The Americano

The Americano is an 1955 Western style film set in cattle ranching Brazil with Glen Ford as the hero and Cesar Romero as a bandit who is really goodie. Ford takes 3 prime bulls on behalf of himself and his brother from Texas to Brazil where they have been bought by a larger rancher to improve his heard. Arriving at the nearest town with a station he finds that the purchaser has been murdered and befriended by the bandit who offers to take him to the ranch to meet the foreman. The bandit borrows a vehicle to transport the bulls part of the way and then as they take the animals into the ranch they cross the land of a neighbour who takes exception and turns out to be an attractive girl in ranch hand clothing. She is at odds with the former owner of the ranch where the bulls are due to be sold. On arrival instead on finding the foreman, Ford finds an apparent civilised man to claims to have been the partner and therefore full owner of the estate with a vision of controlling the whole valley which involves buying out or driving out the neighbour and new entrants to the open range who want to fence and farm. He offers a partnership to Ford who just wants to return home and start a small enterprise with his brother. On his way home he is mugged and the money stolen. There is then a series of twist and turns before the local law is convinced that the villain is the foreman who killed the owner and ordered his men to rob Ford in an effort to get him to stay and use his expertise, burns out the new comers and kills the foreman of the neighbouring property. Cesar Romero plays a key role helping Ford come good for the locals.