Ricardo Rodríguez

Spanish Actor Ricardo Rodríguez appeared in several Eurowesterns of the 1960s. In Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965) he played the evil Magua, leader of the Huron tribesmen.


German postcard, no. 63 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Still from Der Lezte Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (1965). Caption: "Magua weiss, dass auch sein Ende da ist. Der alte Häuptling spricht ihm die Stammesehre ab und gewährt ihm drei Trommelwirbel Vorsprung zur Flucht. Doch Magua rührt sich nicht. Nach dem dritten Trommelwirbel stricken ihn die Pfeile der Bogenschützen nieder. Neben Unkas findet er den Tod." (Magua knows that his end is here. The old chief speaks to him from the tribal honor and grants him three drum roll lead to flee. But Magua does not move. After the third drum roll the arrows of the archers knit him down. Besides Uncas he finds death.)

Indians
We did not find any private information about Ricardo Rodríguez (also Rodrigues). He made his first film appearance as ‘8th gendarme’ in The Ceremony (Laurence Harvey, 1963), a crime drama starring Laurence Harvey and Sarah Miles.

This debut was soon followed by small roles as an Indian in Eurowesterns like the excellent Spanish western Antes llega la muerte/Hour of Death (Joaquín Luis Romero Marchent, 1964), and Aventuras del Oeste/Seven Hours of Gunfire (Joaquín Luis Romero Marchent, 1965), starring Rik van Nutter as Buffalo Bill and Adrian Hoven as Wild Bill Hickok.

Rodríguez also appeared in Dos pistolas gemelas/Two Guns for Two Twins (Rafael Romero Marchent, 1966) starring the twin Pilar and Emilia Bayona (aka Pili y Mili) and Sean Flynn. Flynn, the son of Erroll Flynn and Lily Damita, disappeared a few years later, during the Vietnam war.


German postcard, no. 20 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Still from Der Lezte Mohikaner with Joachim Fuchsberger.


German postcard, no. 26 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Still from Der Lezte Mohikaner.

Eurospyfilm
Ricardo Rodriquez then portrayed Magua, the evil leader of the Huron tribesmen in the German-Italian-Spanish Western Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (Harald Reinl, 1965), based on James Fenimore Cooper's famous novel The Last of the Mohicans. For the German version his voice was synchronized by Gerd Duwner.

Apart from the Eurowesterns, he also appeared in another popular European film genre of the 1960s, the Eurospyfilm. An example is Asso di picche operazione controspionaggio/Operation Counterspy (Nick Nostro, 1966). In the 1970s followed parts in films like La Leyenda del alcalde de Zalamea/The Legend of the Mayor of Zalamea (1973, Mario Camus) with Francisco Rabal.

Rodriquez last feature film was the hard boiled cop/jungle action pic from Sergio Leone collaborator Aldo Sambrell, La Última jugada/Last Chance (Aldo Sambrell, 1975) in which Ricardo Rodríguez was credited as Richard Roader. According to IMDb reviewer Sorsimus: "A strange mixture of euro crime cinema and jungle war... Short, fast paced and reasonably sleazy, viewed in the right frame of mind, this one should be good for a couple of laughs. The biggest shortcoming must be Sambrell's directing, which has so little regard for coherence, that the film becomes almost a surreal experience."

In 2004 Ricardo Rodríguez finally appeared in the short Historia de un destino/History of a Destiny (Diego Sanchidrián, 2004).


German postcard, no. 25 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Still from Der Lezte Mohikaner with Karin Dor.


German postcard, no. 57 of 64. Photo: Constantin. Still from Der Lezte Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (1965).


German trailer for Der Lezte Mohikaner (1965). Source: Hightower1979 (YouTube).

Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.

Der Letzte Mohikaner

The German-Italian-Spanish coproduction Der Letze Mohikaner/The Last Tomahawk (1965, Harald Reinl), based on the classic novel by James Fenimore Cooper, was a typical Euro-western. The stars were Joachim Fuchsberger, Karin Dor and Anthony Steffen as Hawkeye.


Daniel Martín and Anthony Steffen. German postcard, no. 1 of 64. Photo: Constantin.


Daniel Martín and Anthony Steffen. German postcard, no. 4 of 64. Photo: Constantin.


Joachim Fuchsberger. German postcard, no. 10 of 64. Photo: Constantin.

A New European Film Genre
Der Letze Mohikaner (aka El último Mohicano in Spain and La valle delle ombre rosse in Italy) was filmed in 1964 in Almería in Andalucía (Spain), in La Ciudad Encantada, Cuenca (Spain) and in the CCC-Atelier in Berlin-Spandau, Germany. It was distributed by Constantin, the German company which had produced the western Der Schatz im Silbersee/Treasure of Silver Lake (1962, Harald Reinl). This successful Karl May adaptation had lead to a new European film genre, the Euro-Western. Harald Reinl had also directed the sequels Winnetou - 1. Teil/Apache Gold (1963) and Winnetou - 2. Teil/Last of the Renegades (1964) starring Pierre Brice as Winnetou and Lex Barker as Old Shatterhand, and now he was back to helm Der Letzte Mohikaner (1965). Co-producers of Der Letzte Mohikaner were International Germania Film in Bonn, Producciones Cinematograficas Balcázar in Barcelona, Procusa Films in Madrid, and Cineproduzioni Associate Srl in Rome, so it was a real trans-European production.


