The Ugly Ones (1966)

Perfect cast and a good story

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

As far as Euro-Westerns go, The Bounty Killer has about as straight forward a plot as you'll find. Jose Gomez (Tomas Milian) is a prisoner being moved by coach to a new facility to await his death. The citizens of his hometown see him as something of a hero and want to help him out. Gomez's would-be love interest Eden (Halina Zalewska) slips him a gun at one of the stage's stops. But is Gomez the same man the townsfolk remember? Or, as bounty hunter Luke Chilson (Richard Wyler) warns, has Gomez changed and no longer deserving of their admiration? The locals are about to find out as Gomez and his gang with the bounty hunter hot on his heels are headed straight for their sleepy little town.It's not perfect by any means, but for fans of Euro-Westerns, there's a lot in The Bounty Killer to enjoy. First, and most obvious, is Tomas Milian. I don't know how many of these Westerns he made, but this was his first. And quite honestly, it may represent his best acting performance. The multi-dimensions and facets he's able to give his character, Jose Gomez, is nothing short of brilliant. Even though he's an escaped prisoner, Gomez is a character we initially root for. But slowly, he changes. Toward the end of the film, Milian has transformed Gomez into the kind of ruthless killer that a hangman's noose is too good for. And his final moments on screen, all I can say is "Wow!" It's an incredible performance. As for the rest of the cast, they're all more than adequate with the familiar face of Mario Brega, the beautiful face of Halina Zalewska, and the steady, unflinching face Richard Wyler as anti-hero Luke Chilson. It takes a while for Chilson to grow on you, but once he does it's easy to appreciate the character. In fact, it takes a while for all of The Bounty Killer to grow on you. The film starts out slow (very slow in fact), but be patient – the payoff is worth the wait. Looking back at the film, the pacing director Eugenio Martin gives to The Bounty Killer is one of the movie's assets – culminating with a final act that features plenty of fight scenes, shoot outs, and various other killings. Not as graphic as some of the later Euro-Westerns, there's enough violence to keep most everyone happy. The Spanish country side is beautifully filmed and provides just the gorgeous dusty setting I've come to look forward to in these films. Finally, Stelvio Cipriani's score, though often repetitive, is rousing and memorable. Overall, it's a job well done.

This film was oh so close to nearly losing me. Maybe my attention span was limited - it had been a pretty tiring day after all (but thats another - and highly uninteresting - story!). But anyway, for pretty much the first third of the movie I was convinced that it was notable purely for being Tomas Milian's first foray into the Spaghetti Western genre that he is so renowned for (and rightly so).Milian plays Jose Gomez, an outlaw treated with reverence by the small population that make up his hometown. He is freed from captivity by Eden (Zalewska), who looks at Gomez with wanting eyes, seeing him as a local hero. However, bounty hunter Luke Chilson (Wyler) is on his trail, and arrives at the town ahead of the escapee, to the wrath of the very protective townsfolk. When Gomez does arrive in town, with a group of bandits at the helm, the locals begin to experience that he is no longer the great man that they believed him to be, and begin to witness first hand why he has the bounty on his head.Whilst the opening sequences are slow and stretched to near yawning point (even for me and, hey, I like slow films!), the second half of the movie more than makes up for it. The film really hits the heights as the locals witness the transformation of Gomez' character. Milian plays this role expertly, demonstrating clearly the promise that was to blossom fully in the very near future. Wyler's bounty hunter on the other-hand is far more restrained, yet apt for the character he portrays. There is also a fine supporting cast that includes Spaghetti favourites Mario Brega and Frank Brana, and a pretty powerful soundtrack provided by Cipriani.All in all, I am relieved that I sat through the slow beginning, because the film does have so much going for it once it does get going. May day improved considerably. Well worth viewing.

