One After Another

Dir: Nick Nostro

1968

There are a number of actors whose consistantly high performances are also matched by their consistantly wise choice of material. Whether through sound judgement or sound advice they manage to maintain, and often increase their reputaions through choosing one solid vehicle after another. Richard Harrison, sadly, is not one of those actors. His career is peppered with roles he really should have steered clear of and as a consequence his is a filmography with as many duds as hits. But occasionally he made good choices and in these films he proved himself to be a solid leading man with qualities which suited him to a number of action genres and particularly to the western. One After Another is not only one of his better choices, I would argue it is very possibly his best.

At first sight the ingredients don't look overly promising. Nick Nostro is not exactly a household name in the spaghetti western director stakes, the budget is clearly on the lower end of what was already a 'seat of the pants' genre and the rest of the cast (apart from a couple of stand out exceptions) doesn't inspire great hopes. But somehow from these modest roots a very solid piece manages to emerge which will reward any fan lucky enough to get hold of a copy of this often under rated film.

Town banker Jefferson (Jose Bodalo) outwits blackmailing local bandit chief Espartero (Jose Manuel Martin) by robbing his own bank and blaming the crime on the mexicans. Things are complicated by the arrival of Stan (Richard Harrison), a lone Pistolero with an unknown connection to Ross, a bank clerk murdered during the robbery. Jefferson seizes on the chance of getting Stan to wipe out the mexicans, thereby removing any evidence of his own guilt but things become even more convoluted once Stan enters the bandits village and learns that all is not as it seems. What follows is a constant stream of cross and double cross with large spoonfuls of revenge, cowardice and intrigue and a smattering of romance and melodrama for good measure culminating in Stan picking off Jefferson and his henchmen 'one after another'.

The twists and turns in this film are relentless to the point where you come to suspect that the creative team behind it decided to shoe horn every possible genre element into it they could. Evil town banker, Mexican bandits, a stolen fortune in gold, revenge for a murdered family member, a lone gunmen working between two warring factions, a vengeful woman and a cowardly, treacherous ex army officer who sold out his own men for his own personal gain. All of these items are seen in countless spaghettis throughout the period. To have them all working at once in one story and still have some room left for a couple of original touches too takes some doing and I take my hat off to them for managing it so well.

One of the original touches here is having the tough, taciturn gunman lead character wear glasses throughout the film. A spectacled pistolero is not a common sight. In fact I can't recall a single other film which features a four eyed tough guy hero of this type. But it works extremely well and allows for some moments of genuine wry humour. The scene early on when Stan is confronted by Jefferson's chief henchman in the saloon and loses his glasses after taking a number of cracks to the jaw is an excellent case in point. Obviously used to such occurances, our man reaches into his coat and unfolds, Colonel Mortimer style, a selection of replacement specs before choosing a pair and returning to the affray with eyesight restored. Gladly, the film does not rely on humour for its merits however. It is a gritty and action filled drama with all of the above mentioned elements keeping it moving along at a decent pace and if we are in any doubt that this is no parody western there is some torture and the massacre of women and children thrown in for good measure. But as in most good spaghettis there is an element of ironic and somewhat black humour underlying the piece which contrasts the violence and allows for a balance of light and shade.

As mentioned above, this film does not enjoy an obviously stellar cast but the three main protagonists all carry their parts very well and more than make up for the lack of other names. Jose Bodalo is excellent as usual as the cowardly and treacherous banker while Jose Manuel Martin makes the most of one of his rarer leading roles. Although not required to act out of type, he manages to combine menace with sentimentality in his portrayal of the Mexican bandit Escartero. Martin is always a welcome face for me and it is a shame he didn't get to play lengthier parts more often. He always added value to every film he appeared in for my money and was worthy of greater use.

But this is primarily Harrison's film of course and he carries it well. Never an actor of great range, the role of Stan suits him admirably and allows him to play to his strengths. Taciturn without being wooden, his character is an interesting mix of self serving loner and justice seeking avenger and his bespectacled look gives him an air of intelligence and vulnerability which contrasts well with his gun toting ruthlessness. This was an ideal mix for Harrison as his physical size and presence was offset by a slightly childlike face which I always felt hinted at a softer side to any character he played. It certainly works for him here. I like Harrison. Some of his films, Vengeance and Gunfight at Red Sands spring to mind, are excellent examples of solid spaghetti fare which he works very well in. But he was ultimately an actor who relied heavily on the work being done around him in order for him to shine. He was never an actor who was likely to transform a weak film into a classic merely by his presence or charisma the way the very best of his contemporaries were sometimes able to do. And he sometimes made poor decisions as to what films to make. (Acquasanta Joe springs to mind in this context) But he was a good genre actor and in the right vehicle could be excellent value. One After Another was just such a vehicle and it brought the best out of him.

