Cinco hombres salvajes

Henry Silva has been a long time favorite actor for years. I first saw him in an exceptional film called 'Johnny Cool.' In this western, originally called " Five Savage Men ", now entitled " The Animals " offering he plays Chatto a well known Apache warrior who comes across a motley group of bandits who have robbed a stage, murdered it's passengers and kidnapped a schoolteacher. Having had their way with the hapless school ma-rm, the gang splits up and go their separate way. Helped to recover by our Hero (Its nice to see Silva as the good guy), Alice McAndrew(Michele Carey) sets out to exact revenge against the five men. With an experienced Lawman Allan Pierce (John Anderson) and posse hot on their trail, the gang led by Pudge Elliott (Keenan Wynn) each take different trails. This movie plot is not unique as later mirrored by the succeeding film Hannie Caulder. What is unusual is that despite his commanding presence, Silva as Chato is seen as restrained in his role and the movie is hampered by the snail pace directing of Ron Joy. Still, it's a rather dramatic change to see a gun-toting female seeking violent revenge on her attackers. In addition, the formula of Whites against Indians does put a damper on the outcome and experienced audiences will guess the ending. ***