''A Bullet for Sandoval'' (a.k.a. ''Those Desperate Men Who Smell of Dirt and Death'', a.k.a. ''Desperate Men'') is a 1969

Spaghetti Western The spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's filmmaking style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...

film. It is a co-production between

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

(where is known as ''Quei disperati che puzzano di sudore e di morte'') and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

(where it was released as ''Los Desperados''). The film was generally well received by critics. For years, it was thought that famed Italian horror film director

Lucio Fulci Lucio Fulci (; 17 June 1927 – 13 March 1996) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. Although he worked in a wide array of genres through a career spanning nearly five decades, including Commedia all'italiana, comedies and spagh ...

directed this western, but that was later disputed by the film's lead star George Hilton.

Plot

John Warner is a soldier for the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United State ...

. When he receives a message that his lover is about to deliver a child he becomes a

deserter Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or Military base, post without permission (a Pass (military), pass, Shore leave, liberty or Leave (U.S. military), leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with u ...

. On his way to her he is captured and brought before a

tribunal A tribunal, generally, is any person or institution with authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title. For example, an advocate who appears before a court with a singl ...

. Yet two old friends make sure he can escape. He makes it to the town where he expects his lover to be. Only is he too late too marry her because she's died in the meantime. He tries to take care of his child as a single father but the citizens of this town aren't supportive and thus another tragedy takes place. The love of army deserter John Warner dies at deliverance and their baby child perishes after its grandfather, the landowner Sandoval, rejects it. Warner forms a feared outlaw gang with of two fellow deserters, one runaway lay brother, and some outlaws that join along the way. The local ranchers call in the army for protection, but except for an episode where Warner refuses to make a woman a hostage for money, we mainly see the gang harass Sandoval. One of the gang eventually tries to sell out Warner for a reward. The four core members stay together until Warner has avenged himself on Sandoval, and then they die a spectacular death at a

shootout A shootout, also called a firefight, gunfight, or gun battle, is a confrontation in which parties armed with firearms exchange gunfire. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used in a non-military context or to ...

in a bullfighting arena.

Cast

* George Hilton as Corporal John Warner *

Ernest Borgnine Ernest Borgnine ( ; born Ermes Effron Borgnino; January 24, 1917 – July 8, 2012) was an American actor whose career spanned over six decades. He was noted for his gruff but relaxed voice and gap-toothed Cheshire Cat grin. A popular perf ...

as Don Pedro Sandoval * Alberto De Mendoza as Lucky Boy *

Leo Anchóriz Leopoldo de Anchóriz Fustel (September 22, 1932 – February 17, 1987) was a Spanish actor and writer, most notable for appearing in Spaghetti Western films. Biography Fustel was born in Almería, Spain on 22 September 1932. His real name ...

as Padre Converso *

Annabella Incontrera Annabella Incontrera (11 June 1943 – 19 September 2004), sometimes credited as Pam Stevenson, was an Italian film and television actress. Career Born in Milan, Italy, Incontrera attended the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia without fi ...

as Rosa Sandoval *

Antonio Pica Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Pica Serrano (21 March 1933 — 26 April 2014) was a Spanish actor. Pica died on 26 April 2014 at a hospital in El Puerto de Santa María, Spain. Filmography * ''A Fistful of Dollars'' (1964) - Rojo Gang Membe ...

as Sam Paul * Manuel Miranda as Francisco Sandoval *

Gustavo Rojo Gustavo Rojo Pinto (5 September 1923 – 22 April 2017) was a Uruguayan-Mexican actor. Life and career Gustavo Rojo was born on 5 September 1923 on a German ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. His mother was the prominent Spanish aut ...

as Guadalupano *

Andrea Aureli Andrea Aureli (5 March 1923 – 5 November 2007) was an Italian actor. Life and career Born in Terni, Aureli graduated from the Liceo classico in his hometown, then he enrolled the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome, graduating i ...

as Morton *

Manuel De Blas Manuel de Blas Muñoz (born 12 April 1941) is a Spanish film, television, and stage actor. Biography Manuel de Blas was born in Badajoz in 1941 and was raised in Córdoba. At age 14, he moved to Madrid. He studied a degree in political science ...

as José Sandoval

Reception

In his discussion of the cases of double motives in

films Fridlund contrasts stories like ''A Bullet for Sandoval'' - where the revenge motive of Warner comes into conflict with the monetary motive of some gang members - with the bounty killer pair in ''

For a Few Dollars More ''For a Few Dollars More'' () is a 1965 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone. It stars Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef as bounty hunters and Gian Maria Volonté as the primary villain. Klaus Kinski plays a supporting role as a se ...

'', where at first their common monetary motive creates a conflict which is resolved when the revenge motive of the Mortimer character is revealed and he leaves the collection of all the bounty to the

Man with No Name The Man with No Name () is the antihero character portrayed by Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone's "''Dollars Trilogy''" of Italian Spaghetti Western films: '' A Fistful of Dollars'' (1964), '' For a Few Dollars More'' (1965), and '' The Good, t ...

character.Fridlund, Bert: ''The Spaghetti Western. A Thematic Analysis''. Jefferson, NC and London: McFarland & Company Inc., 2006 pp. 110-11.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bullet for Sandoval 1969 films 1969 Western (genre) films Spaghetti Western films Spanish Western (genre) films Films shot in Almería Films scored by Gianni Ferrio 1960s Italian films 1960s Spanish films 1960s Italian-language films Italian-language Spanish films Italian-language Western (genre) films