The Proud and Damned

The Proud and Damned is written and directed by Ferde Grofe Jr. It stars Chuck Connors, Cesar Romero and Andres Marquis. Music is by Gene Kauer and Douglas M. Lackey, and cinematography by Remegio Young.

1870 and five ex Confederate mercs arrive in South America and become embroiled in another Civil War of sorts...

Pretty poor offering, a pic that was completed in 1969 but wasn't released until three years later, one can only think that after viewing it, some financial backer saw it for the dud it is and refused release! The plot principal is sound, the fact it's a Western filmed in Columbia and set in South America (the place unnamed) is an interesting point of note, plus Connors and Romero at least have fans from which to launch potential for cult fandom. But hopes of a good film are dashed quite early.

Is being boring a valid criticism? Well yes it is, and this is a snore bore. The cast turn in auto-cue acting, all of them saddled with direlogue, the editing is messy, and the musical score irritating as it fluctuates between sorrowful guitar to bandido marching music, with some flamenco type jolly that's out of place as well, and what little action there is is laughably constructed. A bold turn of events in the narrative is worth a point at least, as is the outcome of it all - though it doesn't really make grounded sense - but ultimately this is one that deserves to stay obscure. 2/10

Chuck Connors, Aron Kincaid, Smokey Roberds, Henry Capps, and Peter Ford, play the title roles in The Proud And Damned. Probably this film's only distinction is it's the only film I've seen and reviewed that was shot in Colombia. Fitting as the location for the action is some unnamed South American country.

These five are Confederate veterans who've gone south and have kicked around selling their military experience as mercenaries and now just want to go home. But time and circumstance force them to get involved in a local war between a would be dictator in Andres Marquis and Cesar Romero the Alcalde of a medium size town who is not happy about Marquis challenging his hegemony.

Our cast looks distinctly unhappy in their roles and deliver the perfunctory performances to prove it. Even Jose Greco merely recycles only a part of what he gave to his role in Ship Of Fools as a gypsy whore master. We do however get to see Greco the great flamenco dancer in a number in the film.

This whole crew looks like it's waiting for their salary checks to clear.

"The Proud and The Damned" is a western that should be seen by any big western fan. You know the good guys from the bad guys by the way the dress (Good guys wear different clothes and the bad guys wear a funny-looking blue uniform with a red scarf around their necks). This film should have won an award for "best costume design" because every time i saw the bad guys running around in those unique, blue, western leisure suits, I laughed my head off and was immediately blown away with the artistic talent and creative efforts in thinking of those uniforms. We all know mexicans didn't wear those kind of clothes. The film has it's "shoot-outs" with cannons, it's original dialogue ("Hey Will, do you think they'll be waiting for us over by that hill of mud?...."You bet your tail!"), and it's daring anti-climax (The good guys lose) that makes it a very realistic piece of american/mexican cinema. Watch for Cesar Romero's final scene as he demands that Chuck Connors pays for the food that he and his men has eaten in a mexican whorehouse....( Cesar Romero)- "Pay for your food mister!" (Chuck Connors) - "The women and the sex we pay for but the food's free, Mr. Mayor cuase I say so." Marvelous

THE PROUD AND THE DAMNED is an odd, zero-budget western that was filmed in Colombia. That novelty value is about the only thing this has going for it as otherwise it's a completely routine oater that feels like a low-budget, low-effort riff on THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN. The storyline involves a group of rather dull mercenary types who hole up in a small village during a revolution and soon find themselves getting involved in the action.

Although there's plentiful action in this movie, none of it is very good. It doesn't help matters much that the quality of the print I saw was absolutely pitiful, one of the worst-looking westerns ever. The Colombian locations are effective but the direction is very poor and this feels like an old 1930s-era film rather than a '70s movie. Chuck Connors and Cesar Romero co-star.

After the Civil War has ended 5 Confederate soldiers led by "Sergeant Will Hansen" (Chuck Connors) have left the United States in search of a new home somewhere in South America. After being chased out of one country they find themselves caught between two rival armies involved in their own civil war. One side belongs to "General Martinez" (Andres Marquis) who demands that these 5 soldiers spy on his enemy for him or risk death. Not having much choice they agree and ride into the village of San Carlos to gather as much information as they can on the other army led by "Dom Miguel" (Cesar Romero). While doing so a couple of them meet two attractive women named "Maria" (Maria Grimm) and "Carmela" (Nana Lorca) who impact their lives in ways neither man can imagine at the time. Anyway, so much for the plot. As far as the movie was concerned I thought some of the characters were too shallow, the action sequences were rather dull, it wasn't well-written and the story just seemed to fall flat. That said, I honestly wasn't too impressed with the overall finished product and as a result I rate this movie as below average.