Great opening and closing shots, and everything wonderful in between as the camera captures both the wide open spaces and the claustrophobic confines of the station and its various buildings where much of the action in THE UGLY ONES takes place.For a change well drawn characters rather than a catalogue of stock figures that you expect in a western. Unusually the female lead is a strong individual; the villain of the piece remains the most interesting and complex, and thankfully the bounty hunter does not succumb to becoming a romantic lead.This film is violent for its time and I enjoyed the reliance on fisticuffs, rather than just gun-play.The soundtrack is exceptional with a score by STELVIO CIPRIANI that exemplifies the unique qualities of the Euro western.This is a film I would recommend to any film-goer, and equally important, certainly one that I would watch again (8 out of 10 for this genre).

Given a free reign in New Chacos, the town in which he was born and where his Mexican parents were murdered when he was a child, Jose Sanchez (Tomas Milian) does what he knows best - breaks the law. But like anyone who has received love, affection and moral guidelines in their infancy, Jose has moments of lucidity when he realises that he is doing wrong. The problem is that crime and the inherent ease with which Jose can take whatever he wants have become an addiction; an addiction which has eaten away at his moral fibres so much that even the townsfolk who have helped to free him from the gun of bounty killer Luke Chiltern (Richard Wyler) are treated by Jose with contempt.If there is one scene which compounds the extraordinary acting range of Tomas Milian into its unique whole, it occurs in this movie. Much of the action in The Ugly Ones takes place in the tavern of New Chacos owned by ex-gunman Novak whose niece Anna Eton (Ella Karin) helped free Jose from the law. In an intensely studied scene Milian portrays Jose as torn between obvious glee and tears as he contemplates robbing a young drifter who has just left the tavern. As he is emotionally torn in two his henchmen watch him. He is obviously a strong and charismatic leader to this gang of thuggish cut-throats, but there is a definite hint of caution among his gang in dealing with his schizoid personality. Finally, as if to put his mind at peace before their collective act of violence, Jose caresses, then cradles his head, on the butt of one of the gang member's guns before uttering his name, "Senor Gomez", a confirmation of his power and status.The Ugly Ones is a very classy western indeed which transcends its black hat/white hat scenario with finesse. It's a classic "siege" western but this time the enemy is within; Jose and his amoral gang of desperadoes as one enemy and the guilt and cowardice of the townsfolk as another. "Only the rich have to fear men like Jose Gomez, not the poor. He's one of us." Their voicing of sympathy for outlaw gangs often forced into delinquency by social circumstance is countered by Chiltern's simplistic view of the situation, "Today, that child's a murderer." The film is loaded with interesting notions of why Jose has become a killer. We hear of his parents' deaths and his family's land being stolen and also that he killed a Yankee soldier in a brawl following a barrage of racist taunts. So with all this prejudice heaped on him solely because of his Mexican nationality, is it any wonder that Jose is forced to become a ruthless criminal? Why should Jose pull rank and behave himself? The answer is simply because the people of New Chacos still care for him and still remember the innocent child who used to play with Ethan the blacksmith (Mario Brega). For this reason they helped him to escape Chiltern and for this reason Jose holds the bounty killer captive.But Jose spurns their affections and pathetic pleas for the violence to stop, preferring instead to drink himself into a stupor while his brutish friends engage in a particularly wild version of the "shooting and drinking" games which are as familiar to the spaghetti western as laughing Mexicans. When finally Jose and his men have stripped the town's businesses and caused as much destruction as possible it is Anna, Jose's childhood friend (and possibly sweetheart) who is brave enough to free Chiltern so that he can face Jose in a surprisingly vigorous showdown.The exceptional location work and baroque visual touches can be attributed to Enzo Barboni who lensed Sergio Corbucci's ferocious Django in the same year while the complex analysis of Jose's criminality can probably be credited to co-script writers Don Prindle and Jose Maesso as well as Eugenio Martin. The film also boasts some of the finest supporting performances in the genre, particularly Ella Karin who, uniquely for a female in a rampantly macho genre, is the only one who will stand up to Jose's violence while it is implied throughout that their emotional ties are the strongest. But the most phenomenal aspect of The Ugly Ones is Tomas Milian, staking his claim in his genre debut as a formidable western leading man and delivering what is in retrospect, the spaghetti western's most complex and most electrifying performance, equally tormented, resentful and vicious right down to his final gasping breath.