This is a Zapata western set early XX century on the overlong Mexican civil when happened the confrontation from Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata against Porfirio Diaz and later on , against Carranza and Obregon . A misfit group formed by a bandit priest (Robert Mitchum) , an IRA Irish young man (Ken Hutchinson) and a gunrunner (Victor Buono) , all of them are hired by a Mexican colonel (John Colicos) to kill De la Plata (Frank Langella) , a Mexican tyrant .
The picture displays lots of action , battles , tongue-in-cheek , shootouts and a little bit of violence like the brutal killing a little boy . The casting is frankly well , Robert Mitchum (Night of the hunter ,5 card stud , Bandido) is excellent with his usual facade of indifference and lazily acting as a greedy priest and with a Thomson machine gun . Mitchum chewing up scenery in this peculiar role . The newcomer Ken Hutchinson provides added depth as an Irish terrorist with a bitter past , however this is his most important role . as he went back England and only acting in TV movies . Frank Langella (Dracula) plays an elegant psycho killer with deeply hatred to Catholic Church . The famed secondary Victor Buono (What ever happened to Baby Jane , Hush,hush..sweet Charlotte) plays convincingly an avaricious gunrunner . Enjoyable performance by Rita Hayworth in his last film (her previous movies during her downfall were the Italians : The bastards and The rover) despite of Alzheimer disease . Besides , there appears habitual secondaries who usually work in American productions shot in Mexico as Gregory Sierra , Enrique Lucero , Chano Urueta . The motion picture is rightly directed by Ralph Nelson who made good Western as ¨Soldier Blue¨ and ¨Duel at Diablo¨ . This offbeat Western will appeal to Robert Mitchum fans.
