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Reviews
The Laughing Policeman (1973)
Very disappointing to a fan of the book
This film is based on one of an excellent series of detective stories set in the authors' native Sweden. Much of the interest of the books is their setting. Although they have the usual virtues of good detective stories, they are also a commentary on modern life in Sweden. I was therefore eager to see this film when it came out.
Unfortunately, for inexplicable reasons the setting has been changed to San Francisco. This completely spoils it. Sometimes such a change is interesting or has no real effect, but in this case it destroys much of the interest of the film. We are left with a rather dull American police story.
The Master Gunfighter (1975)
A nice film in spite of some silliness
This film is set in southern California in the period shortly after California became part of the US. American settlers and the US government discriminated against the Mexican landowners and frequently took their land by force or legal skullduggery. This film focuses on wealthy Latino ranchers whose land and wealth are at risk. They decide to misdirect a US government ship carrying gold so that it will be wrecked and they can take the gold. To prevent themselves from being caught, they plan to massacre the local Chumash Indians. The hero is the now estranged adoptive son, a master swordsman (trained in Japan!) and gunfighter, who tries to prevent this while still saving his family. The plot reflects the sad history of double colonialism in California, the scenery is gorgeous (as is love-interest Barbara Carrera), and the action exciting.