Five Savage Men
An Italian western made in America
Abducted by a vicious band of outlaws and left for dead after being violated and tortured, a young teacher teams with the Apache chief who nursed her back to health to take revenge on her attackers in this violent western starring Michele Carey and Henry Silva. Alice (Carey) was an innocent passenger on a stagecoach when a gang of outlaws slaughtered her traveling companions and brought her back to their hideout as their own personal plaything, but when her captors left her for dead they should have made sure the job was finished. When a sympathetic Apache chief discovers Alice near death in the desert sun, he lovingly takes her under his wing to aid her in her grueling convalescence. Now back on her feet and thirsting for revenge, Alice and the chief track her tormentors as the vivid memories of her painful trauma push Alice to the edge of sanity.
IMDb: Five Savage Men (1970)
Production
We hope to eventually have some more images and reminiscences (perhaps even some music!) from Rupert Holmes about this obscure motion picture for which he composed underscore and theme songs while still in his early twenties. Rupert himself has called it “an Italian western made in America.” Its storyline apparently is similar to a film made a few years later called “Chato’s Land” starring Charles Bronson. “Five Savage Men” (aka “The Animals,” “Les 5 Visages de la Vengeance,” “Los Cinco Hombres Salvajes,” “Bes Vahsi Adam,” among several other alternate titles) starred movie veterans Keenan Wynn, Henry Silva, John Anderson, Pepper Martin, and Joe Turkel. Its female lead was Michele Carey, best known for the Frank Sinatra movie “Dirty Dingus Magee” and the Elvis Presley flick “Live a Little, Love a Little.”
Rupert also sings the movie’s love song, “There’s So Little Time,” both in the middle of the movie and over the end titles. He tells us he was chosen to be the vocalist primarily because the movie didn’t have enough money in the budget to pay someone to do it. The song may appear on an upcoming CD release.
We’re very grateful to Joanne Johnson (from talkingcomedy.com), who located these lobby card images and shared them with us.
Rupert himself has called it “an Italian western made in America.” Its storyline apparently is similar to a film made a few years later called “Chato’s Land” starring Charles Bronson. “Five Savage Men” (aka “The Animals,” “Les 5 Visages de la Vengeance,” “Los Cinco Hombres Salvajes,” “Bes Vahsi Adam,” among several other alternate titles) starred movie veterans Keenan Wynn, Henry Silva, John Anderson, Pepper Martin, and Joe Turkel. Its female lead was Michele Carey, best known for the Frank Sinatra movie “Dirty Dingus Magee” and the Elvis Presley flick “Live a Little, Love a Little.”
Rupert also sings the movie’s love song, “There’s So Little Time,” both in the middle of the movie and over the end titles.
Movie Gallery
Cast & Crew
Credits
- Ron Joy – Director
- Richard Bakalyan, Hy Mizrahi – Story
- Rupert Holmes – Music & Theme
Cast
- Michele Carey – Alice
- Henry Silva – Chatto
- Keenan Wynn – Pudge Elliott
- John Anderson – Sheriff Allan Pierce
- William Bryant – Sheriff Martin Lord
- Pepper Martin – Jamie