The work of the creative team behind the camera is equally solid. The direction of Nostro is competant if not inspired and I certainly wish he had made a few more westerns in his shortish career. He is remembered more for his peplums with Dan Vadis or the couple of spy pictures he made but on the evidence shown in One After Another he could have contributed a lot more to the western genre if he had been more prolific. Likewise, the music delivered by Berto Pisano is catchy and effective if a bit derivative and hinted that he too might have been better remembered in the genre with a few more outings.

As an all round piece One After Another is a well constructed example of the genre. It is no masterpiece by any standards but it is well paced, full of action and has enough twists and turns to hold anyone but the severist critic's interest for its duration. It is gritty and on the dark side for the most part but its odd moments of humour work well and are in keeping with the film's general tone. If I were to aim a single criticism at it I would say it borrows most of its ideas from other works but all genre films do that to a certain extent (that's why they are considered part of a genre) and what it borrows it uses well. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend to all fans.

The version I saw of this film was a DVD-R obviously taken from the Japanese SPO release. A beautiful widescreen print if occasionally a little dark, it does the film proud.

California

Dir: Michele Lupo

1977

1977 didn't see the last of the Spaghetti Western but it was close enough. By this time production of westerns in Europe had slowed beyond a trickle to an occasional drip. The cycle had just about played itself out and its popularity in Italy had been overtaken by the crime and horror film in just the same way as it had in the rest of the world. Yet, in the face of this numerical decline, the quality of the product which did actually get made during this twilight period of the genre could be surprisingly good. Not all of it of course. There was some appalling rubbish churned out too (Kid Vengeance springs to mind). But considering the small number of westerns produced during these final few years the percentage of above average fare is quite an impressive one. Films such as Keoma, Mannaja and Four of the Apocalypse may not be from the very upper tier of the genre but they are certainly creditable affairs which gave proof there was still life in the old dog yet. California falls heavily into this category.

Set as the war between the states has just finished, California follows the story of a recently demobbed Confederate soldier, Michael Random, (not the character's real name but an alias he adopts from a popular tobacco brand) as he seeks a new start amongst the harsh realities of the post war nation. Bounty killers and veangeful, grieving families populate the roads, creating a perilous 'gauntlet' for the returning soldiers to run and after his young companion is killed, Random decides to head for the sanctuary of the boy's farm and family. All does not remain calm of course and when the bounty killers show up again Random's new sweetheart is taken hostage. Strapping on his guns again, the ex soldier is forced to embark on a new and more personal war as he seeks out the men who have taken his girl and attempt to bring her home safely.

The better of these twilight westerns were decidedly darker in tone and this film is no exception; undoubtedly Giuliano Gemma's most downbeat outing in the genre. In fact, for me, California has an almost post apocalyptic feel about it. From the opening scene we are consumed with mud, rain and misery. Random (Gemma) arrives at one ghost town after another, their decaying facades and caved in roofs signifying perhaps not only the desolation of a nation ripped apart by civil conflict but also the terminal condition of the western genre in Europe. The sets are so miserably dilapidated it is difficult to know if they were skillfully constructed that way for the purpose or just genuinely old and worn out, their useful days as western towns a melancholy memory. Whichever the truth, they are put to excellent use here, creating just the right backdrop of desolation and dispair for the story which unfolds around them. One of the towns even comes complete with craters in the street fresh from artillery bombardment which are readily put to use by our protagonist as pseudo open graves for two of his prey while a building on the verge of collapse is helped along with a well aimed bullet and becomes the direct cause of death for poor old Robert Hundar; a man who was killed in a number of ways during his long spell as resident bad guy in this genre but who I suspect was never knocked off by failing architecture before.

