Eduardo Fajardo Movies
- 1968
Cult filmmaker Umberto Lenzi directed this peculiar, horror-tinged spaghetti western starring Peter Lee Lawrence as The Kid, who is imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. Upon his release, The Kid must attempt to clear his name but is betrayed at every turn by Garff (John Ireland), his former partner. Most of the film, however, deals with a prison escape by a group of raving lunatics -- led by genre veteran Eduardo Fajardo -- who charge into town swinging axes and gorily murdering many of the residents. Lenzi's film is wildly uneven in tone, coming across as a hybrid of the western genre and his own blood-drenched horror films of the 1980s. Raf Baldassarre, Piero Lulli, and Andrea Scotti co-star in this Italian-Spanish co-production photographed by Alejandro Ulloa. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
- 1967
This is a standard Spaghetti Western, an Italian-Spanish co-production about a bounty hunter (John Ireland) hired to find outlaw Mark Damon (who, of course, is really a good guy at heart). There's hidden treasure, a cast full of genre veterans (including Armando Calvo, Monica Randall, and Eduardo Fajardo), but very little else to please fans of either Westerns or director Umberto Lenzi, who made his name with gruesome cannibal movies like Mangiati Vivi and Cannibal Ferox later in his career. Spartaco Conversi co-stars with Raf Baldassare and Lisa Halvorsen. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
No one is quite sure whether Fantastic Argoman is an arch-criminal, master thief, or a superhuman crusader battling evil in the name of peace and justice, but when self-proclaimed Queen of the World Jenabelle steals the largest diamond known to man, the mysterious Argoman leaps into action to retrieve the jewel before Jenabelle's true power catches up with her swelling ego. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Sergio Corbucci crafted one of the most popular and widely imitated of the Italian "spaghetti westerns" of the 1960s with this violent but stylish action saga. A mysterious man named Django (Franco Nero) arrives in a Mexican border town dragging a small coffin behind him. When he attempts to save a woman who is being attacked by a group of bandits, he finds himself in the middle of a conflict between Mexican gangsters and racist Yankee thugs, with the innocent townspeople and a fortune in Mexican gold stuck somewhere in between. Django becomes a force to be reckoned with when it's discovered his coffin actually contains a Gatling gun. Django proved so popular in Europe that over 30 sequels and follow-ups were produced, though Franco Nero would not return to the role until 1987's Django 2: Il Grande Ritorno (the only sequel endorsed by Corbucci), which proved to be the last film in the series. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Franco Nero, Loredana Nusciak, (more)
- 1965
Good guy (lone gunfighter) versus bad guy in a small town. ~ Tana Hobart, Rovi
- 1961
The Mexican comedy team of Marco Antonio Campos and Gaspar Henaine are on the loose again in Los Invisibles. This parody of H.G. Wells' The Invisible Man (which had been shamelessly plagiarized by previous South-of-the-Border films) casts Camos and Henaine as a pair of clumsy private eyes. While pursuing jewel thief Eduardo Fajardo, Our Heroes are sprayed by "invisibility paint." Ay, caramba! How would you like to star in a movie where you wouldn't even have to show up on the set? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1958
The Mexican horror film La Llorona begins with a very happy young woman named Margarita (Luz Mara Aguilar) who is planning her wedding to the love of her life. Her uncle (Carlos Lopez Moctezuma) refuses to give his blessing to the union. She goes through with the marriage and soon gives birth to a son named Jorgito. When he gets older, Jorgito learns that the family suffers from a curse that causes woman to kill their children. In order to keep the curse from perpetuating itself, Jorgito begins plotting the murder of Margarita. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- 1957
The English-language title of this Mexican social drama is Boy's Town; the mood and texture of the film was obviously influenced by the 1938 Hollywood production of the same name. Arturo de Cordova stars as the real-life Padre Farias, who overcomes great obstacles to establish a Latin-American "boy's town" for wayward and neglected youth. The kids chosen to portray the Padre's charges are refreshingly natural and unaffected; also worthy of praise is the film's excellent location cinematography, courtesy of director Gilberto Martinez Solares' brother Augustin. As a bonus, the storyline's religious angle never overwhelms its entertainment value (and vice versa). La Ciudad de Los Ninos premiered at the 1957 San Sebastian Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Arturo de Cordova, Marga Lopez, (more)
