Gunfighters of Casa Grande

Infobox Film
name = Gunfighters of Casa Grande


image_size =
caption =
director = Roy Rowland
producer = Sam Abarbanel
Lester Welch
writer = Story:
Borden Chase
Patricia Chase
Screenplay:
Borden Chase
Patricia Chase
Clark Reynolds
narrator =
starring = Alex Nicol
Jorge Mistral
Dick Bentley
Steve Rowland
Phil Posner
Mercedes Alonso
Diana Lorys
Maria Granada
Roberto Rey
Aldo Sambrell
music = Johnny Douglas
cinematography = Jose Aguayo
Manuel Marino
editing = George A. Lee
distributor = MGM
released = April 1, 1964 (USA)
May 1, 1964 (West Germany)
January 18, 1965 (Sweden)
April 15, 1965 (Denmark)
September 30, 1965 (United Kingdom)
runtime = 92 min.
country = United States/Spain
language = English
budget =
gross = 19,939,562 ₧ (ESP)
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0057122

"Gunfighters of Casa Grande" ( _es. Los Pistoleros de Casa Grande) is a 1964 Eurowestern film, co-produced by the United States and Spain. Based on a story by Borden and Patricia Chase, it was later developed into a screenplay with the assistance of screenwriter Clark Reynolds and directed by Roy Rowland, one of the last films he directed for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. [Writers Guild of America. "Who wrote the movie and what else did he write?: An index of screenwriters and their film works, 1936-1939". Los Angeles: The Academy, 1970. (pg. 280)] [Garfield, Brian. "Western Films: A Complete Guide". New York: Rawson Associates, 1982. (pg. 183) ISBN 0-89256-218-8] [Halliwell, Leslie. "The Filmgoer's Companion". New York: Avon, 1977. (pg. 139) ISBN 0-380-50419-7] [Quinlan, David. "The Illustrated Guide to Film Directors". Totowa, New Jersey: Barnes & Noble Books, 1983. (pg. 280) ISBN 0-389-20408-0]

The film starred Alex Nicol, Jorge Mistral, Dick Bentley, Steve Rowland, Phil Posner, Mercedes Alonso, Diana Lorys, Maria Granada, Roberto Rey and Aldo Sambrell. Antonio Mayans and José Manuel Martín both had minor appearances in the film, Martin having an uncredited role. [Matuszak, David F. "The Cowboy's Trail Guide to Westerns". Redlands, California: Pacific Sunset Publishing, 2003. (pg. 242) ISBN 0-9633582-5-1]

The film's trailer was originally narrated by voice actor Don LaFontaine in his first credited role. He had been working as recording engineer and copy writer when, after the original announcer failed to appear for the scheduled recording, LaFontaine agreed to record the trailer. [Barker, Joan. "Secrets of Voice-over Success: Top Voice-over Artists Reveal How They Did It". Boulder, Colorado: Sentient Publications, 2005. (pg. 18) ISBN 1-59181-033-7] [cite web |url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/entertainment/2003644715_announcerguy31.html?syndication=rss |title=Hey, there's "That Announcer Guy From the Movies" |accessdate= |accessmonthday= |accessdaymonth= |accessyear= |author=Arrillaga, Pauline |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date=2007-03-31 |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=Seattle Times |pages= |language= |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] [cite web |url=http://swindlemagazine.com/issueicons/don-lafontaine/ |title=Don LaFontaine |accessdate= |accessmonthday= |accessdaymonth= |accessyear= |author=Farley, Aaron |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year=2008 |month= |format= |work= |publisher=Swindle Magazine |pages= |language= |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] [cite web |url=http://www.mentalfloss.com/trivia/facts/archives/date/2004/05/ |title=In a world beyond imagination... lurks a voice known to millions, but a face known to far fewer. |accessdate= |accessmonthday= |accessdaymonth= |accessyear= |author=Wood, Sandy |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors=Kara Kovalchik |date=2004-05-04 |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=Mental Floss |pages= |language= |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ]