But the misery extends beyond the abandoned towns. At the farm where Random settles with his dead friend's family the sense of desolation is just as strong. In fact the whole film is shot in subdued light and colours to such an extent that even the lighter hearted scenes have a melacholy air. This is particularly noticeable during the scenes shot in Almeria; a landscape we are used to seeing in blinding sunlight and rich colours. All in all, not a mood you neccesarily expect from a Giuliano Gemma picture. Indeed, even the character Gemma plays, despite his kitten saving, girl rescuing heroics is decidely dirtier than is the norm for 'Bello Giuliano'. And I don't just mean the muddy uniform he wears. Gemma's fight scenes were always action packed and well choreographed. His background as an acrobat and stuntman meant that his natural athleticism and training made his physical abilities a strong asset which was usually taken advantage of. What is slightly different here is that we not only see his character fighting with energy and style but also with an unusually nasty edge. We don't just see punches and grappling but kicks and head butts. And I don't mean bullish, Bud Spencer type head butts driven at the stomach but, well aimed 'Glasgow Kiss' type head butts planted squarely into the face. One of his brawls (I won't say against whom in order to avoid a spoiler) also ends with a particularly vicious use of a lump of four by two with a nail in it. Not so much the pretty boy hero of the Ringo films or Adios Gringo here, but a far more jaded and ruthless character willing and able to get down and dirty.

Having said all that, the film eventually develops as time passes into a more traditional revenge themed tale and despite this angle being handled quite well it gives the impression of a certain disjointedness to the piece as a whole. Almost split into three separate phases the story starts as a tale of returning soldiers battling against forces of anarchy in a post war nightmare world, shifts to a love story as Gemma settles in to life on the farm with his friend's sister, and ends as a revenge and rescue flick as he sets out to save the girl and kill the bad guys. This variation in direction has put some fans off as an inconsistancy but I believe the changes follow more of a pattern than is perhaps obvious at face value. The middle section of the film which develops the love interest is setting up not just the rescue element but the idea of new hope. It is saying that perhaps life can be good and clean again and that it may still be possible to escape the war without too many scars. It offers the characters the promise of an unstained future. The events that follow, even the seemingly successful denouement, suggests that this hope is unrealistic. That even the 'victors' will have to carry their scars and live in a future that will always be tarnished to a large extent.

The cast here is very solid. Gemma carries the film largely of course and his previous work with Lupo in Arizona Colt and Ben and Charlie obviously allowed for a good understanding between actor and director. But main villain Raimund Harmstorf also plays his part well and brings some wide grinning nastiness to the role as long as a skillfully conveyed sense of tragedy in his characterisation of the bounty killer, Whitaker. Harmstorf is ably assisted in the bad guy department by the ever reliable Robert Hundar too and it was nice to see William Berger, although his role as the broken father grieving after his lost son keeps him fairly static throughout his part in the film. The young Prestons are competently covered by Paola and Miguel Bose and we even get a cameo from one of my favourite genre faces, Franco Ressel. There's a good, melancholy score from Gianni Ferrio too and although Alejandro Ulloa's cinematography is of the aforementioned subdued palette variety it fits the film well and is to his usual high standards.

The DVD release from NEW presents the film in a nice 16:9 ratio and offers English, German and Italian audio options. The quality of the transfer is up to their usual good standards although it is often only available at a somewhat hefty price. Mine was a lucky ebay purchase for which I am grateful as California is a very good example of the twilight spaghetti and a film well worth seeing for any fan of the genre.

Tepepa

Dir: Giulio Petroni

1968

The Revolutionary Westerns that became almost a sub genre during the italian western cycle produced some of the most interesting films of the era. A Bullet for the General, Companeros and The Mercenary are good examples of how the Mexican revolution provided a rich backdrop for the creative talents of the italian commercial cinema's best writers and directors. The tragic political and personal stories which the setting offered led to a more intellectual approach and an end result which was more thoughtful and thought provoking than the average shoot 'em up action flick. Tepepa is possibly the most thought provoking of them all.

Ostensibly this is a story of a Zapata-like revolutionary figure struggling to continue the revolution after Madero has become president but not fulfilled his election promises. Pursued by the army and police as a renegade Tepepa is under threat from all sides. Even the English doctor who saves him from the firing squad only does so in order to have the pleasure of killing him himself. An act he tries to accomplish throughout the film. But Tepepa the film is far more complex than a simple folk hero tale with some explosions and gun battles thrown in.

