Bandit! (1956)

Pretty Good

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

good back-story, and good acting

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

I was very glad to find this great little movie on Youtube in full, as i had been wanting to see it for quite some time. Robert Mitchum gives an excellent performance as grenade toting adventurer Wilson and the action is satisfactory. The action comes in the form of a battle in a town near the beginning of the film which makes good use of rifles, cannons and Gattling gun and showcases Wilson tossing grenades into the town square and taking out a dozen guards. There is also another scene when Wilson and some other character escape from a prison and make their way through a jungle,which is quite unusual for a western. The film ends with a small shootout in which Wilson uses a Gattling gun to blow up several enemy soldiers. An excellent little film, but a tad too much dialogue. The scenery is beautiful and the film is beautifully photographed, shots of lush green jungles, rugged mountains and a beach will live long in your memory. I would really like to see this gem released onto DVD or shown on TV soon.

Robert Mitchum had a hand in producing Bandido, an independent production released by United Artists in 1956. It was supposed to be more of an existential type story about a mercenary during the Mexican Civil Wars of the teen years. What finally emerged was your run of the mill action adventure story with Mitchum mixing business with pleasure during the revolution. The business was arms, but the pleasure was Ursula Thiess.Thiess is married to Zachary Scott who finds money far more beautiful than Thiess if that's possible. He's looking to sell a large cache of arms to the government which certainly has the cash on hand. Mitchum however while he says he's detached from the politics does harbor a certain sympathy for the rebels who locally are headed by Gilbert Roland. The film was shot on location in Mexico and the two best things it has going for it are the beautiful location photography in Mexico and the performance of Gilbert Roland. Roland's a bit more intense in his role as the revolutionary chief than he normally is, but he still has that incredible charm working overtime for him. There are so many films where I find him the best thing in them.According to the Mitchum biography by Lee Server, he got himself in a bit of woman trouble while down there. Nothing new for Mitchum except for the fact it was his stand in who abused a young woman who thought it was Bob himself. When you have that kind of a reputation, trouble will seek you out even when you're completely innocent. It all worked out for Mitchum however.Ursula Thiess pretty much ended her career as actress with this film, she had married Robert Taylor a couple of years earlier and was now going to be a mother again. She had two children by her first marriage to German producer George Thiess, but now she was going to devote full time to the raising of Taylor's children.Bandido is your run of the mill action adventure story. One wonders though what Mitchum had in mind for the original plot.

"Bandido" is a sort of western settled settled during the Mexican revolution leaded by Emiliano Zapata against the ruling of Porfirio Díaz in the early 20th century.Robert Mitchum is an American adventurer that makes his living by selling guns to the part that pays better who predictably turns for the just cause. The villain is the always reliable Zachary Scott, obviously in the "wrong" side, married to the amazingly beautiful but wooden Ursula Theiss who obviously too turns her affections to Mitchum. Gilbert Roland is a revolutionary leader who also goes for the guns for his cause.Though not a great film at all, "Bandido" is an entertaining adventure with a simple script, a rather fast development, impressive outdoor locations (mainly at the seashore), a good colourful photography, romance and well handled action sequences.Richard Fleischer was a daring all-terrain director who gave as such good products in different genres as "Compulsion", "Soylent Green", "Blind Terror", "The Vikings", "Tora Tora Tora", "Ashanti", "The Boston Strangler" or "The Jazz Singer" (1980). He tries his hand in westerns here and he gets an acceptable movie surely enjoyable for fans of the genre.

This is a fun Robert Mitchum movie, with a little taste of the "Magnificent Seven". Mitchum plays an American adventurer who runs afoul of American gunrunner Zacary Scott. While attempting to steal the shipment of guns from Scott he becomes involved with Scotts wife as well as the noble cause of the revolution. He ultimately sees that the rebels get the guns. This movie is very enjoyable, with the always good performance of Gilbert Roland (as the rebel general) and several other recognizible Hispanic actors such as Rudy Hoyos. I haven't seen this movie shown on TV even on cable for years. I would definitely like to see it released on VHS. The movie has some pretty good action scenes so if you get a chance to see it, DO!