Cast

* Alex Nicol as Joe Daylight — an outlaw and professional gambler, he is the leader of a group of bandits rustling cattle across the US-Mexican border.
* Jorge Mistral as The Traveler — a recent member of the gang, he is the most outspoken of the group questioning Daylight's leadership.
* Steve Rowland as The Kid — the youngest member of the gang, he and The Traveler become friends. Although reluctantly supporting Daylight, he and The Traveler eventually side against him.
* Dick Bentley as Doc — one Daylight's three partners, he is an elderly outlaw. Although less vocal, he wishes to retire in Mexico with the others.
* Phil Posner as Henri — another of Daylight's partners.
* Mercedes Alonso as Dona Maria de Castellar — the daughter of a neighboring rancher, she falls in love with The Traveler.
* Diana Lorys as Gitana — the girlfriend of Joe Daylight.
* Maria Granada as Pacesita — the personal maid and confidant of Maria, she and The Kid also become involved romantically.
* Roberto Rey as Don Castellar de Verdugo — a neighboring rancher and landowner. He is the father of Maria de Castellar.
* Aldo Sambrell as Rojo — a rival bandit leader whose gang is threatening the ranchers in the area, including Joe Daylight's outfit.

Plot

Joe Daylight is on the run along with members of his outlaw gang, The Kid, Doc and Henri. After fleeing from a bank robbery, they manage to elude the posse chasing them after crossing into Mexico. The gang had agreed to meet up later to divide up the money, however Daylight instead uses the money to buy a ranch, the Casa Grande. Although several of them protest, the gang agrees to follow Daybreak to the ranch. They are soon joined by The Traveler, who has recently joined the gang, and leads them to the ranch.

Daybreak plans to use the ranch as a cover to rustle cattle from his neighbors and sell them at inflated prices across the border, however his gang members soon adapt to life on the ranch. Both The Traveler and The Kid meet Dona Maria de Castellar and Pacesita, with whom they eventually fall in love with.

Daybreak's plans are temporarily threatened by another bandit gang led by Rojo, who begins stealing cattle from numerous ranches in the area including his own. Organizing the local ranchers against the bandits, they succeed in chasing off Rojo. This has an unintended consequence however as Daybreak's men have decided to remain at Casa Grande. He and his men begin to argue and, during the course of events, shoots and kills Doc causing The Traveler to kill Daybreak in turn. With their former leader dead, the men stay on the ranch and The Traveller and Maria begin a new life on the Casa Grande. [cite web |url=http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/94057/Gunfighters-of-Casa-Grande/overview |title=Movies: Gunfighters of Casa Grande (1965) |accessdate= |accessmonthday= |accessdaymonth= |accessyear= |author=Crowther, Bosley |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year=2008 |month= |format= |work= |publisher=New York Times |pages= |language= |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ]

Reaction

"Gunfight at Casa Grande" was released in Spain during early 1964 and premiered in the United States on April 1, 1964; it was later released in Europe between May 1964 and September 1965. Moderately successful, the film earned 19,939,562 ₧ (US: $189,608) during its initial run in Spain. As of September 1, 1965, the film was still running in American theaters and appeared in the New York-area as a double feature along with "She". [Reid, John Howard. "CinemaScope 3: Hollywood Takes the Plunge". Lulu, 2006. (pg. 219) ISBN 1-4116-7188-1]

The film was aired on television in the United States during the late 1960's until the mid 1970's and again during the early-to-mid 1990's. The film was released on DVD during the early 2000's, although this was on a limited scale and consequently remains one of the more obscure and hard-to-find westerns.

References

External links

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* [http://www.bfi.org.uk/nftva/catalogues/film/1808 Gunfighters of Casa Grande] at the British Film Institute
* [http://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Gunfighters_of_Casa_Grande Gunfighters of Casa Grande] at the [http://www.spaghetti-western.net Spaghetti Western Database]