Chino (1973 film)
Chino (Italian: Valdez, il mezzosangue, UK theatrical title: Valdez the Half Breed) is a 1973 Western film starring Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland, Marcel Bozzuffi, and Vincent Van Patten. The original English language title shown at the beginning of the film was The Valdez Horses, the same title that the 1967 novel by Lee Hoffman on which the movie is based. Hoffman was awarded the 1967 Western Writers of America Spur Award.
| Chino | |
|---|---|
 US theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Duilio Coletti John Sturges |
| Screenplay by | Clair Huffaker |
| Based on | The Valdez Horses by Lee Hoffman |
| Produced by | John Sturges Dino De Laurentiis |
| Starring | Charles Bronson Jill Ireland Marcel Bozzuffi Vincent Van Patten |
| Cinematography | Armando Nannuzzi |
| Edited by | Luis Álvarez Vanio Amici |
| Music by | Guido De Angelis Maurizio De Angelis |
Production companies | Produzioni De Laurentiis International Manufacturing Company Coral Producciones Cinematográficas Universal Productions France |
| Distributed by | Intercontinental Releasing Corporation |
Release date |
|
Running time | 98 minutes |
| Countries | France Italy Spain |
| Language | English |
It was an Italian-Spanish-French co-production filmed in Spain, with Italian and French funding.[1]
Plot
Chino Valdez (Bronson) is a lonely horse breeder, whose life is thrown into turmoil when a young runaway (Van Patten) turns up at his door looking for work and, later, he falls in love with a beautiful woman (Ireland) whose brother (Bozzuffi) hates him.
Cast
- Charles Bronson as Chino Valdez
- Jill Ireland as Catherine Maral
- Marcel Bozzuffi as Maral
- Vincent Van Patten as Jamie Wagner
- Fausto Tozzi as Cruz
- Ettore Manni as Sheriff
- Corrado Gaipa as Padre
- Melissa Chimenti as Indian Girl
Production
Director John Sturges was unhappy with the finished film and considered the casting of Jill Ireland a fatal mistake. Six months after finishing the movie, Producer Dino De Laurentiis gathered the actors and crew to return for re-shoots and inserts. With Sturges no longer available, veteran Italian director Duilio Coletti was hired to complete the work. His name is listed as director on some European prints as a result.[2]
Reception
Critical response
Time Out magazine said of the film, "Bronson suffers from galloping symbolism as Valdez, a wild horse-taming Mexican halfbreed representing different things to different people. Overall, he is the mustang, caught in a wild West which is being tamed and fenced in by white settlers... Despite a few dodgy moments when one really fears for Valdez' co-optability by Ireland's well-kept fragility, the film maintains its contradictory stance right through to a bitter-sweet ending. Valdez leaves, sans wife, sans house, but on his own terms, and after ensuring that if he can't tame the wild horses no one else will.[3]
References
- Chino at the American Film Institute Catalog.
- Lovell, Glenn (2008). Escape Artist: The Life and Films of John Sturges. The University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 277–278. ISBN 978-029922834-7.
- TimeOut. Staff film review, no date. Accessed: June 22, 2013.