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Alfredo Mayo - Storia di Karatè...pugni e fagioli (Karate, Fists and Beans)   Other original title: La ley del kárate en el Oeste  Other titles:
Siete
contra todos/Fäuste, Bohnen und... Karate! / Zwei linke Brüder auf dem
Weg zur Hölle /Karate, Yumruk ve Fasulye /Karatê, Murros e Feijão /
Karate i vilda västern / Karatekauhu lännessä Karate  German and Turkish posters (Cris Huerta & Dean Reed) |
o-o-o-o-o Director: Tonino Ricci (Also known as Anthony Richmond) Story: Alfonso Balcázar Story board: Arpad de Riso et Giovanni Scolaro Photography: Jaime Deu Casas Music: Juniter Decoration: Juan Alberto Soler Dialogues in english: Ted Rusoff Producers : NATIONAL CINEMATOGRAFICA (Italy) CINEMATOGRAFICAS BALCAZAR (Spain) 35mm - Eastmancolor-Panoramic Original duration : 90 minutos Filmed in: Esplugues de LLobregat (Esplugas de Lobregat) - Barcelona-Spain See complete artistic and technical credits in Spanish version of this page o-o-o-o-o I.- Casting Dean Reed (Sam), Cris Huerta (Buddy Piccolo), Iwao Yoshioka (Moikako Fujibashi), Alfredo Mayo
(Colonel Randolf Quint), Fernando Sancho (Espartero), Godofredo Unger
(Freddy, Espartero's assistant), Pino Ferrara (The judge Angus McLeod),
Dante Cleri (Dito Stanco, said "Goldenhand"), Sal Borgese (Ken
Stanco), Ángel Aranda (Clint Stanco), Luis Induni (The
sheriff), Renato Malavasi (The banker Morgan), Carla Mancini, Francesca
Romana Coluzzi (Baby Morgan), Irene D'Astrea, Gaspar 'Indio'
González, Gustavo Re (Johnson), Claudio Ruffini, Ivan Torres.
  German and Spanish VHS |
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II.- The story
Sam (Dean Reed) and Buddy Piccolo (Cris Huerta) two highway robbers, arrive in a monastery to ask for food. In the church of the convent they discover " Saint Quirín's golden head". With the purpose of robbing the treasure they decide to take as patner, the Colonel Randolf Quint (Alfredo Mayo), an ex-officer and now a skilled crook. But quickly Quint sells his services to the banker Morgan (Renato Malavasi) in order to free Baby Morgan, the banker's daughter (Francesca Romana Coluzzi), who has been abducted by Espartero (Fernando Sancho)and his killers gang. abducted by Espartero and his killers gang. A plan to 'sell' fake dollars to Espartero goes awry. Sam (Dean Reed) and Buddy Piccolo (Cris Huerta) two highway robbers, arrive in a monastery to ask for food. In the church of the convent they discover Saint Quirín's golden head". With the purpose of robbing the treasure they decide to take as partner, the Colonel Randolf Quint (Alfredo Mayo), an ex-officer and now a skilled crook. But quickly Quint sells his services to the banker Morgan (Renato Malavasi) in order to free Baby Morgan, the banker's daughter (Francesca Romana Coluzzi) who has been abducted by Espartero (Fernando Sancho) and his gang of killers. A brave Japanese cook named Moikako Fujibashi (Iwao Yoshioka) joins Quint’s team. The rag-tag band of Quint meets Espartero in several scraps. Thanks of Mokaiko and his karate art, Quint destroys Espartero band in the last confrontation and Baby Morgan is safe. And at the end of the film Quint and his friend take in charge the custody of the Morgan Bank.  The Colonel Quint (Alfredo Mayo) and his friends have in charge
the custody of the Bank "Morgan & Company THE END o-o-o-o-o |
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III.- Remarks
3.1.- The director Tonino Ricci has directed Alfredo Mayo in 1971 for the spaghetti western film "The great Chihuahua treasure hunt". The two men will work again for "Delirio d'amore/Pasión" (1976) with the French actress Macha
Méril, and for "Encounters in the deep/Incontri con gli umanoidi/Encuentro en el abismo " (1979) with Gianni Garko.
