User reviews

A good example of Latino western genre from Spain. Wanted ¨Dead or alive¨ north of the border, Jess Carlin (Audie Murphy) lives safely in Mexico. Then he hears his brother was murdered in a gun-down . Knowning his brother never carried a gun he heads north to encounter his brother's assassin. Jess goes out to avenge his brother and trespasses Rio Grande frontier and after battling bounty killers ( Aldo Sambrell and Antonio Molino Rojo) . Jess arrives in Rimrock, a little town dominated by Luke Starr (Broderick Crawford) and his underlings. Escaped goes back to his old home town pursued by bounty hunters . Starr is owner of ¨Silver Ring Saloon¨ , furthermore is the man Jess wants but he unable to encounter some proof until he is given by Sandy (Luz Marquez), former brother's girlfriend, an item found on his brother's body . As Jess seeks vengeance against Luke , while his hoodlums kill , mistreat and harass townspeople . Meanwhile Jess falls in love with a Saloon-girl (Diana Lorys).

Offbeat Chorizo-Spaghetti Western co-produced between Spain and US and doesn't follows the Sergio Leone wake , but it is proceeded in American models . It's an exciting western with breathtaking gunfight between the protagonist Audie Murphy against the heartless Broderick Crawford and his hoodlums . Audie Murphy is fine, he ravages the screen, shoots, hit and run and kills . This movie is a lot of fun to watch. It's an acceptable story with a touch of peculiarity, some great characters, and an amazing music score. The picture also titled ¨The Texican ¨ is a tale of justice and revenge, as a man returns home to a little town after his breakout and looks for vendetta. The basic plot is typical spaghetti western fare, but what makes this movie stand out is its style . Broderick Crawford's performance in the movie is a bit wooden for the role of such an interesting character, but the fantastic performance by the always great Aldo Sambrell as the slimy, menacing outlaw make up for , here in his ordinary role as bandit and in a cruelly baddie character , he is terrific, and bears a hysterical and mocking aspect , subsequently he would play similar characters . Appears as secondaries the habitual in Spanish/Italian Western such as Victor Israel , Gerad Tichy , Antonio Casas, Antonio Molino Rojo and Frank Braña , both of them usual in Leone films.

The film packs violence , shootouts , high body-count and it's fast moving and quite entertaining . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing some shoot'em up or stunts every few minutes. 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 dust , wind and shots . The movie gets the usual Western issues, such as avengers antiheroes , violent facing off , exaggerated baddies, soundtrack with Morricone influence , among them . The sense of pacing is such that his film can be counted on to move quickly and smoothly . Good production design creating an excellent scenario with luminous outdoors, dirty and rocky landscapes under a glimmer sun and fine sets . The musician Nino Fidenco composes a nice soundtrack and well conducted , this turns out to be one of the most memorable parts of the movie; as it's full of enjoyable sounds and haunting musical background . The opening and ending songs are two of my favorites, and are of those unforgettable tunes that will play in your mind over and over long after the movie is realized. The soundtrack contributes tremendously to the atmosphere of the film, including an emotive leitmotif, the music score is perhaps the best part of this film . Striking cinematography by Francisco Marin , though is necessary a correct remastering . Interior scenes filmed in Spuglas De Llobregat , Barcelona outskirts and outdoor sequences with barren exteriors filmed in Spanish places located on Fraga (Huesca) , replacing Almeria . ¨Fraga¨ resulted to be the location where were shot lots of Western produced and directed by Catalan people as Alfonso Balcazar , J.J. Balcazar , Jose Antonio De La Loma , Juan Bosch, Ignacio F. Iquino and Julio Buchs , among others , because Almeria was too far and the landscapes bear remarkable resemblance . This motion picture is well produced by Alfonso Balcazar , being professionally directed by Lesley Selander . Selander is generally considered to be the most prolific director of feature Westerns of all time, with at least 107 to his credit between 1935 and 1967. He realized his first feature in 1936, a western , genre in which he would not only excel but one where he would spent much of the rest of his career. Although Selander 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 also filmed detective thrillers, action/adventure motion pictures and even a horror film or two . He finishes a close second with 106 horse operas helmed between 1917 and 1949. Rating : 5,5 . Acceptable and passable

Wanted man Audie Murphy risks his life returning to Texas in order to avenge his newspaperman brother who was murdered by sleazy town boss Broderick Crawford and his number one hired killer Aldo Sambrell.

