The Devil's Backbone

Look at that cast! I guess with that lot you'd need a different plot from your usual Spaghetti Western plot (anti-hero, corrupt businessmen, Mexicans) so here we instead get a Dirty Dozen set up…which is the plot of many an Italian war film.

This one starts off with our hero Captain Kaleb of the US army discovering that his wife has been raped and flayed by a bunch of Apaches. After putting her out of her misery, Kaleb goes nuts at his superior officer as they were supposed to be guarding the mission where his wife was working. After shooting his superior officer in the leg, Kaleb heads off for the wilderness to go rogue and kill loads of Apaches.

Two years later, General John Houston turns up and demands that they find Kaleb for a special mission (They haven't seen him in that time, but it takes about five minutes to find him!) and promises him a pardon if he'll take a team of men over the border and wipe out a certain Apache army that's been troubling the US – but who will make up this Dirty Dozen-or-so? There's Chuck Connors (explosives expert, smoking), Ricardo Montalban (Native Indian, overblown philosophy), Woody Strode (Engineering, punch ups), Slims Pickens (good ol' Southern hospitality, tobacco chewing), Ian Bannen (Sarcasm, full of Buckfast) and some other guys. They all do what a Dirty Unspecified Quantity always do – start training! This being the seventies and not the eighties, we get a fairly long training scene instead of a montage.

After all that crap, it's time to go on the mission, but wait, Kaleb's superior officer has something to tell them, and I'd love to tell you what that is, but just as he's about to speak the Mill Creek version of the film immediately cuts to the Dirty Group heading for their destination. Thanks Mill Creek! Thanks also for the bit where Kaleb tells the group to shut up and ride in silence when no one was talking.

As you'd expect from films like this, this lot don't get on very well and have a few punch ups on the way, and not everyone will make it to the epic battle at the end. In tone this plays out a lot more like an American Western than an Italian one (although it's as violent as an Italian one!), which means it wasn't quite as daft, although I loved that bit where they are hoisting a donkey up a cliff face when the Apaches ride by, causing everyone to dive for cover and leave the donkey hanging there, looking genuinely perplexed.

An obscure but acclaimed Western by some reviewers and in Spaghetti style . It deals with a small group of soldiers assigned by a General : John Huston to a dangerous mission : to attack an Indian stronghold that Apaches set up in Mexican territory and eventually wipe them out . They are commanded by ex-captain Victor Kaleb : Bekin Fehmiu, an extremely bittered deserter who after his spouse's death due to what he thinks was army negligence is really unsettling, that's why he left the cavalry service seeking for vengeance. As nowadays he will pardoned and given reinstatement if he executes the risked assignment beyond the enemy lines. As the deserter captain commands a squadron of special forces on enemy territory throughout the Southwest wasteland to arrive in a location into Mexico country : Devil's backbone. The team is formed by several especialists of wide range as Machine Gun, dynamite, weapons , such as : Chuck Connors as a priest expert on explosives, a professional explorer as Slim Pickens, an Indian scout : Ricardo Montalban, a Major called Brown : Richard Crenna, a strong fighter and Afro-American : Woody Strode , a British Army captain: Ian Bannen, furthermore : Albert Salmi, Patrick Wayne, Jack Alderson and the young Lieutenant Brandon De Wilde. They must combat the nasty Indian leader, Apache chief Mangus Durango : Mimmo Palmara and his stronghold located just out the army's reach once passed the Mexican frontier. The deserter and his blood brigade !. They drenched the west with terror! A savage renegade and the chosen few... They followed him into Hell just for the chance to kill him!

Moving and spectacular Western with story and script by prestigious Claif Huffaker in "Dirty Dozen" style with assaults, noisy action, marauding Apache attacks, violence and gorgeous outdoors from Spain. Stars Bekim Fehmiu who creates especially a memorable role giving acceptable acting as a deserter captain who is given the amnesty in exchange for leading the misfit team, as the avenger Victor Kaleb is promoted again as an Army Captain, being offered the pardon and reinstatement in the cavalry if he agrees to command a special forces bunch. He is well accompanied by a great and large support cast with plenty of familiar faces playing the especially trained soldiers, such as Albert Salmi, Chuck Connors, Ricardo Montalban, Slim Pickens, Patrick Wayne, Richard Crenna, and John Huston as a stubborn General, adding other minor roles for Remo De Angelis, Fausto Tozzi and Mimmo Palmar as cruel Apache chief.

It contains at atmospheric cinematography by Aldo Tonti, though a perfect remastering being really necessary. Shot on location in El Torcal de Antequera, Malaga and Almeria, Andalucia, Spain and Lazio, Rome, Italy. As well as rousing and stirring musical score by Piero Piccioni. The motion picture well produced by Dino De Laurentiis was professionally directed by Burt Kennedy. He is mainly known for being writer in Budd Boetticher western fims. As Burt also directed a lot of Westerns as The good guys and the bad guys, The train robbers, The war wagon, More wild wild west, The rounders, Return of the Seven, The wild wild west revisited, The dynamite and the gold, Hannie Coulder, The Alamo 13 days to glory, and his two most successful westerns : Support you local gunfighter and Support you local sheriff. In addition, Kennedy directed others genres including films as Killer inside me, All the kind strangers, Trouble with spies, Big bad John, and Suburban commando. Rating 6/10. Acceptable and passable Western.

What we have here is a rip-off of "The Dirty Dozen", though with more than 12 men, and set in the wild west. There was promise here that wasn't quite realized; we hardly get to know any of the characters, some of which could have been quite interesting given their backgrounds (an Afro-American, a Native American, a British army officer, etc.) The climatic action sequence is also a bit too short, and almost plays like they were running out of time and decided to bring in the action right there, and do it as quickly as possible.

Still, it's never boring, and it has a once in a lifetime cast that almost begs you to see it. You might want to wait until it's on TV, though - the boneheads at Paramount Video released this on EP speed, which doesn't make the picture quality any good.

Totally acceptable Italian western utilizing many American character actors. My only gripes are the weirdly inappropriate score, and Indians who look suspiciously like Europeans. John Huston easily steals every scene as the Calvary General who doesn't mind sending Bekim Fehmiu and his band of misfits on a suicide mission. The desert scenery is exceptional, the acting passable, and the action strong. This film has some very sharp editing, thus eliminating scenes that would do little to move the story forward. It is also one of the least predictable westerns I have seen. Put this all together and you have a rarely viewed film, that deserves far more attention. - MERK

Really loved this film when I saw it on BBC1 way back in 1981, when I was the grand old age of 11. One of those films I always wanted to see on TV again, but it has NEVER been repeated on UK TV. However, I managed to pick it up on second hand video from e-bay, and wondered how it would stand up today, over 20 years after I saw it. The verdict? Still great. True, it is dated in parts (Music, editing) but these are really minor complaints on the whole. The lead character is great; really ruthless and a true anti-hero. Some great supporting cast also; with some really unexpected moments. And it takes it's time getting to where it's going, which I feel a lot of todays films lack. In 'The Deserter', the characters are given time to breath, and it is not until well after the first hour that they inevitably start to die. This all leads up to an explosive last twenty mins, with some memorable scenes. If you love 'guys on a mission' movies, or westerns, see this little gem. Allan.