the Madrid-based production companies Tecisa and CEA Studios, he also gained financial backing from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer which recognized the vastly reduced cost of filming in the area. [3]

[edit] Casting

Alex Nicol, as outlaw Danny Pose, with Maria Granada and Richard Basehart.
Alex Nicol, as outlaw Danny Pose, with Maria Granada and Richard Basehart.

Like Carreras, the actors selected for the leading roles were all Hammer Studio regulars. His partner Jimmy Sangster was largely responsible for signing American actors Richard Basehart, Don Taylor and Alex Nicol. Of the three, only Nicol would appear in a second Spaghetti Western, the 1964 film Gunfighters of Casa Grande. [4] Savage Guns would be Taylor's last starring role in a feature film while Richard Basehart would find work as a television actor, best known as Admiral Harriman Nelson in the 1960s science fiction series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.

Their Spanish counterparts, veteran actors José Nieto, Fernando Rey and Paquita Rico, were also given prominent supporting roles in the film; this was also the film debut of Maria Granada. She would star in two other Spaghetti Westerns, Gunfighters of Casa Grande (1964) with Alex Nicol and Son of a Gunfighter (1965) with Fernando Rey, being cast as father and daughter in the latter film.

Rey would also go on to star in a number of other Spaghetti Westerns, most notably Navajo Joe (1966) and Compañeros (1970), while Nieto appeared in Outlaw of Red River (1965) and The Hellbenders (1967).

José Manuel Martín, while appearing in a minor role, proved to be one of the most visible character actors with appearances in Gunfighters of Casa Grande (1964), Minnesota Clay (1965), A Pistol for Ringo (1965), A Bullet for the General (1966), Train for Durango (1968) and Revenge of Trinity (1970).

Other former cast members would also made frequent cameo appearances including:

[edit] Filming

The majority of the filming took place in Almería during late 1961 being released in Spain in November and, the following year, throughout the rest of Europe in early 1962. After nearly a year of its initial release, Savage Guns made its American premiere with assistance from MGM on October 1, 1962.

[edit] Reaction

Although Savage Guns was well-financed and produced, certainly in comparison with later films produced in the area during the next few years, the film was considered a box office failure earning only 6,922,551 ₧ Pts (US: $66,023), and forced the close of the Capricorn studio following its release. The film's performance at the box office also reaffirmed Hammer Studios decision not to add westerns to its roster reserved for gothic horror and thriller films.

It was also considered particularly violent for its time, as in one scene Basehart's hands are crushed under the wheels of a wagon, and received an "above 15" rating in Finland (K-16) and Sweden (15 År). [5]

[edit] Cinematic influence

Savage Guns was originally intended as a European version of the classic American western in terms of the general storyline, however the film also displayed many traits which would define later Spaghetti Westerns both in look and style, in particular, the anti-hero characters, the unique setting and its graphic violence. One example was the hero, Richard Basehart, who wore black while the villain, Alex Nichol, wore white.

Absent from the film were also the distinctive soundtracks used in future Spaghetti Westerns, made popular by such composers as Francesco DeMasi, Bruno Nicolai and Ennio Morricone.

Carreras' use of the Spanish desert landscape was utilized not only by later Spaghetti Western directors such as Sergio Leone, but also used by major Hollywood studios including Lawrence of Arabia, Patton and Cleopatra. [6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Viñas, Ernesto Garret (July 2005). El spaghetti western: La historia de un género cinematográfico que inspiraría a Stephen King para escribir su saga (Spanish). Magazine film Mabuse.
  2. ^ Mannikka, Eleanor. Movies: The Savage Guns (1962). New York Times.
  3. ^ Estébenez, José Luis Salvador (2008-02-28). Tierra brutal (Spanish). La abadía de Berzano.
  4. ^ Viñas, Ernesto Garret (2001-08-20). Alex Nicol, Obituaries. The Independent.
  5. ^ Hughes, Howard. Once Upon a Time in the Italian West: The Filmgoers' Guide to Spaghetti Westerns. New York: I.B. Tauris & Co., 2004. (pg. xii) ISBN 1-85043-896-X
  6. ^ Viñas, Ernesto Garret (July 2005). El spaghetti western: La historia de un género cinematográfico que inspiraría a Stephen King para escribir su saga (Spanish). Magazine film Mabuse.

[edit] External links