The Definitive Watchlist Seeking the Same Brilliance as The Fighting Gringo: Cult Guide

The The Fighting Gringo Phenomenon

In the Pantheon of cult cinema, The Fighting Gringo to provide a definitive example of Fred Kelsey's stylistic genius.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Purple Lily perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

On their way to Panama "Red" Saunders, a youth, meets Mary Smith and Arthur Saxon They become friends and he learns Mary is on her way to do missionary work with a Mr. Belknap. Arthur and Mary quarrel frequently and Mary tells him though she loves him, he must prove himself to be a man. Arthur loathes Belknap and denounces him, but Mary is loyal At the dock Jim, a rancher, asks the captain for a husky white man who can be trusted. The captain recommends Red. Through his grit Red wins out. Thrown from his horse, he is hurled into the lap of Orinez, a little fat Spaniard, head of the Government party and the ablest man in Panama. Red saves him from three bandits one night and the two men become good friends. Red goes to see Mary, who demands that he never speak to Arthur. Red goes to the store of Perez where Arthur is working, and finds him in a deplorable condition. Arthur tells him why he has been drinking hard. From the time they were children he and Mary had been sweethearts. They met Belknap, and Mary became interested in missionary work. One night he had been accosted by a woman who fainted in his arms. He carried her to the store, fed her and then takes her to his room to rest, after which he left. Belknap hastened to tell Mary. When Arthur next saw her she told him that his presence was an insult. Red goes with Perez to his home. Orinez rushes into the room and tells them he had seen Belknap meet Zampeto, the leader of the revolution, and heard him promise to make the converts join the revolution, if Zampeto would endow his mission. Red hears the revolutionists on their way to the ranch, so with the help of three men he barricades the store and hurls cans of tomatoes at the crowd, but is wounded severely by the time a troop of soldiers come to their rescue. Orinez, Perez and Jim arrange to trap the revolutionists that night. When Red finds out about their plans, in spite of his helpless arm, he joins Arthur and the other men, fires at Arthur, wounds him in the arm, and states he wants to tell Mary he is wounded and he couldn't tell a lie to her. The revolutionists are caught and Red with Orinez and Perez goes to the mission. Belknap enters and lunges at Red with a knife, but Red thrusts his revolver in his face and gives Belknap an hour to make his escape. Mary rushes into the room. He tells her Arthur is wounded. She demands to be taken to him. When Belknap tries to follow them, Perez and Orinez remind him he has only an hour. Though Mary refuses to listen Red insists upon telling her the whole story. They hurry to the hut. Arthur puts his good arm about her as she throws her arms about his neck. Red turns away and goes alone toward the town.