Essentially American made, this is different than most U.S. helmed westerns shot in Spain in that it uses a primarily local crew and supporting cast, making it seem more like a real spaghetti western than other films Hollywood passed off in those days as Italian or Spanish made.

Into the film's heavy atmosphere walks a strangely out of place Audie Murphy. Short, neat, clean-cut and all-American, he's the last person you'd expect to see in a dirty, gritty spaghetti western town. He's almost like a visitor from a parallel universe! That said, it is interesting to see him in something different.

Fitting right in though is Crawford, playing the type of seedy character he built his Academy Award winning career upon and Aldo Sambrell, one of the most recognizable faces in European westerns, though virtually unknown by name.

As a film, The Texican isn't the most memorable of the genre, but it's pretty good with a nice wind-swept finale.

Audie Murphy, the highest decorated U. S. soldier of WWII, gives a subtle and likable performance as Jess Carlin in the 1966 Spain-made spaghetti western, "The Texican", one of Murphy's last films.

Although Murphy was awarded every medal for valor available by the United States Army for his incredible bravery in combat (the Congressional Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, three Purple Hearts, among others) and is credited with the elimination of over 240 enemy soldiers, he was lightly regarded as an actor in Hollywood circles. Many of his performances were dismissed as "wooden" or "stoic". But in "The Texican", Murphy uses his two decades of action acting experience (almost exclusively as a Universal International contract player were he was a dependable money machine) to make this film entertaining and interesting to watch.

Performing all of his own stunts, Audie rides like the wind (bareback in a chase scene!), fights ferociously, and shoots (regarded as one of if not the fastest draw in Hollywood) his way to avenge the murder of his newspaper publishing brother, Roy Carlin. In some excellent casting concerning physical similarities to Murphy, Victor Vilanova gives a strong performance as Roy Carlin. He holds his own and then some opposite Best Actor Oscar Winner Brodrick Crawford, who delivers a rather pedestrian performance as the movie's antagonist, Luke Starr, the corrupt kingpin of the Texas town called Rimrock.

The movie's diamond in the rough is Diana Lorys, who plays bookkeeper Kit O'Neal, looking after her deceased father's interest in Starr's Silver Ring Hotel. Her acting is in fine emotional range from scornful to alluring, and as a result comes off as quite attractive. She is a definite plus for the film, and together with Murphy they generate a nice romantic electricity.

Notable acting comes from Aldo Sambrell as the hired gun, Luz Marquez as Sandy Adams, and Gerald Tichy as Boyd Thompson.

The script by John C. Champion and Jose Antonio de la Lama is tight and usually doesn't lag. It is somewhat choppily directed by Lesley Selander in a hurried fashion (not enough close ups as used so effectively by Sergio Leone), but he captures some fine steely-eyed looks from Audie during confrontational moments. More focus on the avenging aspect concerning character development was needed here. The locations in Spain are adequate to good and lend to that authentic Old West feel that made spaghetti westerns such a world-wide phenomenon. The musical score by Nico Fidenco is fairly good and avoids the copycat tones of Ennio Morricone that have marred many westerns. Changes that could have enhanced concern Murphy's wardrobe that is off the Gene Autry rack, and the cinematography by Francisco Marin is competent, but should have been more creative. The editing by Teresa Alcocer is pretty smooth.

So, pop some corn and pull up a chair for some vintage Audie in "The Texican" !

You can tell by the actors (minus Audie Murphy and Broderick Crawford) and the pretty fake gunshot sound effects that this movie is a low-budget production, but in fact, it's quite an enjoyable movie. A rather decent plot (back in 1966, which this film was made, almost all Westerns, even the big-sellers, had simple plots), somewhat believable dubbing for those who spoke Spanish, and a few very enjoyable gunfights. I can't really say which is my favorite part, since, in my opinion, none of the scenes were dull. I just simply like this Western. I haven't seen a whole lot of Audie Murphy Westerns, but enough to say that this is my favorite out of all of them.

