OK, I may have the dumbest FDM question ever...How would one know when the musical chimes had actually stopped? One wouldn't know whether an additional chime would sound, the only way would be that another chime never sounded, but how long - 3 seconds - 10 seconds - 25 minutes, so how could that "ever" be a fair gunfight (like any were really fair?) ? Sure, maybe Indio or Mortimer would've known from experience that the cadence slowed down when ready to stop, but suppose 30 seconds after Indio shoots Robledo that another chime sounded: I'd bet Indio would've roared that famous laugh again, don't think he'd be sorry that the chimes were not actually completed !!!
Both Indio and Mortimer were familiar with the watch.
That's an understatement if I've ever seen one
First off, I think you could in theory design a music box that would play a tune for a fixed length of time and no longer: it wouldn't be very different from using clockwork mechanics to show time, which is all a watch is (or was then). So it's possible that the watches always do play the tune for the same length of time.Secondly, the two watches have had very different histories since they left Peter Lee Lawrence's and Rosemary Dexter's hands: Indio fools around with his alot and generally seems careless about his possessions; Mortimer seems to use his primarily as a timepiece, and is in general careful of his belongings. Some people think the Colonel's watch, as wielded by Manco, sounds a bit diff. from Indio's: a bit faster and janglier. That can be due to either how tightly a music box is wound or how carefully it's maintained: and even if Indio and Mortimer wind their respective watches very consistently when they want to hear the music, the fact that Manco's the one in the driver's seat means that neither of the enemies have an advantage, assuming the watches are designed the way Joe outlines.Assuming the watches do have some kind of novelty feature that spins a cylinder (with the tune imprinted on it) for X number of seconds when that feature is turned on, then yes, Indio is technically cheating. He's just, uh, not cheating fast enough
Maybe I'm misremembering, but I thought both Indio and Mortimer check the time on their watches (flipping up the lid) without triggering the tune; if so the musical function has some kind of on/off switch independent of the lid.
I think Indio and Manco are briefly in the same shot, each holding one watch; plus I think you can see them both when Manco brings Mortimer the second one, after the duel.
Well, this watch thing is very interesting. The tempo and the loudity of the music is changing. I think it's adapting to his owner's state of mind. When Indio is under the influence of weed, the music is totally disintegrated...