By Lee Pfeiffer
By 1969 the Spaghetti-Western craze had replaced the spy movie craze of a few years before. Just as seemingly every other movie had been a 007 clone, the Sergio Leone-inspired Westerns swamped theater screens worldwide. One major difference is that the Bond boom resulted in some very worthy imitators such as the Our Man Flint, Matt Helm and Harry Palmer movies (not to mention numerous classic TV series). The Euro Western trend, however, bore little fruit in terms of films of enduring quality beyond the Leone originals. One notable exception is The Five-Man Army, directed by an American (Don Taylor) and co-scripted by future cult film director Dario Argento (who was rumored to have directed certain scenes in this film.) The movie borrows liberally from the time-worn premise of a small group of intrepid (if disreputable) rogues who find themselves on a seemingly suicidal caper mission, taking on overwhelming odds to achieve their goal. In this case, a mysterious man known by all as The Dutchman (Peter Graves) assembles four disparate confederates to assist him in pulling off the robbery of train transporting a fortune in gold. The action takes place in Mexico in 1914, an era that has long attracted filmmakers because of the on-going revolution and the involvement of American mercenaries. The Dutchman's team consists of Dominguez (Nino Castelnuovo), a murderous but fearless bandit wanted by the law, Augustus (James Daly), an American demolitions expert, Mesito (Bud Spencer), a bear of a man who is eager to find a way to escape the humiliation of his impoverished lifestyle and the Samurai (Tetsuro Tamba), a mostly silent ex-circus performer who is an expert swordsman and knife-thrower. The Dutchman tells this motley crew that their mission is to rob the train, which is guarded by heavily armed government troops, in order to turn the money over to revolutionaries. Each man will get a reward of $1,000 each. Needless to say, there will be deceit, double-crosses and mutual hatreds established in the course of the mission.
What sets The Five-Man Army apart from other Leone wanna-bes is the fact that it is so stylishly directed and photographed. The top-notch screenplay successfully mixes thrills and witticisms and the characters are well-drawn and intriguing. The film plows familiar turf from such legendary Hollywood films as The Dirty Dozen, The Wild Bunch, The Magnificent Seven, The Guns of Navarone and The Professionals, but if the production values aren't as grand, the film doesn't suffer from the low-budget stigma of other Euro Westerns. Director Taylor does a lot with his limited budget and the train robbery sequence is brilliantly realized, especially in those scenes in which aspects of the plan go wrong with potentially devastating results. The cast members are all in top form with Bud Spencer and Tetsuro Tamba particularly impressive (the latter has to rely largely on his physical presence, as he is playing a mostly wordless role.) There is also the benefit of a lively score by Ennio Morricone and an impressive titles sequence that was clearly inspired by The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. If there is one weak point it is the casting of Peter Graves as The Dutchman. Graves' performance is fine, but he doesn't fit in with his gritty on-screen co-conspirators. With his clean cut appearance and designer haircut, he looks like he just stepped out of a luncheon at the Brown Derby. Nevertheless, this is a minor gripe. The Five-Man Army is a top-notch Western that fully deserves its status as a cult film favorite.
The MGM production has been released as a burn-to-order title available through the Warner Archive. (Amusingly, the original U.S. advertising poster reproduced on the sleeve changes the title to read "The 5-Man Army!"). Presumably, a marketing study seemed that numerals and exclamation points add to the boxoffice grosses. An original theatrical trailer is included.
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