EL CONDOR

 

Lee Van Cleef is one of my favorite actors, and I've seen nearly every Western in which he had a major role in. One picture that I had not seen, until last week, was EL CONDOR, a 1970 release that co-stars Van Cleef and Jim Brown. The movie was filmed in Almeria, Spain, a location very familiar to Van Cleef. 

EL CONDOR doesn't appear to have much of a reputation now, especially compared with the other Westerns Van Cleef made in Spain. One reason may be is that EL CONDOR is not considered a "real" Euro Western--it was made by an American company, directed by an Englishman (John Guillermin), and produced by a Hungarian who immigrated to the U.S. (Andre De Toth). 

A man named Luke (Jim Brown) is an inmate at a Union prison camp in the West of the 1860s. Luke escapes and heads to Mexico to join up with a vagabond called Jaroo (Lee Van Cleef). Luke wants Jaroo to help him attack a fort called El Condor, which supposedly has the entire gold reserve of the country hidden inside. Jaroo is friendly with a group of about 100 Apaches, and Luke believes that they will serve as the perfect army for such a bold scheme. Luke, Jaroo, and the Apaches breach the fort, but they all learn the hard way that all that glitters is not gold. 

EL CONDOR is a hard-charging, rip-roaring movie that is heavy on action and very light on characterization. It's the type of story where something blows up about every five minutes. We get almost no backstory whatsoever on Luke, or Jaroo, or anyone else involved....if you like a movie that gets to the point, and doesn't waste time on unimportant matters, this is one for you. 

EL CONDOR will be of special interest for Lee Van Cleef fans. The actor has a very different role here than the ones he usually played in his other spaghetti westerns. He's not cool, clever, and calculated--his Jaroo is grungy, loud, excitable, and talkative (Van Cleef has more dialogue here than in all his other Euro Westerns combined). The character of Jaroo is more like Tuco than Colonel Mortimer. It's unusual to see Van Cleef acting in this manner, but he's very enjoyable as Jaroo, and it shows he had more range to him than most would expect. Van Cleef even gets to have a scene where he bonds with a little Mexican boy (the fact that the boy's screen mother was the sultry Imogen Hassall might have had something to do with his interest).

Jim Brown has a solid screen presence as Luke, but the character isn't able to stand out due to the fact that you know absolutely nothing about him (he spends most of his time in some sort of physical action). Brown does have a good rapport with Van Cleef (the two men would co-star in a future Euro Western, TAKE A HARD RIDE). Patrick O'Neal plays General Chavez, the man in charge of El Condor. Usually in a Euro Western, an American actor playing a villain would ham it up outrageously, but O'Neal underplays the role, and he doesn't put much effort into making the viewer believe he's a Mexican. Mariana Hill plays Chavez's mistress, who attracts the attentions of Luke. 

The fights, stunts, gun battles, and pyrotechnics are handled and edited very well--one of the second unit directors on this film was Tap Canutt, son of the legendary Yakima Canutt. John Guillermin had a very up-and-down directorial career, but on EL CONDOR he does exactly what he was supposed to do--deliver up an effective action-adventure Western, no more, no less. 

For almost all of its running time, EL CONDOR has a lighthearted air about it (despite the amount of violence and killings). Maurice Jarre's music score even sounds jaunty in a number of places. At the very end the story takes an abrupt turn and gets serious, which I felt was a mistake, since it doesn't match up with the tone of the rest of the film. 

One more reason that EL CONDOR is barely discussed today may be that it has no political or social subtexts whatsoever (present-day writers love finding those things in spaghetti westerns). Luke and Jaroo are not interested in helping others, or the Mexican people, or even the Apaches they ride with--they just want all the gold. (Jaroo even admits he mistreats the Apaches that follow him). The Apache band is portrayed as a faceless mass--only one of them, their chief, is an actual individual character, and he doesn't even speak English (the Apache chief is played by Iron Eyes Cody). 

I must point out that the large fort, El Condor itself, was specifically built for this film, and it's an impressive edifice (it was used in many other films). The fort is as much of a major character as Luke and Jaroo.

EL CONDOR is a movie that is almost pure action, doesn't expect you to think too much, and gives you a chance to see another side of Lee Van Cleef. You also get the bonus of seeing Mariana Hill and Imogen Hassall nude.