Although this movie was made in Europe with a predominately Spanish cast, you can tell this movie was made with stateside distribution in mind.Especially when you have Audie Murphy and Broderick Crawford in the leading roles.Good story about a fugitive who crosses back into the United States from Mexico to avenge his brother's death and clear his own name.This movie was directed by one of my favorite western directors, Lesley Selander.It has great widescreen photography. The dubbing of the supporting actors is better than usual.Far from original, but fast moving and well acted.Not as good as "No Name On The Bullet" or "Night Passage", but worth a look.

To get some enjoyment from this movie you at least have to like Audie Murphy and be rather uncritical about westerns. I qualify on both counts. Besides, this movie also has Broderick Crawford as the tough-talking bad guy.

Past his Hollywood prime, Crawford here looks tired, overweight, and generally long in the tooth--but nobody talks tough like Broderick Crawford! The inimitable voices of these two actors--Murphy's gentle Texas voice and Crawford's gravelly growl--stand out in this movie, which otherwise is cast with Spaniards who are dubbed. The dubbing is occasionally distracting, and in the case of Antonio Casas as Frank Brady it is downright ludicrous.

Filmed in Spain, "The Texican" has a decidedly non-American score, sounding something like the music in Italian spaghetti westerns. There are a lot of surging crescendos and an ominous-sounding vocal chorus.

The less said about the actual story, the better. The fun is in watching Audie Murphy and Broderick Crawford do their thing. Murphy was a cowboy hero of mine when I was a boy in the 1950s, and of course in WW II he was a real hero--the most decorated soldier of the war.

They say Audie Murphy worked very hard to develop a fast draw, and in "The Texican" there are some examples of his fine hand with a pistol. Here, some 18 years after his first movie, he still seems like a "nice young man"--neatly dressed, slim and trim, courteous when he can be, gentle-voiced.

How did such a gentle man turn out to be so deadly with a gun--not just in the movies but in real life?

The Texican is directed by Lesley Selander and written by John C. Champion and Jose Antonio de la Loma. It stars Audie Murphy, Broderick Crawford, Diana Lorys, Luz Marquez and Antonio Casas. A Technicolor/Techniscope production with music by Nico Fidenco and Robby Poitevin and cinematography by Francisco Marin.

Murphy and Crawford find themselves in Spain making a Paella Western that quite frankly is for completists only. Plot essentially has Murphy as a man seeking the truth of what happened to his recently deceased brother. Crawford is the town bully, resplendent with scowls and henchmen, a collision course is inevitable.

It's professionally enough mounted and has the requisite pasta flavourings; clumsy dubbing, parched vistas, catchy music, moral ambiguity and etc etc. It's not a bad film by any stretch of the imagination, it's just very lazy and not challenging, either narratively or for the named stars. In the traditional sense it's a throwback to the American "B" Westerns of the 1950s, only it lacks zip for the action scenes and the stars are going through the motions. But fair credit to Murphy, he looks in great condition, as slick as ever, something which belies the problems he was having with his mental health off screen. Crawford on the other hand looks ill and fumbles through his dialogue with boredom evident.

Average fare here all told. 5/10

Times were getting hard for Audie Murphy in the '60s. He started getting financial problems, his personal life was going to hell, and the kind of westerns that had made him a star were starting to dry up. So he went to Spain to make this Spanish western. That fact did not bother me when I heard about this movie. Many of my favorite westerns are European westerns, so I was pretty intrigued to see what Europeans would do with a Hollywood star like Murphy.

I was disappointed with this movie in the end, however. I will admit that the sets are fine, and there is some good desert scenery. But I found the story surprisingly slow and dull. Murphy's character knows who the culprit is that murdered his brother, but he does pretty much nothing about it until the very end of the movie. Until that happens, the audience is treated to endless (and boring) chat, a bland villain, and a pretty bland hero as well.

The faults of this movie can probably be explained that while this was a European western, there was no Italian involvement. The Italians were the ones who really made European westerns shine, from the music to the scripts. Watch one of these kinds of European westerns instead of "The Texican", even if it doesn't contain a star as big as Murphy. You'll most likely be greater entertained.

