Rent The Big Gundown (1966)

Eight Job Opportunities have Arisen at The Sexy Widow's Ranch.....just saying. - The Big Gundown review by Strovey

Lee Van Cleef pops up in The Big Gundown in a role that paid so many of his bills as an older, wiser, but stoic bounty-hunter style hunter-killer in the Wild West. Sometimes he was bad, sometimes good, in this interesting and superior ‘Spaghetti Western’ he is mainly good but there are a lot of shades of grey to be seen in his performance as you watch the story unfold.

With The Big Gundown the story is all. Being an Italian-made western well over fifty years old and therefore right in the middle of that genres boom years, you get the overwrought and a tad odd set pieces with over-the-top sound effects, play-ground style shoot-outs where the combatants pull off impossible feats but while this might put off a younger generation, brought up on more realistic effects and films (sometimes), perhaps for certain generations it is delight that makes you smile.

Tomas Milian, a Cuban American who carved out a career in Italy, here plays Cuchillo, the scruffy n’er-do-well who is deadly, and I mean deadly, with a knife. Cleverer than he appears, a hidden strength, Cuchillo in general stays one step ahead of the greatest bounty hunter, who does not collect bounties, in the land. Milian plays the role to the hilt, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, arms pin-wheeling everywhere, screaming, pleading, gurning, almost a parody but actually fitting for the role and highly entertaining, never before has so much over-acting worked perfectly. His foil, in what for most parts is a two-hander, is Van Cleef, who seemingly just goes into his western hitman role and pushes ‘play’. His Corbett is minimal in expression and word and the polar opposite to Milian, he shows emotions or thoughts with a glance up, a slight movement. So different from the Cuchillo character it works well. If you like your pasta-based oaters this will be familiar and welcome.

The story apparently derives from an original written by Franco Solinas and Fernando Morandi which was set in a contemporary time period, with the protagonists' ages reversed and ending in a very bleak and nihilistic manner. When it came to the screenplay setting the tale in the ‘Wild West’ made more sense as it gave Sergio Sollima a lot more leeway with lawlessness and story beats. The ending is hilariously so ‘Western movie ending’ it is again almost parody but it was most definitely added as a nod to cinematic lore and to leave the audience upbeat.

But it is definitely the story that raises this film’s stock above similar-style movies. As with much Italian output, there is a barely hidden political agenda at play. Solima was in the Italian resistance against the Nazis in World War Two and the theme of the downtrodden, underclass maligned and mistreated fighting back is in the forefront with the armed branch of the elite, Van Cleef doing the bidding of this masters until the scales fall from his eyes. There is even a Nazi representation with stiff as a board Austrian Baron bodyguard played with fun and elan by Gérard Herter to who the death of a person just happens to be a side-effect of his obsession. Racism, classism and unthinking capitalism are all front and centre. Perhaps this sounds dreary and preachy to some, and that is understandable, but such is the format, such is the screenplay and acting that if you choose not to see that message it is easy enough to enjoy a rip-roaring and over-the-top western.

For ‘Spaghetti Western’ aficionados’ The Big Gundown is a must and anyone interested in cinema with an open mind likewise. If you are really fussy with realism, dodgy dubbing and so forth then perhaps bear in mind the year, 1966.

Legendary - The Big Gundown review by sb

FILM & REVIEW https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063501/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_ Sergio Sollima’s legendary Western a print of which I have been after for ages… Van Cleef plays Corbett an aging but still lethal bounty hunter who is engaged by a railway baron Barnes to hunt down and bring to justice a Mexican farmer called Cuchillo (Millian) who is accused of the rape and murder of a little girl. In return Barnes will support Corbett in a run for the Senate so the hunt is on.. Cuchillo proves more than a worthy opponent using all the wiles at his disposal to evade capture leaving Corbett more and more frustrated and the hunt crosses over into Mexico which complicates his task even more… Van Cleef is as always excellent with Mullian in his breakthrough role and who would become a stable of Italian cinema fooling everyone one with his simple farmer routine. The film does take a while to settle down - the first third is a little uneven with a couple of sequences that don’t add much to the plot but once the border is crossed things improve with the final third coming to a thunderous conclusion. Fine score by Morricone and it’s a really great restoration with stunning use of the Spanish landscape - 4/5

The best non-Leone Italian western? - The Big Gundown review by HW

Bar Leone’s films, I find most spaghetti westerns ridiculous. This one had a simple, straightforward manhunt plot that kept it grounded (mostly) in a realistic western setting. The focus on two main characters also allowed for some intriguing character development. This might be the best performance in Lee Van Cleef’s career, as his lawman character John Corbett grows more and more obsessed with catching the bandit Cuchillo, at the expense of his morals and near sanity. Tomas Milian is totally charismatic as the young folk-hero trickster, cunningly slipping out of Corbett’s clutches in a variety of wily ways. Yet he also displays deep bitterness at his station in life, as a lowly Mexican peon hunted by men of higher standing. In this way, the film takes on a leftist political aspect that doesn’t swallow the film, unlike with other less subtle Italian westerns. This is still an entertaining classic spaghetti western with thrilling gunplay and a rousing Morricone score; with added surprising depths.