La morte sull'alta collina

The movie opens with the familiar scene of Mexican highwaymen robbing an army wagon. These bandits have assistance though, as you then see them divide the loot between themselves and an American associate.

Meanwhile, in the nearby town of Two Arrows, a dastardly youth named Loring Vandervelt (Peter Lee Lawrence) is trying to find his way in life. All while a mysterious stranger, sporting a black hat, has just moved into town (Luis Dávila).

There is not as much violence or skullduggery as one might expect from a Spaghetti flick, despite a fair share of shootouts. Instead the tone of the movie is more akin to it's American contemporaries, rather than the purposely cynical Italian western's made around this time. The humor of the film varies in quality. Many jokes fall flat but a few (like the Mexican general drawing storyboards for his attack-plan) are genuinely funny.

The actors all do a fine, serviceable job. Lawrence depicts the naive, yet optimistic and charismatic role his character calls for, while Luis Dávila nails the part as a laconic loner.

The same can be said for the movies directing and cinematography. The plot moves along at a solid pace, sporting enough twists-and-turns to keep you interested, with a few genuinely surprising moments to stir things around a bit.

The English title, "Death on High Mountain", is completely nonsensical, and do not reflect the film at all.

Lastly, there are some rather undignifying portrayals of Mexicans in this movie, even by the standards of the day. The Hispanic gunmen are basically crude, jocular, caricatures.

Overall, it's a pretty average flick. 6/10

A major robbery goes wrong when two young men named Loring Vandervelt (Peter Lee Lawrence) and a mysterious stranger Francis Parker (Luis Davila) join forces and stand in the way of Mexican bandits led by General Valiente (Tanio Cimarosa) and his second in command named Agustín (Jesús Guzmán that in his more than ninety years he continues to interpret) and an evil, corrupt and powerful owner. The rest is about more robberies, thieves, bosses, deceptions, treason, vendetta, etc.

A mediocre, though passable Spanish/Italian co-production in which the director fails to harmonize the various trends presented in the development, in fact it is a serious-comical Spaghetti Western, as the viewer becomes bored at several moments because the film does not have the expository clarity that it would have needed to become a worthy work. The film is based on silly anecdotes and when it wants it flirts with varied and uneven tones without ever revealing firmness. The characters are also too cartoonish and have heavy verbiage. The film is saved because there are other even worse exponents of this sub-genre and there are some nice main and support actors, though interpretations in general are commonplace. The story seems as modest and slight as its twists and turns, so the film splatters inconsequentially, at least until you've mastered the steps towards the final climax. Fernando Cerchio's third work as a Western director makes use of a common S. W. motif : the struggle for a loot. This time, however, it is not a hard precious metal that is in demand, but printed dollars, a not inconsiderable sum of money of $300,000. Effective sight gags, hardworking cast can't overcome pitfalls in the storyline, which indecisively meanders between western and comedy. When played for laughter, this works pretty well, while the action scenes generate an atmosphere of tension and amusement enough, but failing to explore the necessary development of characters, the movie becomes an inflated lightweight comedy whose shortcomings are all too visible. The central characters is Peter Lee Lawrence as Loring Vandervelt, the affectionate young blonde German Peter Lee Lawrence, who made his uncredited debut in Sergio Leone's For a Few Dollars More (1965), was the hero of many Spaghetti or Paella Westerns. His short cinematographic career can be encompassed in nine years of Italian-Spanish co-productions, however he died before reaching the age of 30 due to brain cancer but at least he managed to marry a well-known Eurotrah goddess: Cristina Galbó. On the other hand, the second man in the exhibition group, Luis Dávila as Francis Parker , he was one of the several Argentine performers who settled in Spain during the 60s and who was not lacking in a certain artistic dignity, as he does a good job and is at the same time the acting highlight of a film that reveals some shortfalls and furthermore, Tano Cimarosa as the excessively talkative and foul-mouthed General Valiente. The latter steals the show playing a character similar to the many portrayed by Fernando Sancho as a swaggering and boastful Mexican bandit. This Spaghetti is also not very convincing, their playing seems too uninspired. One of the positive points of the film is the soundtrack composed by Luis Bacalov, he creates a pretty good musical score in Ennio Morricone style. Luis Enriquez Bacalov, who many years later composed ¨Il Postino¨ which won a well-deserved Hollywood Oscar . Bacalov was able to maneuver our hearts and ears into wellness mode with so many excellent melodies, from genre cinema to mainstream. The director of photography, Julio Ortas, does it much better, who is able to convey attractive presentations of the protagonists and the background landscape from semi-close-ups and American shots. Filmed in places in Manzanares del Real, Madrid and Almería, there are beautiful scenes riding in the distance. A film that has just enough to satisfy European Western fans who are not too demanding.

