This is a semi-fictional chronicle of the notorious bandit Pancho Villa (Telly Savalas) . It is a witless recounting of Villa's American campaign with broaden focus about action and irony . Villa (Dorotea Arango , 1878-1923) sends his gringo pal (Clint Walker) as gunrunner into US , but he is betrayed . As he encounters every obstacles with MacDermott (Luis Davila) ; besides , there meets his beautiful spouse (Anne Francis). Then , Villa leads his merry men in the famous raid over an American fort after being double-crossed in a weapons deal . Crossing the frontier attacking firstly the checkpoint and bombing the cartel captioning ¨You are entering in United States¨ . Later on , it begins an intense charge over the Columbus headquarter . A cocky and megalomaniac colonel (Chuck Connors) attempts to battle against him .
This Spanish/American co-production paints an ironic , cynic portrayal of the famous leader following the exploits of Villa and his men formed by a peasant army into USA territory . The picture ignores the wealth of the authentic history and becomes yet another action/adventure/humor Western and this failed production doesn't deliver what it should . It is an average Western with comedy , tongue-in-cheek , action and plenty of shootouts , gun-play and some moments results to be quite entertaining . This Paella/US Western was regularly directed by Eugenio Martin who made terror films (Horror Express) and more Spaghetti Western (Bounty killer , Requiem for a Gringo and Bad man's river) , among others .
This uneven rehash about Pancho villa exploits is partially based on real events , the authentic deeds are the following : For a time Villa,who seemed in line for leadership of Mexico , enjoyed the sympathetic interest of the US government who then dropped Villa and supported his rival , Carranza . Villa's resentment resulted in the vengeance raid on Columbus . Villa slapped the United States in the face by mounting a surprise raid on the town of Columbus,New Mexico,on 9 march 1916, killing eight American soldiers and ten civilians.In retaliation , President Woodrow Wilson sent General Pershing and a Punitive Expedition into Mexico in hot pursuit of Villa.General Pershing's column included the Seventh Cavalry and Apache scouts, chased Villa deep into Mexico , the Americans captured and killed several of Villa's lieutenants but failed to catch the guerrilla leader . Because of Mexican protests , Pershing's command returned to the US.Villa was assassinated in 1923 when gunman ambushed his car .
