The Night of the Jack O'Diamonds - Recap

Jim and Artie ride into a Mexican town escorting a valuable horse, Jack O’Diamonds. A couple of locals notice them as they pass. The agents come to three soldiers, lead by Captain Raoul Fortuna of the 5th Regiment. Fortuna informs them that he’s there to escort them to Mexico City the next day after they have rested, so that Juarez can receive the horse, a gift from Grant. Meanwhile, one of the townspeople, an older man, admires the horse.



Fortuna tells the agents that the trip will take three weeks and that Juarez has enemies who want to steal the horse and weaken relations between the two countries. Fortuna’s men take the horse away, while the old man and his associate ride after it. Fortuna rides to the telegraph office to send a wire, while the agents ride to the local hotel. As they go in, a man with a rifle shoots at them. The agents duck for cover and one of Fortuna’s soldiers shoots the killer. The man comes down and introduces himself as Captain Raoul Fortuna. As they realize they’ve been tricked, gunshots echo out as the old man, the fake Fortuna, and their gang ride out of town with Jack O’Diamonds.

Jim and Raoul ride off after the thieves while two Imperial soldiers, Gregorio and Antonio, watch them. They realize that Juarez’s men and the Secret Service don’t have the horse, and want to acquire it on behalf of the would-be emperor so they can embarrass Juarez.

That night, a bandit, Enrique Garcia, breaks into Jim’s room, holds him at gunpoint, and offers to take him to the horse for $100. Jim agrees and the man tells him to meet him at sunrise outside of town and he’ll give Jim a map. Enrique departs, warning Jim that if he follows, the horse will die.

The next morning, Jim rides out to the rendezvous spot and finds Enrique from his room, strung up and tortured to the point of death. The agent cuts him down and Enrique tells Jim that traitors to Mexico strung him up. Dying, Enrique tells Jim that El Sordo, a traitor to Mexico, strung him up and stole the horse, and asks to see the money. Jim shows it to him and Garcia shows him the map with his last breath. Two men ride down on Jim and he shoots them. However, Gregorio, Antonio, and their Imperial soldiers ride over the ridge. Antonio wants to ride after Jim, but Gregorio figures that Jim will lead them to the horse and then they can kill them both.



Jim follows the map route across the desert. Meanwhile, Artie and Raoul follow his trail and find Enrique, who knows the dead man was a bandit working for Sordo. Artie isn’t so sure after he finds a set of discarded spurs from one of the men that Jim shot, that belong to the French Lancers. He figures that Sordo has to have the horse but Raoul warns that Sordo could be hiding anywhere. He warns that the locals consider the bandits as heroes and Artie gets an idea.

As he continues along the trail, Jim dismounts and goes ahead on foot. He spots a bandit and then a group of the bandits riding into the camp. Jim sneaks up on the guard. He kicks the man off the cliff and then climbs above the camp. The bandits have strung up a man and are torturing him, and Sordo has the horse. Jim then fires a dart into the cliffside and lowers himself down on a line.



Sordo is touring his camp when Jim openly walks into camp. He says that he heard the bandit and asks for a bite to eat. Sordo agrees and Jim points out the tortured man. The bandit chieftain explains that the man is a traitor who betrayed men during many during the revolution. He then asks Jim why he’s there and the agent says that he’s looking for something. He offers Sordo a Cuban cigar and explains that he’s looking for a rare Arabian horse. When Sordo wonders what it looks like, Jim points out that it’s in the bandit’s corral. He explains that he’ll return it to the rightful owner and Sordo says that he has no chance but to kill him. Jim says that he didn’t come there empty-handed. Sordo assumes that he’s talking about money, but his cigar suddenly explodes. Jim ducks for cover and throws his own exploding cigar, using the smoke to cover his escape as he rides off with Jack O’Diamonds while the other horses run off. Sordo vows to follow Jim no matter what.



Back at the hotel, Raoul complains that Artie let Jim go off on his own. Artie is looking at a photo of a criminal, Pancho, and has Raoul describe the man’s crimes.

Jim rides across the desert while Sordo and his bandits follow his trail. They soon realize that Jack O’Diamonds is too fast for them and tells his men to go back to camp with their saddles while he takes their horses so he can ride them in relay.

