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Powderkeg (1971)

8 | Apr 16, 1971 (US) | Action, Adventure, Western | 01:33
mercenary revenge train railroad mexican bandit tv pilot

Their gun and guts for hire... and a blank check is their price

A Mexican bandit is about to be executed in the United States, so his brother takes over a train and holds the passengers as hostages unless his brother is released. Now both the Americans and Mexicans are baffled as to what to do. One of the passengers — who wrote the letter for their captor — has a suggestion: call mercenaries Hank Brackett and Johnny Reech. They do, and as expected they do come up with a plan, but the president of the railroad is not sure if it will work.

Featured Crew

Writer, Director, Producer

Cast

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Rod Taylor
Hank Brackett
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Dennis Cole
Johnny Reach
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Fernando Lamas
Chucho Morales
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John McIntire
Cyrus Davenport
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Michael Ansara
Paco Morales
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Tisha Sterling
Beth Parkinson
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Melodie Johnson
Miss Baker
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Reni Santoni
Ricardo Sandoval
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Luciana Paluzzi
Juanita Sierra-Perez
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Joe De Santis
Col. Delgado

Images

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Reviews

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Wuchak
8 | Apr 05, 2018
Unique train-oriented Western with Rod Taylor and several notables of the era RELEASED IN 1971 and written & directed by Douglas Heyes, "Powderkeg" chronicles events in 1914 when Mexican renegades led by Chucho Morales (Fernando Lamas) hijack a train for leverage to get his brother out of jail in New Mexico (Michael Ansara). Two adventurer-mercenaries (Rod Taylor and Dennis Cole) are enlisted to rescue the 73 passengers and take care of the banditos. While this was a TV movie, it’s pretty much as good as many theatrical Westerns of the late 60s/early 70s. The two stars, Taylor and Cole, have great chemistry and the tone is snappy with a distinctive story and a couple of unexpected twists. Luscious Luciana Paluzzi is on hand (playing a role in one of the surprises) along with Tisha Sterling and Melodie Johnson in the female department. Reviewers have overstated the action/thrills, but no worries because the drama is interesting. “Powderkeg” was the pilot for the short-lived Bearcats TV series in ‘71, which consisted of this film and 13 episodes. THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour 33 minutes and was shot at Old Tucson, Arizona, and surrounding areas. GRADE: B+/A-