Call me chauvinistic, but I really don't think Europeans ought to be doing westerns. Clint Eastwood being the exception, spaghetti westerns are the place where all good western stars go to end their careers. The western is the American original film genre and it ought to stay here.

I think that's what Audie Murphy probably felt after doing this one. Audie did so much better work over here in the states. The Texican has Audie as a fugitive down in Mexico who hears that his straight arrow brother has been killed in a gunfight. The brother was a newspaper editor who never even carried a gun, but was doing some journalistic exposes of town boss, Broderick Crawford.

Of course Audie's out for blood and I don't think I have to say any more, I'm sure you know how this one will go.

Broderick Crawford was the only other name player in this film from the USA and purportedly he was drunk most of the time making The Texican. Not that Crawford needed much excuse to drink, he was one of Hollywood's legendary tipplers. The story goes that Murphy watered down Crawford's liquor so that he could get through the day's shooting.

Sounds like a W.C. Fields routine, but I'm not sure Fields could have done much with The Texican.

It wasn't a right movie to Audie Murphy even on final career, the movie sounds weird on Spain, those specific Spanish villages had some similarity with Mexico, however when Jess Carlin (Audie Murphy) crosses the border toward to Texas, everything changes, the Spanish desert was quite distinct if cross check against Texas territory, meanwhile the casting from there had an usual aspect from European people, Just Murphy and Broderick Crawford weren't enough to put an American trademark, the storyline tawdry, as the previous Murphy's style, the women are pretty, therefore are distinctive ethnicities , they don't fit very well properly speaking, the screenplay don't help neither, anyway as I'm a big fan from the unmatched Audie Murphy, actually stay awkward to say such thing, a minor movie from my hero!!!

Resume:

First watch: 2012 / How many: 2 / Source: DVD / Rating: 6.25

Stars audie murphy, broderick crawford. Carlin has run off to mexico, and we learn he's still wanted in the states. But he's determined to back north to find out what really happened to his brother. But he'll have to be careful, with the number of people still chasing him down for the bounty money, especially the local bigshot luke starr. And of course, he meets the young and beautiful "kit" (diana lorys) , who starr has been sniffing around. And when carlin gets in a gun fight, we actually see someone run out of bullets, in a first ever event in the history of westerns. It's all just okay. One of murphy's last films. Directed by les selander, king of the westerns. Story by john champion. Filmed in spain. And seems to be dubbed... half the cast speaks english, and it looks like some of the cast is speaking spanish, but the dubbing is so far off, that it's sometimes hard to tell what's going on.

This is my first Audie Murphy western in quite some time. Looking back now It's hard to imagine how anyone took this very slender and short man as a cowboy hard ass despite him being one in real life during WWII. That aside he's pretty damn entertaining in this US-Spain co-production where he plays a former lawman and gunfighter who comes back across the border from Mexico to avenge his brother's death and settle some debts along the way.

What sort of hurts it a bit is the plot sort of just meanders along, it takes Murphy a while to even cross the border and when he does, he just hangs out in town and woes the local beauty while right in front of his brother's killers. The gunfights and fist fights are energetic, and Broderick Crawford is a nice bad guy and has some good dialogue. There's a hint of a solid soundtrack but it doesn't quite get there.

This is a good Audie Murphy western for one reason only; it is a spaghetti western. The writers didn't know Audie Murphy and did not write a western script FOR him. They wrote a western script. Unlike anything Hollywood ever did for Murphy,this script has a plot, a story, some depth and real characters. The only distractions, and they are not small, are the ridiculous whistleing sounds made by 45 Long Colt revolvers and the nagging, irritating background music. Where the Italians came up with the ridiculous idea that a 45 Long Colt revolver makes a whistling sound beats me. I know the sound of a 45 Long Colt. I own several. It is triple the sound of a Dodge 440 Magnum backfiring. They do not whistle. And the asinine, continuous, nagging, dragging music that is supposed to be dramatic but is just a pain in the butt. Whoever dreamed that up should have been sentenced to listening to railroad cars coupling and uncoupling continuously for twenty years and then forced to listen to their own "music" for another twenty. The only Audie Murphy western I think comes as close to being enjoyable as The Texican is Ride a Crooked Trail. And only because of the outstanding work done by Walter Matthau.

