Spikeopath The Treasure of Pancho Villa is directed by George Sherman and adapted to screenplay by Niven Busch from a story written by J. Robert Bren and Gladys Atwater. It stars Rory Calhoun, Gilbert Roland and Shelley Winters. Music is by Leith Stevens and cinematography by William Snyder.It's 1915, Mexico, and two adventurers are in the throes of revolutionary greed, loyalties and plain stubbornness...It's all rather dull, really, a film not without a good action quotient, yet it drags itself through the slumber with weak characterisations. Winters is shoehorned into the pic as a sort of love interest, but ultimately her character achieves nothing more than under developed dressage, while Calhoun and Roland are saddled with some dire passages of chatter that come off as weak willed time filler. There's some sturdy machismo on show, especially when Calhoun lets fly with his Lewis Machine Gun, the location photography at Morelos (Technicolor/SuperScope) engages the eyes, and the last hurrah battle excites, but this is one that quickly fades from memory, sadly. By this point even the buzzards have had enough... 5/10

lao zing Rory Calhoun leads the way as American Mercenary Tom Bryan, who is persuaded by fellow American Ruth Harris (Shelly Winters) to join Jaun Castro (Gilbert Roland - a David Niven wannabee) and his rebels in 1915 Mexico right in the middle of the revouloution. Together, they rob a Mexican train and steal its cargo of gold which they then trek across the desert to find Pancho Villa himself and deliver the gold to him, so it can fund him to buy more weapons and ammunition.Of course there is plenty of double crosses and gunfights along the way, pushing the body-count up to around 80, but there were a few things i enjoyed quiet allot. One is the Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid esquire outnumbered showdown, but the thing which I was not suspecting was when Tom Bryan mows down several Mexicans at the start of this film with a machine gun! A frickin machine gun. I was definitely not expecting that from a 50s Western. Check it out.

BOB L'ALOGE Yes, it's true. There is a 1950's Coca-Cola sign atop a building in this Western movie. About 5 minutes into the movie, Rory Calhoun and some Mexicans rob a bank and there, behind them atop one of the buildings, is a 1950's time period Coca-Cola sign visible for all to see. I checked the history of Coca-Cola signs and find this one was not a style until the late 1940's and, since the movie was made in 1955, it is obviously not an original 1914-1915 time period sign (which is when the movie was supposed to take place). So one wonders who was in charge of the scenery for this Western.Otherwise, the Western is good. Calhoun plays a mercenary who is fighting for Pauncho Villa and helping the cause to raise money for guns and ammunition. Roland is one of Villa's main men who is responsible for delivery of the gold they steal to Villa. Winters, as lovely as ever, is a school teacher who wants to fight for the cause because she believes in it.The gold gets stolen off the train and is taken by mule train to where it is to be delivered to Villa. But Villa is not there when they arrive and Calhoun wants the gold for himself. Then it becomes a struggle between him and Roland.There's plenty of action and definitely a very good plot. The acting by the stars is good and believable. It's a Western certainly worth watching--despite the Coca-Cola sign.

bux In this off-beat tale, Calhoun is an American mercenary that hires himself and his machine gun out to Villas band of revolutionary rebels. There's plenty of action, as the old west meets modern times. Story moves at a nice pace and the cast featurning Calhoun, Roland, and a pre-cellulite Winters make this a worthwhile view.