The filthy heroes of Yucca
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The filthy heroes of Yucca |
| Original title | The Invincible Six |
| Country of production | United States , Iran |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1970 |
| length | 101 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 18 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Jean Negulesco |
| script |
Guy Elmes , Chester Erskine |
| production |
Mostafa Akavan , Morteza Akhavan |
| music | Manos Hadjidakis |
| camera | Piero Portalupi |
| cut | Derek York |
| occupation | |
| |
The Dirty Heroes of Yucca is an Iranian-American adventure film directed by Jean Negulesco , which he shot in 1968 with international cast in Iran. The main roles were played by Stuart Whitman , Elke Sommer and Curd Jürgens . Michael Barrett provided the novel (The Heroes of Yucca) .
action
The dirty heroes of Yucca or "The Invincible Six", as the original title suggests, are six crooks or adventurers who ended up in pre-revolutionary Persia. First there is the American Tex with his black buddy Mike and the Briton Ronald, who have just failed to carry out a big jewel heist in Tehran . With great difficulty Tex and Ronald escape the Iranian police and escape in a freight train towards the city of Shiraz , several hundred kilometers further south , where they want to meet Mike. Ronald and Tex leave the train halfway and are walking along a country road in the middle of nowhere when a car stops next to them. At the wheel sits a noble middle-aged gentleman who introduces himself as the German Baron Karl von Bitterhofen. He invites the two demolished would-be jewel thieves to get into his car and take them to Shiraz. Two more obscure men soon appear, the mysterious Italian Giorgio and the Iranian Jahan, who is wanted by the police for the murder of his fiancée's lover and who in turn is taken by Giorgio in the car. The six men finally meet in Shiraz. The baron, the only one who has been doing quite well until then, is now also on the loser's road, as the Persian police have taken his car away from him. Instead, he won a donkey gambling.
And so the following situation arises: Six losers for various reasons on the run, who decide to stay together for the time being. The men arrive in a godforsaken village called Yucca, somewhere in the dusty nowhere. Not a single soul on site, only a police chief with his pretty, young daughter are still waiting here. The population has made the proverbial dust. The reason? The six learn that the army recently arrested the head of a 70-man criminal gang, Malik, and then untied him, and that the villagers now fear the cruel revenge of the new leader of the villains, Nazar. There has already been a massive exchange of fire because the dreaded gang absolutely wanted to have the body of their hanged leader pulled out. But she was unsuccessful. What remains for the police chief who rejected this request and his daughter is a huge number of hidden guns. After some back and forth, the only Iranian in the group of six, Jahan, can persuade his western cronies to stay in order to defend there with him, the police officer and his daughter against the feared renewed onslaught of the Persian bandidos.
Nazar drives up with a white flag and again demands Malik's body, which has been deposited in the only mosque in town. And again the chief of police rejects him. The following night, some of the bandits attempt to raid the place and take possession of the dead man, but are repulsed by the eight remaining defenders of the village. Around 20 gangsters can kill Yucca's dirty heroes during the wild gunfight. Soon after, another bandit penetrates into the village through a hidden tunnel and reaches the public bathhouse. There is a duel between the masked man and Tex, in which both fall into the pool. Tex wins the duel. He tears the mask off the person's face and a beautiful young woman appears. She calls herself Zari and says that she used to be a belly dancer and then Malik's lover. In order to be accepted by the gang as their leader, Nazar must absolutely win this battle and bring Malik's body home, that's the only reason why he behaves so doggedly in this fight. The next morning, most of the refugees return to their homes. Three of the six cronies try to break out on the new day to contact the army and get help. But the attempt to break out fails because their guide, who knows the area, is killed in an ambush. At least the three can eliminate some bandits. When an army lieutenant appears in the village to take care of Malik's body, Tex and Mike quickly realize that this is a bandit in disguise and booked him into prison.
While Tex and Zari begin to turtle, his buddy Mike is too careless at the guard at the entrance to the town. He ventures too far out of the place and so promptly falls into the hands of Nazar's people. They kidnap Mike and abuse him badly in the bandit camp. The villains in the village dump the battered, dead body. Before the final settlement can come, Nazar finally succeeds in stealing Malik's body and an important amulet from the mosque. Zari also falls into his hands and is taken to the bandit camp. Tex does not want to forego his latest conquest, so the remaining five bring the wrong army lieutenant out of the village jail and force him to show his cronies, the bandits, the way to the camp. There should be a big showdown. Despite all precautionary measures, the well-armed Bandidos are duped, and the camp is blown up by the invincible five with dynamite they had brought with them. Giorgio was killed in the fighting, and there were only the invincible four left. Nazar flees and Zari tells the baron that Malik's amulet, which Nazar now owns, contains a map that leads to a hidden treasure.
While on the run, Nazar took the route to the village and mocked the police chief who was on duty there. Before the armed and hidden villagers get going and shoot the bandit leader, Nazar murders the police chief. In the ensuing exchange of fire, he finally dies too. Malik's mother emerges from a hiding place, takes her dead son's amulet, pulls out the card and burns it. The gang has been destroyed and the villagers are jubilant. The mayor promises the remaining invincible four with the dark past not to divulge their identities. Jahan remains in the village and intends to marry the now fatherless daughter of the police chief. The remaining invincible three climb into a jeep, and they are joined by the now homeless Zari. The mayor says to the baron in German “Goodbye”, to which he sarcastically replies “I hope not”. Then the village rescuers continue from the wasteland.
Production notes
The dirty heroes of Yucca was largely created in 1968 in Iran, which was then still ruled by the Shah (including at the ancient sites of Persepolis ) and had its American premiere on June 10, 1970. The German premiere took place on October 15 of the same year. It is not known whether and when the film was also started in Iran.
The film is thematically based on two famous cinematic models: Akira Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai and John Sturges ' The Magnificent Seven .
Director Negulesco shot this film and the follow-up production Hello - Goodbye , a comedy, in quick succession. Both films were outright box office and critic flops; Negulesco's directorial style was meanwhile, around the year 1970, as "hopelessly antiquated".
synchronization
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Tex | Stuart Whitman | Claus Biederstaedt |
| Zari | Elke Sommer | Ursula Herwig |
| Baron Karl | Curd Juergens | he himself |
| Ronald | Ian Ogilvy | Joachim Ansorge |
| Nazar | James Mitchum | Wolfgang Draeger |
Reviews
"Dynamic action film ... It's 'The Magnificent Seven' transplanted to the contemporary Middle East."
"Very confused and only moderately exciting adventure film."
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kay Less : The large personal dictionary of films , Volume 5, p. 633. Berlin 2001
- ↑ The dirty heroes of Yucca in the German dubbing index
- ↑ The Filthy Heroes of Yucca. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed November 15, 2018 .
Web links
- The dirty hero of Yucca in the Internet Movie Database (English)