Cannon For Cordoba (1970)

Set during the 1912 Mexican Revolution, an Army Captain (George Peppard) leads a small group of misfits into Mexican territory to destroy six cannons high on a secluded mountaintop that are held by a rebel leader (Raf Vallone). Directed by Paul Wendkos (THE MEPHISTO WALTZ), this action adventure owes a lot to THE GUNS OF NAVARONE (1961) and THE PROFESSIONALS (1966). It's nowhere as good as those two movies but it's a decent programmer with enough action to keep one entertained. Although set in Mexico, the film itself was filmed in Europe which might account for predominance of Italian actors playing Mexicans. It's not the kind of movie where the acting matters much but still there's no excuse for Peter Duel's (ALIAS SMITH AND JONES) bad performance. There's a creepy moment where Duel puts a gun to his head as if to pull the trigger, a year later he would do that in real life killing himself. The busy score is by Elmer Bernstein. With Giovanna Ralli, Don Gordon, John Larch and Gabriele Tinti.