zardoz-13 "Duel at Diable" director Ralph Nelson pulls out all stops in this turn of the century shoot'em up Mexico. Ostensibly based on a Jack Higgins' novel, "The Wrath of God" was one of those many adventure epics produced during the early 1970s that featured an Irish gunman on the run in a foreign country. This story about a motley collection of soldiers-of-fortune is strong during the first half when we are introduced to them and eventually the predicament that prompts them to accept a mission to kill the chief villain. Robert Mitchum had been typecast as a flawed man of the cloth who travels through Mexico in a touring car with a giant suitcase stuffed with $53-thousand dollars and a Thompson submachine gun that he brandishes in time of telling trouble. Ken Hutchinson co-stars as the youthful hero who becomes involved with an Indian princess. Victor Buono has one of his better roles as a nefarious villain turned hero. Our 'unholy trinity' as Mexican officer John Colicos calls them are sent into the wilderness to kill a landowner named Thomas De La Plata (Frank Langella of "Dracula") who likes to kill Catholic priests. Writer & director Nelson peppers this 111-minute melodrama with witty dialogue that are in turn punctuated by gunfire galore. Although it is a little overwrought, "The Wrath of God" is still a lot of fun.

dbdumonteil A tongue in cheek ,very funny "western" -although it features plenty of death-),not as tragic as Nelson's more famous "soldier blue" .A good chemistry between the three mates ,even though Mitchum is obviously the stand out.I did not go to confession for years ,but if I had a "priest " like him,well....His words are often Bunuelesque ,recalling "Nazarin"(1958) when he talks about the stranglehold the wealthy ones have on religion.In spite of the presence of a positive catholic character (Rita Hayworth's last part,her next-to-last was a strange French movie where she played the role (sadly premonitory)of a woman losing her mind "La Route De Salina" ),it is a very unfriendly look at the catholic Church,not exactly a Hollywoodian politically correct one.The scene of the execution when the screen becomes completely black ("and it has not taken three days !say one of the condemned persons)is memorable ;and the title is thoroughly justified in the last scene when God's hand punishes the heathen .

walls69 Very enjoyable. This is a very good Western. This movie is a must see for fans of the genre or of Robert Mitchum. I was never able to find this movie on video let alone DVD. My favorite aspect of the movie is the little boy who trails Robert Mitchum throughout the movie. I believe that the movie would have been even better if this relationship had been emphasized more. This is especially true when you consider the climax of the movie which is left a little wanting because of this lack of relationship. Nevertheless, I was still moved at the end. What a cute kid! Wise and unusual choice for Hollywood to pick a Mexican child actor for the part.

som1950 To some extent Ralph Nelson's "The Wrath of God" spoofs westerns, but like Nelson's "Lilies of the Field," under the comedy is, I think, a deeply felt belief in divine grace. Both movies focus on unlikely human materials having a vocation they fail to recognize and consciously resist. Herein, Robert Mitchum plays a con man masquerading as a priest and a Catholic martyr in the tradition of Thomas à Becket or Thomas More mistaken by many as a hedonist.In her last screen performance Rita Hayworth has preternaturally red hair (fire-engine red, not a color of any natural human hair), few lines, and is required to look devout (which she manages to do). As her flamboyantly traumatized and traumatizing son, Frank Langella gets to chew up the scenery, which he does with great relish (before "Dracula," after his memorable film debut in "Diary of a Mad Housewife" and Mel Brooks's adaptation of "The Twelve Chairs"). Ken Hutchinson does fine as the token normal guy who is embroiled in others' plots, including the romantic subplot that involves him with a mute Indian maiden (Paula Pritchett). In a Sidney Greenstreet-kind of role as a corpulent and corrupt gun-runner Victor Buono is suitably droll. Still, it is Mitchum's movie, and he is as compelling when he takes his priestly role seriously as when he plays the usual disengaged but competent existentialist who expects nothin' from nobody. <bt><br> A motley gang of foreign mercenaries getting involved in the confusions of the long-running Mexican revolution and taking a side against their financial interest recurred in a number of late-1960s and early-70s movies, including "The Wild Bunch", "The Professionals", and "A Fistful of Dynamite." The latter two use considerable humor within the genre of expatriates taking sides (which in Mexican settings of different eras includes "Vera Cruz", "Old Gringo", and "Bring Me the Head, of Alfredo García").