An great robbery goes awry , as two young men named Loring Vandervelt (Peter Lee Lawrence ) and a mysterious stranger Francis Parker ( Luis Davila) join forces themselves and find standing in the way of Mexican bandits led by General Valiente (Tanio Cimarosa) and his second-in-command called Agustin (Jesús Guzmán) and an evil corrupt as well as poweful owner Frank Braddock (Antonio Gradoli) wanting their stolen loot back . As the Mexican outlaws take the bank cash , but Parker and Loring steal it to them and , then , they hide it into the Vandervelt's farm where lives his sister Daphne Vandervelt (Agnès Spaak) .

It is an exciting western that packs a story full of action , go riding , violence , fighting , shots and subsequent suspense , good dramatic pace , plot twists and slick direction , along with brief touches of humor , including saloon brawls in Terence Hill/Bud Spencer style . It contains an intriguing premise to investigate and to locate whereabouts a robbed loot , and results to be moderately entertaining , though drags at times , balancing in ups and downs . Agreeable Chorizo-Spaghetti Western mostly produced by Spain and important Italian participation , being rightly shot by the Italian profesional Fernando Cerchio as Fred Ringold . It follows the Sergio Leone wake , including close-up , zooms , choreographic duels and adding hilarious elements thanks to the couple played by Tano Cimarosa and his underling Jesús Guzmán . Passable action sequences with rousing crossfire and spectacularly bloody shootouts . Charismatic performance for the whole casting .The notorious Spaghetti actor , Peter Lee Lawrence is good in his usual tough role . Blond German youth Peter Lee Lawrence, who made his uncredited debut in Sergio Leone "For A Few Dollars More" (1965), was the hero in many Spaghetti Westerns. His short cinematographic history can be enclosed in nine years of Italo-Spain co-productions such as "More Dollars for the MacGregors" , ¨Winchester justice¨,"Pistol for a Hundred Coffins", ¨The man who killed Billy the Kid¨ , ¨Fury of Johnny Kid¨ and several others . And sympathetic acting by his colleague Luis Dávila as a strange gunslinger who decides that he wants to get justice for his friends and he has a secret identity , too . Dávila played several Euro Spy and thrillers as ¨Marc Mato¨, ¨Hello Glen Ward , house Dick¨ , ¨Razzia , ¨Paranoia¨ ; Adventure movie as ¨Normand sword¨, ¨The Sherwood archer¨, ¨Tigres Mompracen¨ and various Westerns as ¨Pancho Villa¨ , ¨Dinamite Jim¨, ¨Relevo para un pistolero¨, ¨Matalo¡¨. In the film appears ordinary Chorizo/Spaghetti Western as Spanish players as Jesús Guzmán , Frank Braña , José Marco , Ricardo Valle , Rafael Hernández , Antonio Pica as well as Italian ones as Nello Pazzafini , Barbara Carroll ,Romano Puppo and Tano Cimarosa in a similar role to Fernando Sancho , among others

Colorful and evocative cinematography in CinemaScope and Eastmancolor by Julio Ortas , filmed on location in Hoyo Manzanares del Real , Colmenar Viejo and La Pedriza , Madrid , Almeria and Rome . Pretty good musical score Luis Enriquez Bacalov , who many years later composed ¨Il Postino¨ that won a deserved Academy Award . The motion picture was well produced by Eduardo Manzanos Brochero who started producing ¨Il Coyote¨ and ¨The Jiusticia De Coyote¨ by Joaquin Romero Marchent with Abel Salazar and Gloria Marin . After that , he produced with his company Copercines ¨Vengeance of Zorro¨ and ¨L'Ombra Di Zorro¨ (1962) by Joaquin Marchent with Frank Latimore . Eduardo Manzanos built a Western little town in Hoyo De Manzanares (Madrid) called ¨Golden City¨ with sets by Jaime Perez Cubero and Jose Luis Galicia .This original initiative corresponded to this prestigious writer /producer/director Eduardo Brochero who saw the potential of European Westerns and commissioned to the production designers Jaime Pérez Cubero and José Luis Galicia (Construcine) the task of raising the set , as in 1962 the first ¨Paella¨ set in Spain was built . Then , the first filming there was made : ¨The terrible sheriff (62) . A year later , there came Sergio Leone to shoot the iconic ¨A fistful of Dollars¨ with which the boom of Spaghetti/Chorizo Western was burst . However , today sadly disappeared just like is well shown in ¨Winchester, Uno Entre Mil¨ or ¨Killer, Adios¨ . The motion picture was professionally directed by Fernando Cerchio (as Fred Ringold) . He written/directed several action/adventure/ mini-epics movies , such as : 1968 Los Cuatro Budas De Kriminal , 1967 Secretísimo , 1964 Totó against the Black Pirate ,1963 Totò and Cleopatra , 1962 The red mask , 1962 Daggers of blood , 1962 Totó versus Maciste , 1961 Queen of Nile , 1960 Il Sepolcro Dei Re , 1959 Giuditta and Oloferne , 1957 La Venere Di Cheronea , 1957 Desert lovers , 1957 Mysteries in Paris , 1955 I Quattro Del Getto Tonante , 1954 El Vizconde De Bragelonne , 1952 Il Bandolero Stanco and Son of Lagardere .