To begin with, the narrative style of the film is anything but straightforward. Interweaved with the forward progression of the story is a series of flashbacks, recounted memories and eyewitness reports which theoretically flesh out the back story leading up to the present but, in reality, only serve to cloud our ability to identify true events and character motivations. Like a novel with a series of unreliable narrators the film lures us in with one account only to undermind it with the next. Tepepa asks Madero to recall certain events in a letter he dictates to the president, the doctor sees his dead fiance in flashbacks to scenes we discover he never actually witnessed, Colonel Cascorro reads eyewitness reports which are just as likely to have been extracted through torture as freely given and, given the colonel's character, could simply be invented for his purposes. All of these versions of events conflict with each other and we are left grappling for grains of truth we can rely on in a vain attempt to identify the true heroes of the piece. In reality of course, there are none. All the characters here have their own prejudices and are driven by their own priorities. All insist they stand for the common good, but all, to some extent are merely self serving. All, ultimately, are corrupted by whatever level of power they gain and are blinded by their own unwavering view of what is most important.

This is also a story steeped in betrayal. A theme at the heart of the Mexican revolution. Madero is seen as a traitor to the revolution; failing to honour his promises and distancing himself after victory from the peasants who supported him. Choosing rather to ally himself with the army and police who had been their adversaries during the war. But the other characters here, be they central or peripheral, are equally prone to turning their backs on former comrades or making agreements with enemies in order to progress their own cause. Tepepa himself, despite his criticism of Madero, turns his back on Jose Torres' character once he sees he has lost both his hands and is therefore of no use to him and his struggle. Torres, in turn, betrays Tepepa for money to make a better life for his son. The doctor is at least consistant in betraying any trust Tepepa puts in him but we are still taken by surprise by his ultimate act as it betrays not just an individual but the hippocratic oath of his profession too. Finally, the doctor himself is also betrayed by the boy he thought he had befriended for the simple reason that "He didn't like Mexico."

Tepepa then, is not an easy film to watch. It demands more from its audience than simply following a hero through to a happy ending or merely enjoying an action packed ride through the Mexican revolution. Its characters are complex and unsympathetic to varying degrees. Those you are drawn to and wish to think the best of have their weaknesses exposed. And in so doing, shed a less damning light on their adversaries whom it is easy to despise. It is a film which plays with ideas of 'truth' and suggests that, as in Ford's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, when it conflicts with 'legend' it is the latter which will ultimately be more palatable.

The artistic personel here are all of the first order and at the top of their game. Petroni, a fine director responsible for the excellent Death Rides a Horse, produces probably the best work of his career here. Morricone's melancholy score is sublime and perfectly fitting for the tone of the film and Franco Solinas' script is proof that his equally meritous work on A Bullet for the General was no fluke. The casting together of Tomas Milian and Orson Welles, although apparently an extremely unhappy personal mix on set, proved fruitful for the viewer at least. Milian plays the charismatic Tepepa with consumate skill; winning us over despite the flaws his character exposes as the piece unfolds, while always maintaining a suggestion of cruelty hovering beneath the surface. For Welles the cruelty is open and unabashed. Although I sensed that the big man was somewhat going through the motions en route to a pay cheque, his slothful greasiness suits his character perfectly. John Steiner's Dr Price is equally well played with a fine combination of british haughtiness and seething, pyschotic rage.

Unfortunately, as is often the case, Tepepa does not have an english friendly international DVD release. The italian Mondo edition which I watched has english audio as an option but this soundtrack is not complete and it's repeated dropping out through the course of the film (some 15 minutes in total) is irritating and off putting for a film that demands your concentration. Unfortunately this is the only complete version of the film available that I am aware of and is therefore, though imperfect, the best option there is. I got over the sound drop outs by keeping the italian subtitles switched on throughout and piecing together what I could using my bad Spanish and the little Italian vocabulary I have picked up from film titles over the years. This is not ideal in any sense but a complete english soundtrack simply doesn't exist so, until some kind soul releases the film with complete english subtitles, it's all we have. And, in any form, this is a film which deserves to be seen.

The Road to Fort Alamo

Dir: Mario Bava

1964

Mario Bava is far better known, and respected, for his Horror and Giallo films but he did make three westerns of which Road to Fort Alamo is the first, and some say, best. So Koch Media's recent release of this film has been gratefully received by italian genre film fans everywhere as we finally get the chance to judge for ourselves just how well the maestro of the macabre handled the horse opera.

