A Bullet for Sandoval

Some spaghetti westerns are innovative genre trailblazers, others thinly disguised political statements and still more career rebirths for foreign actors looking to kickstart their career.  And then there are films like A Bullet for Sandoval (1969) which exists for the same reason most international co-productions of the era exist:  to turn a profit.  That’s not a petty criticism; every film is designed to turn a profit.  Some just disguise the fact better than others.

Labeled a deserter for attempting to reach his dying lover in Mexico, Corporal John Warner (George Hilton) arrives too late.  Her domineering father, Pedro Sandoval (Ernest Borgnine), ejects Warner – and his bastard offspring – from the property, forcing him to wander nearby villages looking for sustenance to keep his infant son alive.  Turned away again because of the threat of cholera, the death of Warner’s child turns him into a vengeful outlaw, killing those responsible and saving Sandoval’s retribution for last.

 

Revenge stories are nothing new for spaghetti westerns or the western genre as a whole.  They provide a strong narrative through line to follow and, typically, a well-defined protagonist and antagonist.  But director Julio Buchs’ film – a Spanish-Italian co-production – twists the audience’s sympathy into knots, warping our hero into an unrecognizable louse and turning Sandoval into the man of honor.  It’s a clever flip that happens by degrees…then is completely undone by a misguided (but memorable) climax set inside a bullfighting arena.

 

A Bullet for Sandoval feels like the truncated version of a much more complex film (and the commentary track from Alex Cox suggests as much), but we can only judge what remains.  And that includes a solid performance from the always reliable Borgnine, who was tearing up Mexico in The Wild Bunch that same year.  In fact, all the actors put in exemplary work, creating characters rather than caricatures.  But the film itself feels rough around the edges with scenes that go nowhere, subplots casually dismissed and showdowns glossed over.  Cox chalks it up to the director’s style but it feels like distributor tinkering, trying to turn a slow burn into a quick buck.

 

VCI Entertainment presents this restored 4K transfer on Blu-ray from what looks like a generally terrific print.  The dubbed version has a couple of instances of new voices inserted to cover the gaps, but the Spanish language track is included as well along with the aforementioned Alex Cox commentary track.

 

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