Directed by Paul Wendkos
Starring George Peppard, Pete Duel, Giovanna Ralli, Raf Vallone, Pete Duel, Don Gordon
I’ve learned over the last couple years that I really like George Peppard. And I can thank the folks at Imprint for that realization. Their terrific Film Focus: George Peppard set gathered up four of his late-60s and early-70s action pictures — beyond the usual Operation Crossbow, The Blue Max and Tobruk — and I dug ’em all. (It was limited to 1,500 copies, so if you come across one, snatch it!)
Now, here comes Cannon For Cordoba (1970), a cool Mexican Revolution picture from Paul Wendkos. Peppard leads a team of misfits (Magnificent Seven style) into Mexico to retrieve some cannons stolen from the US Army. Beautifully shot in Spain by Antonio Macasoli, I was really taken by the look of this thing — and the really terrific action stuff.
Paul Wendkos is a director some have a hard time taking seriously since he committed the “sin” of working largely in TV movies. If you take a look at a few of his features — like maybe this one, The Burglar (1958) and Face Of A Fugitive (1959) — you’ll see that Wendkos certainly had it goin’ on. And when your TV work includes the Hawaii Five-O pilot and The Legend Of Lizzie Borden (1975), I don’t see why he doesn’t get the appreciation he deserves.
I did a commentary for this, and it was a lot of fun to pull together. My yapping is just one of the extras on this Blu-Ray, and it’s limited to just 1,500 copies. Highly, highly recommended.
50 Westerns From The 50s.