KITOSCH L'UOMO CHE VENIVA DAL NORD

aka Frontera al sur (Es), Der Mann, der aus dem Norden Kam (WG), Kitisch, the Man Who Came from the North (US, unconfirmed)
1966
Italy/Spain
Pier Ludovico Pavoni for Pacific Cin.ca (Rome), Luis Mendes and Jose Prade for Atlandida Film (Madrid)
Director: Joseph Marvin [José Luis Merino]
Story: Joseph Marvin [José Luis Merino]
Screenplay: Joseph Marvin [José Luis Merino], Fulvio Gicca
Music: Angelo Francesco Lavagnino
Cinematography: Fausto Rossi {Euroscope - Eastmancolor}
Editor: José Antonio Rojo
Set design: Roman Calatayud
Cameraman: Mario Pastorini
Filmed:
Release information: Registered 17.03.66. Italy (17.03.66, 100 mins), Spain (24.02.69, Madrid), West Germany (25.10.74, 86 mins)
Spanish takings: €75.914,59
Cast: George Hilton (Kitosch), Piero Lulli (Major Zacary Becker), Krista Nell (Ada), Enrique Ávila (Jose, aka 'The renegade'), Riccardo Palacios (a guide), Nacho Vidal, Gustavo Rojo, Rafael Morales, Mercedes Taur, Adele Tauler
Uncredited: Guillermo Méndez, José Bastida, Rafael Morales, Ricardo Díaz, Ricardo Rubinstein, Francisco Nieto, Pablo Blanco, Manuel Ruiz, Luis Barboo (the renegade's man), Rafael Vaquero, Joaquín Solís

Hilton starts this off in fairly typical fashion: pursued by a bang of irate Indians after playing tonsil tennis with an eligible squaw, he takes refuge in a Canadian outpost. Unfortunately, the Mounties are less than tolerant of his wayward behavior, and promptly chuck him out. They have other things on their mind, most notably the troublesome transportation of a cargo of gold to Fort Higgins. This lies on the other side of a large swathe of land prowled by 'the Renegade', a mysterious bandit whose true identity is unknown, and a veritable army of his men.

Due to an inordinately contrived set of circumstances, the patrol escorting the gold - which is hidden inside five coffins - manages to mistake Kitosch for Major Becker (Piero Lulli), an officer who was supposed to meet them and act as a guide. He seems to fit the role like a glove, even when the real Major turns up (and keeps his true identity strangely secret). Unfortunately, when they arrive at the fort they find it to be the site of a massacre and, to make matters worse, 'the Renegade' is planning an all-out attack in order to get hold of their valuable cargo.

Here's an obscure item that features Hilton in one of his earlier heroic roles. As usual, he contributes an athletic performance, which once more gains in gravitas as the running time progresses (see also The Greatest Robbery in the West (La Più grande rapina nel west, 68), One More in Hell (Uno di più all'inferno, 68) et al). Sharp-eyed readers will probably have noticed that he also played a character called Kitosch in the following year's Last of the Badmen (Tempo degli avvoltoi, 67), but the two films are entirely disconnected. There are some thematic similarities - in both films 'Kitosch' has an eye for the ladies, a knack for getting into trouble and is cast out of a protective family unit substitute (the fort here, the ranch in Badmen) - but this would appear to be total coincidence.

Kitosch, l'uomo che veniva dal Nord is unusual in that it has the structure of a siege movie. This was fairly rare in the Spaghetti Western genre, which tended to feature its central characters roaming the wilderness rather than confined to a single location. With the attacking hordes besieging the fort in waves, it actually resembles something of a distaff Zulu (64), especially in its second half. It also curious in that it's one of a select group of films to be set in Canada; the red coated Mounties played a peripheral part in the genre at best, at least until the advent of the White Fang films.

In fact, it's all exciting stuff. Jose Luis Merino directs well; he made a handful of half-decent westerns (More Dollars for the McGregors (La Muerte busca un hombre, 70), Duel in the Eclipse (Réquiem para el gringo, 68)), which makes the mediocrity of some of his other films all the more marked. He obviously had a reasonable budget, as witnessed by the huge number of extras playing canon fodder, and is greatly helped by some impressive cinematography. Piero Lulli puts in a habitually excellent supporting performance, and it's great to see him playing a good guy for once (although you can't help but doubt it to the very end, of course).

All of which makes it all the more disappointing that this doesn't seem to be available in English language at this time. The German language print under review came in at 81 minutes, which is almost 20 minutes shorter than the original Italian running time (although any cuts that may have been made are not particularly evident). Strangely, Kitosch, l'uomo che veniva dal Nord remained on the shelf for three years before being released into Italian cinemas. Which means that, despite being Hilton's first starring role in a Western, it wasn't released until he'd become an established genre lead.

Matt B