If you're like me, you found this movie researching other westerns to watch with Terence Hill in the cast. If you've seen a lot of westerns, then this one from 1967 is a treat, not to be taken seriously. It's a parody (note the intentionally blue-eyed Indian chief). Elvis Presley was doing westerns around the same time, so I guess it was decided to do one to showcase an Italian female rock star. The song-and-dance production numbers are first rate with large numbers of dancers and extras and choreography. Sometimes the audio sounds mono on the quick-paced songs (in Italian), that's my only complaint. I've seen things in this western I've never seen in other westerns. There's even some cartoon animation. Since it is a western, there is some shooting of guns and death (sometimes portrayed with humor), some physical fighting, but no foul language or nudity and it is suitable for the entire family to sit down and watch in my opinion. The filmmakers wanted to ensure that teenage fans of Rita Pavone could see it so they kept it clean.
Reviews
2 Reviews
From Hell to Texas
(1958)
Good introductory western for teenagers.
28 May 2020
Warning: Spoilers
A handsome, mildly pacifist young man who has remarkable marksmanship with a rifle (doesn't carry a handgun and regrets killing even in self defense) is chased across mountains, deserts, and border frontier towns of old west southern Texas by a wealthy rancher who wrongly believes he killed his son. A subplot has the hero and daughter of another helpful rancher falling in love. The cast is diverse with numerous male and female Hispanic actors on both sides of the struggle given prominent roles. Some of the horses are even given small acting bits.
I was expecting the ending to be the usual good guy versus bad guy fatal showdown seen in a million other westerns but what happened was a complete surprise, in a good way. This is the type of dramatic western with a moral lesson Rod Serling could have written. The director went on to direct three John Wayne westerns and had already directed Wayne in a non-western, so Wayne must have seen this film and liked it. It is definitely worth a look, despite the studio's poor choice of a title (the word "hell" does get a mention in the dialogue at the very end). If you have youngsters in need of positive role models, this film is a good choice in a western to get them started while still providing satisfactory western story entertainment for us older folks.
I was expecting the ending to be the usual good guy versus bad guy fatal showdown seen in a million other westerns but what happened was a complete surprise, in a good way. This is the type of dramatic western with a moral lesson Rod Serling could have written. The director went on to direct three John Wayne westerns and had already directed Wayne in a non-western, so Wayne must have seen this film and liked it. It is definitely worth a look, despite the studio's poor choice of a title (the word "hell" does get a mention in the dialogue at the very end). If you have youngsters in need of positive role models, this film is a good choice in a western to get them started while still providing satisfactory western story entertainment for us older folks.
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