The legendary Tomas Milian stars as Cuchillo, a knife-throwing thief on the run from murderous bandits, sadistic American agents, his hot-blooded fiancée and a sheriff turned bounty hunter, all of whom are gunning for a hidden fortune in gold that could finance the Mexican Revolution.
Acting
Tomas Milian's physical comedy—pure anarchic charisma in motion.
Direction
Sollima's chase sequences: geography as punchline.
Editing
Relentless cross-cutting builds breathless comic tension.
Director
Sergio Sollima
Tomas Milian
Manuel Sanchez / Cuchillo
Donald O'Brien
Daniel Cassidy
Linda Veras
Penny Bannington
Marco Guglielmi
Colonel Michel Sévigny
John Ireland
Santillana
Chelo Alonso
Dolores
Dante Maggio
Mateos Gonzalez
Gianni Rizzo
The Mayor
Orso Maria Guerrini
Raul
Federico Boido
Steve Wilkins
Luciano Rossi
Jean-Paul
Nello Pazzafini
Riza
José Torres
Ramirez
Ricardo Palacios
Mexican Officer With Dynamite
Umberto Di Grazia
José
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Sollima shot this back-to-back with 'The Big Gundown' using the same crew and locations—explains the fever-dream energy of pure momentum.
Cuchillo became Milian's signature role across three films, essentially inventing the spaghetti western trickster-hero that Tarantino later Xeroxed.
IT