German postcard, no. 12 of 64. Photo: Constantin.


German postcard, no. 17 of 64. Photo: Constantin.


Joachim Fuchsberger and Ricardo Rodríguez. German postcard, no. 20 of 64. Photo: Constantin.

Hawkeye
Der Letze Mohikaner was based on the historical novel The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper Cooper, first published in 1826. It was one of the most popular English-language novels of its time, and was the second book of the Leatherstocking Tales pentalogy and the best known. The Pathfinder, published 14 years later in 1840, is its sequel. Der Letze Mohikaner was the 13th film version of Fenimore Cooper's novel and there were still eight more film and TV versions to come. The 1920 version directed by Clarence Brown and Maurice Tourneur is well regarded, as is George Brackett Seitz's 1936 version starring Randolph Scott as Hawkeye. The most recent version was also one of the best adaptations: The Last of the Mohicans (1992, Michael Mann), starring Daniel Day Lewis as Hawkeye, Madeleine Stowe as Cora Munro, and Inuit actor Eric Schweig as Uncas. However many of the scenes from the 1992 film did not follow the book.


Ricardo Rodríguez and Karin Dor. German postcard, no, 25 of 64. Photo: Constantin.


Ricardo Rodríguez. German postcard, no. 26 of 64. Photo: Constantin.


Joachim Fuchsberger. German postcard, no. 32 of 64. Photo: Constantin.

Story of the Novel
The story of the novel takes place in 1757 during the Seven Years' War (known in America as the French and Indian War), when France and the United Kingdom battled for control of the American and Canadian colonies. During this war, the French often allied themselves with Native American tribes in order to gain an advantage over the British, with unpredictable and often tragic results. The story is set in the British province of New York, and concerns a Huron massacre (with passive French acquiescence) of from 500 to 1,500 Anglo-American troops, who had honorably surrendered at Fort William Henry, plus some women and servants; the kidnapping of two sisters, daughters of the British commander; and their rescue by the last two Mohicans, and others.


German postcard, no. 33 of 64. Photo: Constantin.

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Joachim Fuchsberger. German postcard, no. 43 of 64. Photo: Constantin.


Joachim Fuchsberger and Marie France. German postcard, no. 44 of 64. Photo: Constantin.

Story of the Film
In the film version Der Letze Mohikaner, Alice (Marie-France) and Cora Munro (Karin Dor) attempt to find their father (Carl Lange), a British officer in the French and Indian War. They are set upon by French soldiers and their cohorts, Huron tribesmen led by the evil Magua (Ricardo Rodriquez). Fighting to rescue the women are chief Chingachgook and his son Unkas (Daniel Martín aka Dan Martin), the last of the Mohican tribe, and their white ally, the frontiersman Natty Bumppo, known as Falkenauge/Hawkeye (Anthony Steffen). The other hero of the film is Captain Hayward, played by Joachim Fuchsberger. Ma Cortes at IMDb reviews the film: "This is an exciting film, plenty action, thrills, fights, love and breathtaking outdoors from Almeria. Acceptable action sequences with rousing attacks and spectacularly realistic battles. Charismatic performance for all casting. The notorious Spaghetti actor, Anthony Steffen is good as Hawkeye and Karin Dor, director's wife, is wonderful. Special mention to Daniel Martín as honorable Unkas and Ricardo Rodriguez as Magua as an appropriately villainous in a powerful performance. Look for secondary actors usual of Spaghetti Western as Frank Braña, Rafael Hernandez and Chris Huerta, among others. Colorful cinematography by Francisco Marin reflecting splendidly the sunny exteriors from the haunted city of Cuenca and Almeria where in the 60's and 70's were shot hundreds Spaghetti Westerns." The film was not a huge success though, but the novel stayed popular. The phrase 'the last of the Mohicans' has now been used often proverbially to refer to the sole survivor of a noble race or type. In 2011, The Last of the Mohicans was parodied as The Last of the Meheecans in the popular animated series South Park. In this episode, the character of Butters, who has become lost in the woods after playing Border Patrol with the other boys, finds himself to be the 'last of the Meheecans' (meaning Mexicans on his team).


Ricardo Rodríguez. German postcard, no. 52 of 64. Photo: Constantin.


Daniel Martín. German postcard, no. 56 of 64. Photo: Constantin.


Ricardo Rodríguez. German postcard, no. 57 of 64. Photo: Constantin.


Daniel Martín and Ricardo Rodríguez. German postcard, no. 62 of 64. Photo: Constantin.

Sources: Filmportal.de, AllMovie, Wikipedia (German and English), and IMDb.