Former Cleveland Browns fullback Jim Brown and veteran character actor Lee Van Cleef make an unlikely couple of comrades in "Blue Max" director John Guillermin's cynical, epic-scale shoot'em up "El Condor," co-starring Patrick O'Neal, Marianna Hill, Iron Eyes Cody, and Elisha Cook Jr. Lensed on location in scenic Almeria, Spain, this bloodthirsty, profane, R-rated oater depicts the exploits of two soldiers-of-fortune who embark on a life & death struggle to loor a fortune in gold from a heavily fortified garrison in the middle of a savage desert. Hungarian André De Toth, whose chief claim to fame was his 3-D movie "House of Wax," made his share of westerns, so he knew his way around the sagebrush. British director John Guillermin wound up helming a little of everything, from "King Kong" to "The Towering Inferno" and from "Skyjacked" to "Tarzan Goes to India." "El Condor" doesn't rank as Guillermin's finest work, but he delivers the goods more competently than most and doesn't let the actors dawdle. Guillermin keeps the action charging ahead from one improbable predicament to another with aplomb. American scenarists Steven Carabatsos, a script consultant on the original "Star Trek" television series, and "Black Caesar" director Larry Cohen penned the amoral screenplay where virtually everybody turns on everybody else. The Jim Brown hero is the only honorable man amongst everybody. Obviously, Cohen and Carabatsos were channeling the landmark movie "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" where clashes between partners erupted from the greed in their blood.Guillermin effectively establishes the old Western setting in the first scene with a snake crawling through the rocks high above a prison where the inmates are shackled in pairs and taking a break from hard labor. An elderly convict (Elisha Cook Jr. of "The Maltese Falcon") regales his fellow convicts with the story of Emperor Maximilian's lost gold salted away in the El Condor desert where not even armies can get it. The impressionable Luke (Jim Brown of "The Dirty Dozen") believes everything that his convict pal claims so when the camp commandant offers him amnesty by to deploy his skills with explosives, he rejects the offer as fraud and escapes. Later, armed and mounted, Luke tracks down Jaroo (Lee Van Cleef of "Sabata") and tells him about the gold, the army, and the fortress. Jaroo has his hands full when we first meet him. He is getting blind drunk in a saloon with several untrustworthy hombres who want his gold. He lures them to his mind, an elaborate system of tunnels and shoots it out with them. During this gunfight, Luke describes the set-up, but Jaroo believes that they cannot do it. but Luke convinces him that it can be done because the latter controls an army of Indians. Jaroo has three adversaries left to kill when he agrees to become Luke's partner. He asks Luke to help him. Luke sights a convenient cradle of rocks above the last three killers and creates an avalanche with a single bullet that kills them. Jaroo howls with laughter. He comments briefly about his relationship with the Apaches. "I sell them guns that don't work; liquor'd make a white man go blind; I violate their women; and, they still love me." Like good westerns, the heroes don't have it easy. At one point, our heroes are tarred and feathered and run out of town. This is probably the funniest scene with both Brown and Van Cleef plastered head to toe in tar with feathers. Later, Jaroo assembles about 85 braves led by their chieftain Santana (Iron Eyes Cody of "The Big Trail") and they set out to get the gold. Like most search for treasure movies, "El Condor" starts out as fanciful with our heroes imagining their future wealth until they hit rock bottom and discover the horrible truth. All the stacks of gold in the basement of the gigantic fortress are lead ingots painted gold. Inevitably, Luke and Jaroo shoot it out in the last few minutes with predictable results and Luke rides off with the girl.Ultimately, despite its take-charge pace and Maurice Jarre's electrifying score, "El Condor" fails to generate any charisma. Indeed, this western cannot make up its mind whether it wants to be a buddy picture or a movie about the divisive effect of greed. Lee Van Cleef plays the kind of slimy villain that he developed throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, except here he adds comedy. Overall, Van Cleef steals every scene and he has a touching, off-beat scene with a small Mexican lad who he gives a gold nugget because they are both bastards. The problem with "El Condor" is that you cannot really like it because the protagonists aren't pals. Mind you, this could easily have been a funny, bloody, but enjoyable western if the filmmakers had allowed our protagonists to respect each other. Production designer Julio Molina built the sprawling fortress that the filmmakers would bequeath to other filmmakers for movies such as "Conan the Barbarian," "March or Die," and "A Reason to Live, A Reason to Die." The fortress looks like the eighth wonder of the world. Whatever else "El Condor" lacks, this unsavory western boasts spectacular production values.

