Finger on the Trigger (1965) Reviews

• US/Paella Western co-production with international cast and filmed in Almeria , Spain , as usual

  ma-cortes2014-08-22

  Acceptable Chorizo Western made in Spain with an American craftsman director and two Hollywood B-actors as Rory Calhoun and James Philbrook . A good example of Latino western genre from Spain , typical by that time . The American Civil War is finished and a group of thirteen of Union soldiers commanded by Larry Winton (Rory Calhoun) crosses Indian territory through New Mexico . They arrive in Fort Grant where hope find water and supplies . However , they meet a detachment of renegade Confederate soldiers led by Adam Hyde (James Philbrook) and posing as Union cavalry . Later on , the ragtag group arrives in a little and deserted town where find a stash of gold located at blacksmith's . Soon these rivals must make common cause in the face of an Indian attack . After that , Indians attack and both groups join forces to secure buried treasure and defend against violent Indians . Passable Tortilla/US Western with a professional American filmmaker/producer , Hollywood B-actors and a lot of Spanish secondaries and expert technicians . As its director results to be Sidney Pink who lived in Madrid, Spain , where he produced many of the earliest spaghetti westerns , genre in which he would not only excel but one where he would spent time of the rest of his career . Ordinary Western that doesn't follows the Sergio Leone wake , but it is proceeded in American models . It's an exciting western with breathtaking gunfight and facing off among Yankees Confederates and Indians . The picture is set at the end of the Civil War (1861-1865) where a motley band of just-discharged Union soldiers clashes with a bunch of reb Confederates over a golden treasure hidden and while holding off hostile Indians . The film packs action , thrills , violence , shootouts , high body-count and turns out to be fast moving and quite entertaining . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing some shoot'em up , go riding or stunts every few minutes . The sense of pacing is such that this film can be counted on to move quickly and smoothly . There is a very odd implementation of shots in the camera work during some particular scenes as the film approaches its climax , as in the final gunfights full of cavalry raid , shots and Indian attacks on the town , including bombing by a cannon . Outdoor sequences with barren and rocky exteriors filmed in Spanish places located on Almeria that resulted to be the location in which was shot lots of Western produced and directed by Spanish , Italian and occasionally American people such as Lesley Selander (Texas Kid) , Paul Landres (Son of a gunfighter) , Maury Dexter (The outlaw of Colorado river) , Richard Carlson (Kid Rodelo) , and Sidney Pink (Joe Navidad) . The film is well starred by Rory Calhoun and James Philbrook . The latter played a lot of Paella/Chorizo or Tortilla Western filmed in Spain such as : Son of a Gunfighter , Seven for Pancho Villa , Fedra West , Ballad of a Bounty Hunter , If You Shoot... You Live! , among others . There appears as ordinary secondaries in Spanish/Italian Western such Aldo Sambrell , Silvia Solar , Leo Anchoriz , Tito Garcia , Jorge Rigaud , Fernado Bilbao , Beni Deus and many others Colorful as well as evocative cinematography in Techniscope by Antonio Macasoli . Atmospheric and adequate musical score by Jose Sola . Being professionally produced and directed by Sidney Pink . Sidney is generally considered to be a decent producer/director of B movies . He realized his first feature in 1953 titled I Was a Burlesque Queen . Although Sidney Pink couldn't be deemed an "A"-list director, his movies had a professionalism and a verve that many of those made by his fellow B directors lacked . He began his film career as a projectionist in a theater owned by his wife's family . Pink was considered the pioneer of 3-D movies, having produced more than 50 of them . Produced the first widely released feature-length 3-D film, "Bwana Devil," presented in the polarized dual-projector system which became standard for the 1950's 3-D movie craze . Sidney was a producer and writer, known for Reptilicus (1961), The Angry Red Planet (1959) and Journey to the seventh planet (1962) .He also filmed thrillers as ¨Pyro¨ and more Western as "Seven Vengeful Women" and ¨Joe Navidad¨ .

