A Bullet for the General **** [Quién sabe?] (1967, Gian Maria Volontè, Klaus Kinski, Lou Castel, Martine Beswick) – Classic Movie Review 6199

‘When the bullet turns red… the General will be dead!’ Director Damiano Damiani’s riveting 1967 Italian adult Western with typical spaghetti violence was belatedly introduced to Britain in 1990, thanks to the BBC2 TV Moviedrome movie show and its presenter Alex Cox.

Lou Castel stars as Bill ‘Niño’ Tate, a fair-haired US agent who infiltrates the Mexican army to arrest and destroy the notorious popular bandit chief El Chuncho (Gian-Maria Volonte) and his brother El Santo (Klaus Kinski) .

Director Damiani’s movie is now a respected cult item as a highly effective, typically lusty and violent Sixties spaghetti Western. Both the tale and the acting from the distinguished European cast are well above average for the genre, and the journeyman Damiani (who had one shot at international fame in 1982 with Amityville II: The Possession) directs with unexpected flair and style.

Also in the cast are Martine Beswick as Adelita, Jaime Fernandez as General Elías and Andrea Checchi as Don Felipe.

It is written by Salvatore Laurani and Franco Solinas, shot in widescreen and Technicolor by Toni Secchi, produced by Bianco Manini and scored by Luis Bacalov.

The full film runs 135 minutes and the International Cut runs 118 minutes.

Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s first film Love Is Colder Than Death (1969) is dedicated to ‘Linio and Chuncho’, the main characters in A Bullet for the General.

Allegedly, Damiani finally resorted to violence on set to bring the infamously difficult actors Volontè and Kinski into line.

Unlike most so-called Sixties spaghetti Westerns, which were made in Spain, and thus really paella Westerns, this Italian movie was largely shot in the Cinecittà Studios in Rome, though even so there was outdoor shooting at Almería, Granada and San Jose in Spain.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 6199

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