Two men, a two-fisted Jim Brown as escaped prisoner and an humorous Lee Van Cleef as ambitious drifter, join forces to rob a lot of gold located into an impressive Mexican fortress (commanded by Patrick O'Neal) where is supposedly hidden the treasure. They're accompanied by an Indian tribe (led by Iron Eyes Cody, usual in Indian roles but he's Italian origin).It packs shootouts, action western, tongue in cheek, thrills, violence and some of nudism in charge of a gorgeous Marianna Hill . This American-Spanish co-production paints an ironic, cynic portrayal of two rough bandits , following their exploits about an attack over an heavily armed fortress . The film results to be another action/adventure /humor Western that during the 60s and early 70s were ordinarily shot . Likable support cast by prestigious actors as Elisha Cook Jr and full of secondaries from Spaghetti Western as Dan Van Husen, Ricardo Palacios, Angel Del Pozo, Charly Bravo, Rafael Albaicin, among others . The film is well shot in Texas Hollywood-Fort Bravo, Almeria, Spain with a breathtaking production design by Julio Molina who made the great fortress , one of the best ever created and where were posteriorly filmed several Spaghetti as ¨ Blind man, Massacre at Fort Holman, A man called Noon¨ and ¨Conan the Barbarian¨. Nevertheless, today the fort has been partially crumbled and only remain some ruins . Atmospheric and lively musical score by the classic Maurice Jarre (Zivago, Lawrence of Arab ). Evocative and colorful cinematography by Henry Persin . The motion picture is lavishly produced by Andre De Toth ( who directed good Western) and professionally directed by John Guillermin, a super-productions expert ( King Kong, The towering inferno, Skyjacked) and warlike specialist(The bridge of Remagen, Blue Max) . Rating : Acceptable and passable. The picture will appeal to S.W. buffs and Lee Van Cleef fans.

Lee Van Cleef steals the show from a more subdued Jim Brown in El Condor, an American produced film with a British director, shot in Spain.An old favorite of mine, this was aired frequently on local television when I was growing up, though not much seen nowadays. It's a fast, funny, and violent action/adventure, that is overdue for rediscovery!In this, Brown and Van Cleef scheme to take the impregnable Spanish fort of El Condor with a little help from a virtual army of Apache warriors in order to steal billions in gold.There's so many great scenes it's hard to say which is the best, the nude massacre, the attempted execution of Brown and Van Cleef by exposure, or the final rousing battle for El Condor. It's all good!Unfortunately, the fun is undercut by a downbeat ending pitting the two allies against each other. How disappointing!

The western genre is regarded by many (or is it just me?!) as having hit rock-bottom (well, almost) in the 1970s, before almost dying out in the 80s and 90s (ok, ok, dances with wolves, heaven's gate, there have been major westerns since...don't get me wrong). This is a prime example. Star of many terrible spaghetti westerns (and a few good ones) Lee Van Cleef features in this one as a drunken slob of a bandit called Jaroo. He overacts enormously (of course) and is hardly a likeable character, soupy scene with Mexican kid notwithstanding!!!Jim Brown plays Luke, an escaped convict who teams up with him to steal the fabulous treasure of El Condor. Oh, and they also hook up with a bunch of Indians led by a chief called Santana- I wonder if he could play guitar? :-) Anyway, there's also the invevitable cruel Mexican general, a heavily guarded fort, lots of explosions and blood...and some woman who's the girlfriend of the general. The stripping scene was atrocious! Spoiling the climax of the film. Mad!Music by Maurice Jarre is alright. That's about it. And the problem is, it's not even bad enough to be funny!