(Radeant Films, 1967) Dir: Raúl de Anda, Jr.; Scr: X. Randa (aka
Rodolfo de Anda); Photo: Fernando Alvarez Garcés "Colín";
Music: Enrico Cabiati; Eastmancolor
CAST: Rodolfo de Anda (Charles Farrell), Narciso Busquets (the Man in Black), Jorge Russek (Jim Williams), Amadee Chabot (Alice O'Connor), Evangelina Elizondo (Mary), Arturo Martínez (Sam), Eduardo Noriega (Joe Farrell), Consuelo Frank (Mrs. Williams), José Elías Moreno (Robert O'Connor*); Williams' henchmen: Jorge Radó, José Luis Carol, Carlos Cardán; Carlos León (Jack, rancher), Víctor Alcocer (rancher), Jesús Gómez (rancher), José L. Murillo (bartender), Alfredo Gutiérrez (sheepman), John Kelly (sheriff), Mario Cid (Ben's brother), Ramiro Orci** (blacksmith), Rubén Márquez (sheepman)
*print sources say "George O'Connor" but in the film it certainly sounds like "Robert O'Connor"
**some print credits list Juan Miranda in the cast, but I cannot spot him; there may be a confusion with the similarly muscular Ramiro Orci, who is not credited but is definitely in the film
NOTES: This is a very good little Western, albeit rather predictable (until the end), shot mostly on location in Toluca (it isn't set in Mexico and to its credit the film does not look like it was shot in Mexico--it even has snow!). Raúl de Anda Jr.'s direction is quite assured, the photography and editing are excellent at times, and Cabiati's music score is mostly fine. Production values are adequate (it didn't cost much to make a Western, even the town was a standing América studios set), but the final sequence features at least twenty or thirty mounted men, a pretty impressive sight.
Rodolfo de Anda is maybe a bit callow as the hero (an Australian! Although neither he nor Eduardo Noriega attempts any sort of accent and there are only one or two shots where either man wears their hat "Australian-style"), but he's ok. Narcisco Busquets is excellent despite his cliched role, Jorge Russek does his usual villainous best, Carlos León gets a slightly larger role than usual. On the distaff side, Consuelo Frank (a leading lady of the '30s, now playing old ladies), Evangelina Elizondo (showing her age a bit but still attractive and turning in a nuanced performance), and Amedee Chabot (beautiful as always, although her hair--in all but one scene--is far too teased and perfect for the film's setting) are all satisfactory.
Rodolfo de Anda has two good fights with Russek, and one with Arturo Martínez; these are good examples of director de Anda's professionalism, as they are shot and edited quite expertly, with minimal doubling (I was a little afraid Jorge Russek's toupee might fall off during the most strenous scenes, but nothing ever happened).
One odd fact about this movie: the pre-recorded video has crude, video-generated titles and partial credits intercut, with no remnant of the original titles left. Why this was done--particularly since the title wasn't changed--is unknown. Furthermore, Mexican references don't carry full production credits (such as film editor, assistant director, and so on) for this film. Perhaps, as with the pre-recorded videos of El sabor de la venganza (which has credits from the Canadian release) or Peligro...mujeres en acción (which has some English-language credits), the only prints extant at the time of the video transfer were "export" versions, and the foreign-language credits were excised and replaced by video credits. The print has a few bad spots but the color holds up fairly well and the picture quality is generally decent.
In any event, El hombre de negro is quite
well done and while it doesn't have any sex or explicit gore, is still
more "adult" than the pseudo B-Westerns like the "El Texano" series that
Rodolfo de Anda had been starring in during the '60s. 
As the film opens, a gunfighter dressed in black is forced to shoot and kill a young man who goads him into a gunfight. The sheriff asks the Man in Black to leave town, since the dead man (Ben) has two brothers who will undoubtedly try to take revenge.
Meanwhile, in a nearby valley, cattle ranchers led by the powerful Jim Williams are trying to prevent sheep ranchers from using public pasture land. Charles Farrell is shot and wounded when he tries to drive some sheep from the snowy upper hills into the valley below. Joe Farrell, Charles' father, leaves his son recuperating, and sets out to move the herd himself. Some time later, the Man in Black appears at the Farrell cabin with Joe's body. He found the man dying, and brought his body home. The sheep were all killed by Williams' men.
Charles asks the Man in Black to teach him how to shoot. Time passes. The Man in Black turns down Charles' offer of a partnership: as a famed gunman, he is always a target for people seeking revenge or trying to make their reputation by killing him. As if to prove this, two of Ben's brothers show up at the cabin and try to kill the Man in Black. Charles demonstrates his new ability with a gun by shooting one of the would-be killers, and the Man kills the other. Another sheepman, O'Connor, goes to town to buy some hay for his sheep, but is beaten up by Williams' men. Charles arrives and shoots one of the henchmen who had participated in the murder of his father. Charles is engaged to Alice, O'Connor's daughter.
Meanwhile, the Man in Black has moved into the local saloon-hotel, and developed a relationship with Mary, the proprietor. Williams offers to hire him to kill Charles, but the Man refuses. After Sam, Williams' foreman, burns down Charles' cabin, Charles challenges him in the saloon and shoots him dead.
The sheepmen want to stand up for their rights but they don't have decent weapons. Charles tries to get some from the town store, but is ambushed by Williams' men; he escapes with his life, thanks to the intervention of the Man in Black, but the guns have all been purchased by Williams, who has them at his ranch. Charles goes to the ranch and tries to steal the rifles, but Williams catches him: the men fight and Williams is killed (impaled on a fireplace poker). Charles turns the guns over to the sheepmen.
Now the shoe is on the other foot. The cattle ranchers are willing to share the pasture with the sheepmen, but Charles orders the ranchers to clear out. Alice pleads with the Man in Black to intervene and prevent bloodshed. The two groups confront each other, but before fighting can start, the Man in Black meets Charles. They agree that if Charles beats the Man in a gunfight, the battle will commence, but if Charles loses, the sheepmen will compromise with the cattlemen.
The Man in Black beats Charles to the draw, but only wounds him in the arm. Peace will reign in the valley. The Man in Black rides off, alone.
The (reasonably) happy ending of El hombre de negro is a bit contrived, and one can only wonder if Charles--who turned into a pretty bitter, vengeful, and almost power-mad guy towards the end of the movie--will actually cooperate with the cattle ranchers as he agreed to do. Since the Man in Black is gone, Charles will be the fastest gun in the valley and we've seen that he isn't reluctant to shoot people he doesn't like. Of course, he's gimpy in one leg from his first gunshot wound, and now that he's been shot in the arm too, he might not be such a fast draw anymore.
This aside, El hombre de negro is a slick piece of work, quite entertaining for those who enjoy Westerns, and obviously the product of a film industry with a lot of veteran talent in front of and behind the camera.
Posted 3 June 99, edited 25 August 2000 by dw45@umail.umd.edu