The casting is, may be if it is possible, more "heterogeneous" than in the other spaghetti werstern films, with the presence of the US actor, Dean Reed, but also of a world karate champion, the Japanese Iwao Yoshioka, and Spanish large screen veterans as Alfredo Mayo , Cris Huerta and Fernando Sancho. 3.2.1- Cris Huerta (1935 -)
This actor whose genuine identity is Crisanto Huerta Brieva was born in Portugal (Lisbon). He has had career like this of Fernando Sancho. He played first in a "sandals and sword" Italian film in 1961. Later he became a specialist of the spaghetti western films playing often big, dirty and ugly person. In 1970 he was yet with Alfredo Mayo in the film "Viva Sabata". He played also between a lot of other titles, in the western baguette film"Les pétroleuses/The legend of Frenchie king" (1971) by Christian-Jaque, with Brigitte Bardot et Jeanne Moreau. In 1995 he will be one of the "Father" in "La cité des enfants perdus/ The city of lost children" (1995) by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Crist Huerta's filmography will present 90 titles. His last interpretation will be in 1997 for a Spanish TV serie. In "storia di karatè... pugni e fagioli/Karate, fists ans beans" (1973) by Tonino Ricci he constitutes a amazing duo with Dean Reed, a young, beautiful and tall cow-boy, with a big and ugly man, in a way of two Italian actors more known,Terence Hill and Bud Spencer : A difficult challenge ! Dean
Reed was born in Denver (Colorado) - USA
the 1938/09/22. His father was teacher and his mother a
housewife. He gave up his University studies to became a roch
singer with a first record in 1958. His first song
(named
"Our Summer Romance") became an immense success in South America
(especially in Peru, Argentina, Chile, where he was more known than
Elvis Presley. In 1962 he sang in an huge concert in
Chile ( Puerto Montt). The "US rocker"
was a star in Argentina where he didn't vacilate of singing in
Buenos Aires poor districts and in the prisons. He has too a TV show in
the Argentina Federal Capital where he began his cinematographical
career with a musical comedy "My first fiancée" (1965) by
Enrique Carrreras. He played also in two musical films in Mexico,
between them, "Guadalajara in summer" (1965) by Julio Bracho with Fernando Soto. But his progressive and even marxist ideas converted him in an indesirable guest.
He made a circuit of concerts in USSR (1966) then he lived in Italy where he had the main role in his first "spaghetti western film" principal dans son premier western spaghetti, "Dio li crea...lo li ammazzo !/God made them...I kill them!" (1967) by Paolo Bianchini. Dean reed went on with several films in Italy and in Spain under the direction of Italian and Spanish cineasts as Ignacio F. Iquino. In 1971 he was with Yul Brynner in "Indio black, sai che ti dico: sei un gran figlio di.../Adios Sabata/The bounty hunters" by Franck Kramer. In 1973 (February) he was one of the invited stars in the "Festival of solidarity" for Chile and Vietnam in Uruguaydes vedettes invitées au "Festival de la solidarité" Chili-Vietnan in Uruguay. The same year he was in Spain to be in the film "Karate, fists and beans" by Tonino Ricci, with Alfredo Mayo. Always in 1973 he settled down in East Berlin. Dean Reed pursuited in RDA and in the communist countries a very successful career with concerts and important sales of records. Then he directed a film about the life of the militant Chilean singer "Victor Jara, 'El Cantor" (1978) died in 1973 and considered as a victim of the General Pinochet. He made also a western film "Sing, cow-boy, sing" filmed in the East Berlin studios in 1981. For these two productions Dean Reed had also the main role. In 1985 Dean Reed gave a concert int the University of Minnesota (USA) it is said the artist wanted to come back definitively to his country. But the 13th June 1986, he was found dead in a lake near his house in East Berlin. Some people spoke about suicide, murder. I t was maybe an accident... A new legend was born... If you are interested by the subject you can see
www.DeanReed.de  ДИН РИД (1938-1986) 3.2.3.- Iwao Yoshioka (1946-)
Iwao Yoshioka is a real karate champion who was born in Kumamoto (Japon) in
1946. He played three roles of the same kind in the seventies under the direction of Italian cineasts: "Un homme appelé Karaté" by Michele-Massimo Tarantini; Pascualino Cammarata/Pascualino Cammarata, capitán de fragata; et "Robin, flèche et karaté" ( 1976) de Tonino Ricci with the young Victoria Abril.
3.2.4 - Fernando Sancho (1916-1990)
It
is not necessary to prestentFernando Sancho , this Spanish actor
with about 240 roles in the cinema, in fact a lot of extra or secondary
roles generally in Spanish films but also Italian, French, German,
Greek films. In "Karate, fists and beans", he is again a dirty dog. He
is again with Alfredo Mayo whom he has known in
1947 in the film "Heroes of 95" . He had made suffering our
favourite actor in "Suspenso en communismo/Failed the examen in communism" (1955). He was also with him in " 55 days in Peking" (1963), "In the folds of the flesh"(1970), "Black voodoo exorcist" (1973),
"Los caballeros del boton de ancla" (1974) et "Mar brava" (1983).
"Storia di karaté...pugni e fagioli" (1973) by Tonino Ricciis a spaghetti western which has been filmed in Spain (Catalonia) at the instance of the business family, the Balcazar. Of course "Karate, fists and beans" is not " a masterpiece of the cinema or of the spaghetti western films. The "mixture" of karate and higthwaymen is quite artificial but sufficiently amazing for giving us a pleasant time. With this film which doesn't lack humor and creativeness and whose music is excellent, we can discover too the famous Dean Reed, the Red Elvis! Of course we prefer our actor of predilection in films in black and white and in genres of cinema which are more in accord with our liking but we have to avow it has been again funny to see him in the role of a crook and to discover one of his partner is the famous "Red Elvis". However if we see the numerous foreign lenguages of the titles, this film has known a diffusion very important diffusion. This diffusion, and it is without doubt regrettable, has been very much more important than this of very more excellent Spanish films in black and white by Alfredo Mayo.  Dean Reed, Cris Huerta & Alfredo Mayo in "Karate, Fists and Beans" (1973)  Recently commercialized DVD version of "Karate, Fists and Beans" : NO See e-commerce sites and e-mule and co o-o-o-o-o File written: 2008/10/31 - Last version: 2009/12/28 www.don-alfredo-mayo.com © [back] [Home] [More] |