In town, Artie enters the local cantina, disguised as Pancho. The saloon girl, Isabel, approaches him and Artie and he pulls her into his lap. He starts to kiss her and then asks Isabel where he can find Sordo in the mountains. She finally tells him where Sordo’s camp is and Artie prepares to leave, but three of Sordo’s men come in. Their leader, Chico, is surprised to learn that “Pancho” is alive since he shot and buried him three days ago. Artie puts one of his bullets into a bottle of whiskey, shakes it up, and throws it at Chico. It explodes, generating enough smoke for Artie to slip out.



Jim continues riding with Sordo in lone pursuit. As each horse is exhausted, he frees it and sends it back. He finally catches up to Jim at a small stream and captures him. Sordo orders him to disarm and tells Jim that he’ll consider his punishment at leisure. Jim chuckles and then points out that the Emperor’s men are closing in. Sordo finds it amusing that they must now fight together when they would have killed each other a few seconds earlier. The lancers open fire on them and the two unlikely allies duck for cover.

With sunset an hour away, Jim and Sordo anticipate an attack. As the soldiers close in, Jim offers Sordo some of his “special” cigars. The men open fire and run in, and Jim and Sordo toss their cigars to stop the first wave, and then open fire on the others. However, two of the soldiers come around from back. Before Jim can stop them, they drive off Sordo’s horse. Sordo says that come sunset, one of them can ride off with Jack O’Diamonds. When Jim wonders which one of them will do it, Sordo warns that he always wins.

Artie and Raoul ride toward Sordo’s camp.

Jim and Sordo make camp for the night. They hear a wolf howling and Sordo says that it must kill to survive, and that they all do from time to time. Jim asks why Sordo stole the horse considering the risk, and the bandit says that it is worth more than his life. He explains how he lives a life of ugliness, and the horse is the most beautiful thing he’s seen. Sordo figured they were taking it to some rich patron. He draws a knife on Jim, who is ready and aims his gun at him. The bandit cuts a piece of chewing tobacco off and Jim tells him that he made a mistake, and that they were taking the horse to Juarez.



The next day, the two men ride together and Sordo points out a canyon where they can hole up and hold off their pursuers. Jim realizes that Jack O’Diamonds will soon die if it has to continue carrying them both and agrees. Meanwhile, Gregorio figures that the horse will soon be dead and they just need to continue their pursuit, and then they can kill Jim and Sordo.

When they arrive at the canyon, Jim tells Sordo that one of them will have to ride out while the other one stays behind and holds off the soldiers. Sordo suggests that he will have to give the horse to Juarez, but then punches Jim and tells him that they’ll fight to see who rides out the horse. The bandit attacks Jim and the two men struggle. Sordo finally draws his gun and gets the upper hand, but then tells Jim to ride out with the horse while he holds the soldiers off. When Jim wonders why he’s sacrificing himself, Sordo says that he’s nothing compared to Juarez. He asks Jim for his gun but as Jim hands it over, he punches Sordo, takes the bandit’s gun, and tells him to ride out. He says that he can hold off the soldiers longer. Sordo half-admiringly, half-derisively calls him a gringo and rides off. The bandit hears gunshots but tells the horse that he has to get him to Juarez.



Sordo finally finds Artie and Raoul as they hear gunshots from the canyon. He holds them at gunpoint and orders Raoul to dismount, and then takes the captain’s horse and leaves them with Jack O’Diamonds. Before he leaves, Sordo apologizes for delivering the horse late and lets Raoul ride off with it. He then tells Artie that they both have a friend in trouble and the two men ride off.

Trapped in the canyon, Jim is doing his best to take out his attackers. Gregorio sends Antonio up onto a ridge and he shoots Jim in the right arm, bringing him down. Gregorio orders his men in, but his soldiers hesitate and Antonio explains that the men are afraid. The commander berates his men are cowards and taunts Jim, daring him to shoot him. Jim shoots him and runs for cover. Antonio prepares to shoot him but Artie arrives just in time to kill Antonio. He runs to Jim while Sordo opens fire from further up the hill. He brings down one man but another soldier shoots him. The bandit kills his attacker with one final shot and collapses.

Jim and Artie kill or drive off the remaining men and Artie confirms that the horse is safe. They go to Sordo, who asks for a cigar. Artie gives him one but the bandit dies before he can light it. Jim admits that Sordo was one of the best fighters he’d ever seen. However, as they walk away, Sordo gets up, laughing, and demands their money at gunpoint. Once he takes their money and has them throw away their guns, Sordo tells them that he’s been hurt worse and that he’ll live to rob another day. He leaves them a horse and tells them to tell Juarez to ride his horse in good health. They figure that Sordo will hang some day... but not today.



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