• Shabby spaghetti saga

  Wizard-82013-07-16

  Normally I am a big fan of spaghetti westerns, so I thought I would get some enjoyment out of "Finger on the Trigger". However, I have to admit that this particular pasta oater really tried my patience. I can only imagine what people who are not fans of westerns would think. For one thing, this is a pretty cheap movie, from the low budget sets to the shabby-looking costumes. It could have compensated by being lively, but that's not the case. The story is both dull and slow-moving, with some murky plot points that are never explained. If you are looking for action, be warned that there's no real action in the first half of the movie. There is some action in the second half, with an action climax that's not too badly done, but it's too little too late to save this movie. Even if you are really into spaghetti westerns, this is one effort that you'd be better off not watching.

• A made-in-Spain western of little interest

  dinky-42007-12-31

  Rory Calhoun's name on the marquee might indicate a minor but serviceable western. Such, however, is not the case. A muddled script, unpersuasive casting, and lackluster characterizations add up to viewing which, while not downright awful, is definitely forgettable. The Spanish locations have a drab look and are a poor match for what is meant to be Oklahoma. Action scenes are indifferently handled and the touch of romance provided by leading lady Silvia Solar has little in the way of appeal or even plausibility. While we're at it, why are American prints sometimes given the meaningless title of "Blue Lightning?" One small point of interest is the presence of James Philbrook as the leader of the Confederates. His next film, "Son of a Gunfighter," probably provided him with his best role. Curiously, both that film and this one contain a scene of a bare-chested man staked out spreadeagle style and left to die under the roasting sun. In "Gunfighter" the victim is played by Kieron Moore. In this movie the victim is the hirsute German Grech who sweats up a storm as the ill-fated Sgt. Delmer.

• A D*** Good Western

  happiscotsman2002-08-16

  I have to mention that the above title for my comments is not my personal opinion of this movie. It was a remark made by my grandfather when he bought the the VHS copy at Walgreens for $3.99. He's my Grandpa and I love him, he fought for his country in WWII, but the man has NO TASTE when it comes to any movie dealing with the "Old West". I only watched this movie once at his house, when I was too young to do anything about it. Suffice it to say that this movie has to be seen to be believed. B-movie legend Rory Calhoun and his hardy (see not excessively bright) band of Yankee Civil War veterans find themselves in a border town at odds with a band of confederates(?) led by an officer/struggling actor with the worst southern accent I have ever heard. He spends most of his time surprising ladies in their bathtubs (don't ask), and trying to mug Timothy Dalton. I call Rory's greybeards (obviously everyone was fifty years old during the Civil War) "Yankees", because their characters leave no doubt that ANY of them could ever have lived in the southern United States. I can't remember all of them, but there was a black soldier who didn't speak any lines but just stared at whoever was talking. There were also two typically crusty sergeants, but in a change of pace only one had the phony Irish accent, while the other had a phony Scottish accent. Details are sketchy, but the two groups of "soldiers" are after some legendary Spanish gold. But is the Civil War over, or are they all just AWOL? And why are there Indians who just stand on hilltops whenever anybody rides through a canyon? And how come Rory can shoot Indians off of these hilltops hundreds of feet above him with a pistol that he aims behind his back while riding at full gallop? I guess I could watch the movie again to answer these questions, but now I'm too depressed. If MST3K hasn't done an episode on this one by now, they should. Look for Indians on the hilltop and keep your "finger on the trigger"!

• flawed western, good action climax

  Marlburian2014-12-31

  The earlier reviews have said it all, really. Both the script and plot are muddled, and several times I found myself thinking "how come?" and "what". The curious accents can be attributed to dubbing in English and mock-Scottish, though in the version I saw on Youtube there were a couple of passages that hadn't been dubbed and were in the original Spanish. I'm no military strategist, but some of the soldiers' actions were odd. And I've seen some long-range pistol shooting in Westerns in the past, but this film must have the record for the longest range - with snap shots fired from a galloping horse hitting Indians a couple of hundred yards away on the top of a canyon. Silvia Solar added very little, and the inevitable romance seemed to happen after the two parties had exchanged just half-a-dozen lines of dialogue. The equally inevitable battle wasn't too bad, though the cannon seemed to fire off a lot of shots very quickly indeed.