- 1957
Mexico's contribution to the 1957 Berlin Film Festival was the Color-Cinemascope star vehicle Tizos. The ever-popular Maria Felix stars as a white woman who enters into a romance with a Mexican Indian, played by singing star Pedro Infante (who died shortly after the film's completion). The racial barriers between the lovers prove to be insurmountable, resulting in tragedy. Director Ismael Rodriguez spends a great deal of time establishing the folklore and traditions of Infante's people, much to the fascination of his audience. Likewise enraptured by Tizoc were the participants at the Berlin Festival, where the film scored a significant success. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Pedro Infante, Sr., Maria Felix, (more)
A delivery man sets himself up for a case of mistaken identity in this musical comedy. Victor (Pedro Infante) is an actor whose former friendship with a notorious thief comes back to haunt him when the robber threatens to reveal ugly secrets about Victor's past. Victor decides to contact the police about the extortion attempt, but someone kills Victor while he's speaking with the authorities. The police persuade Raul (also played by Infante), the driver of a bread truck who bears a striking resemblance to Victor, to pose as the murdered thespian as they try to track down the killers. Raul soon finds himself dealing with Victor's unsavory acquaintances, as well as a beautiful woman who had fallen victim to one of his schemes. Escuela de Rateros proved to be the last film featuring the popular Mexican actor and singer Pedro Infante; he died in the crash of an airplane within a year of its release. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- 1950
La Duqusa de Benameji is set in Spain's Sierra Morena mountain regions during the 19th century. The plot is strictly from the bodice-ripping school of fiction, with the titular duchess being captured and then captivated by a dashing robber captain. For reasons that probably made more sense to Spanish filmgoers than to American fans, leading lady Amparito Rivelles plays a dual role, as both the duchess and a fiery gypsy girl. The bandit is essayed by Jorge Mistral, one of Spain's leading matinee idols. Based on a true story, La Duquesa de Benameji is beautifully photographed on location (this is one film that must be seen in its original form, rather than the washed-out prints made available to TV). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Amparo Rivelles, Jorge Mistral, (more)
- 1948
The Mad Queen is Doña Juana (Aurora Bautista), the daughter of Spain's King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. In truth, she is no more mad than anyone else in Spain, but sinister forces have her declared insane so that they may claim the throne. Left unbalanced by these court intrigues, Doña Juana is driven further into lunacy by the philandering of her husband, Don Felipe (well played by Fernando Rey)---better known to history as King Philip. Though Aurora Bautista plays the title character, the film is stolen by the moody histrionics of Sara Montiel, cast as Don Felipe's moorish mistress. The English subtitles for The Mad Queen were written by noted film scholar (and Erich von Stroheim and Ernst Lubitsch biographer) Herman G. Weinberg. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Aurora Bautista, Fernando Rey, (more)
- 1947
This Spanish cinemazation of Cervantes' Don Quixote may well have cost more money than any previous adaptation of that literary classic. Rafael Rivelles stars as the ageing, windmill-tilting knight-errant, while Juan Calvo plays Quixote's faithful manservant Sancho Panza. In fact, it is Calvo's sure-handed comic performance that keeps this elephantine production afloat. At 138 minutes, the film proved too much of a good thing for American filmgoers, many of whom were probably still resentful that they'd been force-fed Cervantes in high-school Spanish Class. Herman G. Weinberg, a film critic and historian best known for his essays on director Ernst Lubitsch, wrote the English-language subtitles for Don Quixote de la Mancha. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rafael Rivelles, Juan Calvo, (more)
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