Joaquin L. Romero Marchent Movies
Spanish filmmaker Joaquín Luis Romero Marchent directed one of the first European Westerns, El Coyote, in 1954. Set on the U.S.-Mexican border and patterned after classic Hollywood Westerns (the story was taken from a popular pulp novel by José Mallorquí), Marchent's film is said to have greatly influenced Sergio Leone's Dollars trilogy of spaghetti Westerns and its many imitators. Marchent is the son of writer Joaquín Romero Marchent, and his brothers, Carlos Romero Marchent and Rafael Romero Marchent, are both actors (the latter directs as well). Joaquín Luis directed his first film, Juzgado Permanente/Court of Justice (1953), after gaining experience as an assistant director. He filmed El Coyote and its sequel, La Justicia del Coyote/El Coyote's Justice, simultaneously. After directing numerous Westerns during the '60s, Marchent's film output became sporadic. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 1970
Released in the U.S. in 1970, the Italian spaghetti western Ballad of a Bounty Hunter was evidently filmed several years earlier. The title role is filled by James Philbrook, while Maria Silva plays Philbrook's lover. Silva is cursed with a headstrong younger brother, who turns to a life of crime. Torn between love and duty, Philbrook is forced to hunt the brother down. In terms of plot and characterization, Ballad of a Bounty Hunter is a notch or two above the norm. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
The masked avenger once again rides out to stop the tyrants from oppressing the peasants of old California. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Mexican Zorro is given another go-round in this Italian-produced opus. American actor Frank Latimore, a 1940s leading man who bears a dim resemblance to Tyrone Power, stars in the dual role of foppish Don Jose and his dashing, Z-carving alter ego Zorro. This was one of a series of European productions in which Latimore appeared in the twilight of his career; he does his best, but is ultimately defeated by cloddish direction and patchy production values. Filmed in Spain with an Italian production crew and a multilingual cast, Shadow of Zorro is just that: a shadow of a once-mighty literary property. The film was originally released as La Vengaza del Zorro. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