This movie wants to be a movie if and when it can. You have two named stars who could pull it off but fail to do so and the Director needs directing himself too. I kept thinking of a Clint Eastwood movie spaghetti film while watching this and I saw how this movie tried that format but couldn't quite get a toe hold. This movie comes across like slow-motion i.e. you want something to happen before it happens because you know it should but the movie moves at its own pace. Thus the viewer and the film never connect. I watch Audie and Broderick two veterans of the film world go through tired motions and got the feeling that their paychecks where holding them up. Even the horses, woman and whiskey (apple juice) in this movie looked tired and depressed. Bottom line? This movie should not even be shown but the lure of the two movie stars allows it to live on. I like to eat during films but this makes you slow down to the point where eating is the movie and this is a distraction. Too bad. This reminds me of the cliché "if you can't say something nice don't say anything at all". The strangest thing worth sharing is as follows. I have a movie collection of DVD's for years and I was desperate for something to watch with nothing being on cable or Netflix that interested me and I discover this in my collection. I don't even know how it got there LOL

There really isn't much to get excited about in this film. Cheaply done with an infantile script and bad dubbing, and a typical story of revenge. With that said, Murphy does a decent job and comes across as likable enough. Miss Lorys from Spain is gorgeous and its amazing that she never made it big. Mr. Crawford is wasted here and its sad to see him reduced to this type of film.

I'm not a fan of Audie Murphy, but HE is the ONLY thing good about this movie!

The story line is Stupid as well. Most of Audie Murphy's movies ARE Stupid, but this one takes the cake!

The acting by EVERYONE ELSE is HORRIBLE, the Worst I've seen in a very long time!

Don't waste your time with this one. It's NOT WORTH IT!

This movie rates 0*

P. S. I intended to leave a short and Not so sweet review, but they said it was too short. So........I HAD to ADD FILLER. Sorry.

... i hadn't seen Audie's t-shirt under his thin camisa and he had hit the gym a few times before taking the flight to Madrid... maybe I'd believe all those good looking Spanish chicks(they belonged in a hercules movie)had the hots for him.

Surprised Broderick showed up!....the pay couldn't have kept him in booze money!

This movie needed a better script, and a cooler hero... but the music wasn't bad!

What makes this paella western standout is Audie Murphy and Broderick Crawford, both of them were at the nadir of their career. Audie, in particular, is good as a gun fighter crossing the border to avenge his brother's death, and its really strange - and enjoyable - to see him ride the Spanish plains, dodging spaghetti style gunshots with the sound of orchestral music - it's like tradition-style meets spaghetti. Old guard mingled with new, and it works. Years of acting experience has boded well for Audie, he seems confident, is quite humorous and his playful romantic antics with the pretty Diana lorys is quite engaging. There's some exciting gunplay, good atmosphere and a windswept finale. Pity he didn't make more of these paella westerns as it could've prolonged his career, but Audie didn't like to travel aboard to make westerns, plus, as he said, he had to do all his stunts and pack his own lunch.

I saw this one especially for Broderick Crawford as the villain, he is perfect here and all long the film, you expect and hope a final showdown between him and Murphy, whose it is not the best role. He seems to be twenty or thirty years old, as usual in his career. The most interesting is that movie is a paella - Spanish - coproduction. No, nothing really special here, in this western where the saloon gunfight scene climax seems to be a tribute to George Marshall's DESTRY, a western also starring Audie Murphy, but far far better; and George Marshall was not a western specialist, unlike Lesley Selander, who directed this one. Supporting characters really look like Spanish, and certainly not Texans. Amusing.

Ok from a historical perspective on the early stages of the "spaghetti westerns" fine, but if you call this an Audie Murphy western...not.

Everything is bad about this flick, set design, overdubbing, and music score.

There are times in an actor's life when they aren't always "Stars" we always admire, they're working stiffs like you and me just trying to P. T. R.( pay the rent)