My Name is Pecos (1967) - Western spaghetti movie with Mexican good guy gunslinger hero
Very interesting Western Spaghetti movie (made in 1967) as the hero is a Mexican super gunslinger and the villains are white guy gunslingers (Gringos). This is the opposite of most Western Spaghetti movies. So I enjoyed watching Pecos Martinez (played by Robert Woods) take on the bad guys gang and win!
My Name is Pecos | WESTERN MOVIE | Full Length Spaghetti Western | Cowboy Movie | Classic Films, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlWp5Hq2_nM, 1 hr. 25 mins.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060351/ states, "This film made Woods as internationally known as Pecos in the third world countries as Franco Nero was known for Django. A Mexican hero against a gang and a town full of gringos- what more could you ask for?"
https://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/My_Name_is_Pecos_Film_Review says, "The story is basically a retelling of Return of Ringo but with a nice reversal of stereotypes: in a spaghetti western the villains are usually Mexican while the hero is a so-called wasp, a white anglo-saxon protestant. In Pecos the hero is Mex and the villains are Tex.
...
The reversal of stereotypes was very effective: the movie did fairly well at home and became an unexpected hit in third world countries where the Mexican anti-hero Pecos was interpreted as an ethnic hero, successfully standing up to Yankee imperialism. Actually Woods only discovered how popular the character was in the those countries when he and his girlfriend took a holiday in Senegal:
"We got off the plane and I was stopped at customs (...). I thought I was going to get strip-searched or something. [The ] took me to a room and asked: ‚Can I get a picture, my son’s name is Pecos.’ I had no idea it was even released there!" (*1)"
--- end small extracts from www.spaghetti-western.net ---
I had not known of this movie earlier. It was a very pleasant surprise to me to see a Western spaghetti movie with a Mexican gunslinger good guy hero winning over the Americano bad guys. The town where the action happens is called Houston! Perhaps it is a reference to Houston, Texas (USA).
=================
On my Facebook post, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2906947376188487, associated with this blog post, I responded to a comment as follows:
The movie is your Achilles heel, sir? In other words, are you super-fond of it?
...
OIC! Got it! Watching Western movies in general. ... I watch it now as it has been great learning for me about certain realities of rural Anantapur district life even today (gun violence at times - political assassinations - but lots of knife, agricultural/kitchen implements related violence besides just beatings used to impose the will of the powerful on the weak and vulnerable who dare to come in their way), and also about understanding realities of the past. In rural Anantapur district, if you cross the powerful guys, it is difficult to live in it, unless you also have a muscle power gang/group or a big establishment (like a big NGO) to back you. ... Now if you are a quiet and pious person who has his/her own retirement-type source of income, these powerful people will not bother you, and may even protect you - they are typically respectful of such persons. This includes Sathya Sai devotees who are quiet and pious. It is when you cross them and/or are into business or earning a livelihood in some way in this place and so compete with others for livelihood/money, that you face these realities in one of the most economically backward districts of India (due to it being drought-prone and so having limited agricultural income). Note that most Western movies including the spaghetti movies are based in an area which is economically backward.
-----
My Name is Pecos | WESTERN MOVIE | Full Length Spaghetti Western | Cowboy Movie | Classic Films, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlWp5Hq2_nM, 1 hr. 25 mins.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060351/ states, "This film made Woods as internationally known as Pecos in the third world countries as Franco Nero was known for Django. A Mexican hero against a gang and a town full of gringos- what more could you ask for?"
https://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/My_Name_is_Pecos_Film_Review says, "The story is basically a retelling of Return of Ringo but with a nice reversal of stereotypes: in a spaghetti western the villains are usually Mexican while the hero is a so-called wasp, a white anglo-saxon protestant. In Pecos the hero is Mex and the villains are Tex.
...
The reversal of stereotypes was very effective: the movie did fairly well at home and became an unexpected hit in third world countries where the Mexican anti-hero Pecos was interpreted as an ethnic hero, successfully standing up to Yankee imperialism. Actually Woods only discovered how popular the character was in the those countries when he and his girlfriend took a holiday in Senegal:
"We got off the plane and I was stopped at customs (...). I thought I was going to get strip-searched or something. [The ] took me to a room and asked: ‚Can I get a picture, my son’s name is Pecos.’ I had no idea it was even released there!" (*1)"
--- end small extracts from www.spaghetti-western.net ---
I had not known of this movie earlier. It was a very pleasant surprise to me to see a Western spaghetti movie with a Mexican gunslinger good guy hero winning over the Americano bad guys. The town where the action happens is called Houston! Perhaps it is a reference to Houston, Texas (USA).
=================
On my Facebook post, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2906947376188487, associated with this blog post, I responded to a comment as follows:
The movie is your Achilles heel, sir? In other words, are you super-fond of it?
...
OIC! Got it! Watching Western movies in general. ... I watch it now as it has been great learning for me about certain realities of rural Anantapur district life even today (gun violence at times - political assassinations - but lots of knife, agricultural/kitchen implements related violence besides just beatings used to impose the will of the powerful on the weak and vulnerable who dare to come in their way), and also about understanding realities of the past. In rural Anantapur district, if you cross the powerful guys, it is difficult to live in it, unless you also have a muscle power gang/group or a big establishment (like a big NGO) to back you. ... Now if you are a quiet and pious person who has his/her own retirement-type source of income, these powerful people will not bother you, and may even protect you - they are typically respectful of such persons. This includes Sathya Sai devotees who are quiet and pious. It is when you cross them and/or are into business or earning a livelihood in some way in this place and so compete with others for livelihood/money, that you face these realities in one of the most economically backward districts of India (due to it being drought-prone and so having limited agricultural income). Note that most Western movies including the spaghetti movies are based in an area which is economically backward.
-----
Comments
Post a Comment