A band of Basque immigrants treks through the Old West toward California, where they hope to put down roots and open wineries. When the group's leader dies, his widow Gabrielle marries his brother in accordance with Basque tradition. But it's a loveless union; Gabrielle is smitten with Lon Bennett, the scout who's been hired to guide them on their journey.
El desfiladero de la muerte, Donner in der Sonne, Caravane vers le soleil, Lampi nel sole, Grom z jasnego nieba, El congost de la mort
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Austria
USA
The opening titles describe the Basque people as "spirited and lusty". Beyond the ETA and Paul Laxalt, I don't know anything about Basque culture, so I have no way of knowing if this is a fair portrait of their community or not, although it seems to employ some broad stereotypes. A red-haired girl with leather gloves, a whip, and a black horse knees Jeff Chandler in the groin. He continues to pursue her. Make of that what you will. It has some decent performances and a few snappy lines of dialogue, but altogether it's not really worth it. Odd title.
Hahaha, what is this?! A group of vibrant, lusty Basques take a wagon train across the United States so they can plant the first wine grapes into the soil of California. (That's how you know there are dramatic stakes.)
The American guide spends the whole film wanting to rape Hayward, but it's the 1950s so this is all Hayward's fault. The movie also features a heavy dose of Basque throat screaming (imagine Xena's call) which is surprising and played with that 1950s straight-laced seriousness that makes it rather funny.
In fact, all of this is pretty funny. Susan Hayward's Basque accent is ridiculous-- 100% Inspector Closeau-ass accent played straight. The rough-and-tumble guide is a big cord of wood. There are…
So much of the story is shot (rather poorly) on sound stages that it is more like a running gag. How hard is it to film in front of a couple trees? I guess they just couldn't do it for real. The story is rather boring, but also ridiculous in how they play so much of with a straight face and I don't know if they realize how terrible it is written. This could be really enjoyable with the right group.
The big fight scene is so laughable. Obvious sped up shots, jumping off rocks onto what is clearly a mat, and lots of jumping on trampolines just hidden out of view. I watched the trailer after the film and…
Un western sur des immigrés basques en route pour la Californie qui se retrouvent à se battre contre les indiens à coup de chisteras, à bondir de rochers en rochers pour donner une réalité au mythe des "basques bondissants", et qui remplacent le télégramme par les chants de bergers traditionnels, le tout mené par l'inénarrable - et vraiment basque - JACQUES BERGERAC, même totalement nanardeux, j'arrive pas à déterminer si ça mérite 1 étoile ou 5.
Et si vous ne me croyez pas...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVuFozzp0nw
I remember stumbling on this film via Encore Western. I probably would of passed it by if it weren't for that loud call the Basque settlers use throughout the film. One such call pretty much opens up the film. It's kind of funny since who would except such a thing in a western? Well, a western wagon train western to be more precise. While this is a pretty typical modest-budget wagon train movie, the twist of having it about a group of Basque people going west does make it more interesting than usual. Nothing about the acting stands out, but I did not find any of said acting to be horrible. Because the settlers are Basque, I suspect that impacted…