The first thing that strikes you as the film unfolds is that, for such an innovative film maker, this is a very classical western in its style. 1964 was, of course, very much part of the 'early' period of italian westerns so it is hardly surprising that the Leone influence that shaped so much of the genre over the coming years was not in evidence here. In fact, the over riding influence in this film is clearly that of another, older, godfather of the western; John Ford. Parallels with Ford's 'Cavalry Trilogy' abound. The arragont commanding officer who leads his men into danger because of his insistance on going by the book is lifted straight out of Fort Apache, but many other elements could be attributed to any number of Ford's films. The wise and experienced sergeant, the strong woman character travelling in the wagon, the wanted bandit redeeming himself in the face of danger for others; all of these are Fordisms and it is obvious that Bava's film was meant to reflect the great man's work. Unfortunately, Bava didn't have the benefit of Ford's landscape to work with nor, clearly, his budget. It's equally clear, however, that he also didn't share his natural affinity with the genre. That is not to say that Road to Fort Alamo is a bad film. I quite enjoyed it. But the piling up of elements from previous westerns does not equal a quality entry into the field.

Interestingly, some of those elements lifted from Ford's classic westerns, although common in american films up to this time, proved to be rare in the spaghetti genre that unfolded over the ensuing decade. Stories involving the U.S army battling against the threat of indian attacks are very thin on the ground. In fact, the bright blue and yellow cavalry uniforms and blazing red warpaint on show here are so unfamiliar to the spaghetti afficionado that they create an almost inverted originality. The same goes for the studio bound night time 'exterior' shots which were all clearly filmed on an Elios studio sound stage. These scenes have a strikingly lurid colour palette and lighting set up which gives them quite a pleasing, if unreal, ambience about them. This is also the case with the cave scenes, of which there are a number, and which suggested to me more of a Peplum feel than a western one.

Indeed, the peplum connection is quite strong in this film throughout. All the lead actors, Ken Clark, Jany Clair, Michel Lemoine and Alberto Cevenini had previously appeared in a number of sword and sandal epics and Bava himself of course had early experience during that particular cycle of italian commercial films. Clark, in particular, had a physique which probably suited him better for Peplums than Oaters but his previous experience in his native U.S.A in films such as The Proud Ones, The True Story of Jesse James and Delmer Daves' The Last Wagon shows that he was reasonably at home in the Western too. And he does a reasonable job here, as do the rest of the cast. Alberto Cevenini is perfectly fine in the Harry Carey Jr, younger sidekick type role, Michel Lemoine is suitably slimy as the psychopathic gang leader, Carson, and the flame haired Jany Clair plays the love interest with as much voluptuousness as you could ask for. It is also nice to see Gerard Herter in all his wickedness appear, although all too briefly and this time as a card sharp rather than his usual teutonic, nobleman officer.

Overall then, the film is probably best rated as a mixed bag. Unusaul in its strong adherence to old school american western cliches and bright colour palette, yet lacking in any real originality. Competently acted and directed but suffering with some awful continuity errors that not even its low budget can excuse. These are actually quite fun in their own way. My favourites being Ken Clark's black haired stunt double (Clark is a blonde) and the changing colour of horses as they ride in and out of shots. The musical score by Piero Umiliani is quite good but probably better suited to a 50s crime thriller with its use of staccato brass and tumbling violin riffs and the happy ending, though fitting with the tone of the piece, is a bit too predictable and trite. But despite all this, I found it entertaining throughout and would certainly recommend it to Bava completists and early italian western fans alike. In fact to anyone not averse to a bit of corn with their spaghetti.

Congratulations are due to our friends at Koch who have done a fine job on the DVD release as usual. The picture is beautifully clean for the most part which shows off the aforementioned bright colour scheme to perfection. It is in full 2.35:1 ratio with good sound quality and Italian and German audio with English subs available through your remote. My only criticism of the release is that the documentary featurette included, despite having all titles in English has only italian audio and german subs available. Looks like it would have been interesting if only I could understand what was being said.

Between God, the Devil and a Winchester

Dir: Marino Girolami

1968

We've had Greek myths retold as spaghetti westerns (Return of Ringo), Shakespearean drama (Johnny Hamlet) and now here is Robert Louis Stevenson's 19th century adventure classic Treasure Island dressed up and repositioned in the badlands of the mexican border with wagons instead of ships and a plethora of bandits instead of pirates.

Surprisingly, this genre realignment works reasonably well in terms of setting and personel as the substitutions hold clear parallels with their originals. The desert stands in easily for the sea; its vastness, isolation and danger allow it to offer the same perilous and protracted journey. The bandits are an even easier fit. Swarthy, evil grinning cutthroats brandishing assorted weaponry and consumed by an all consuming lust for gold could be a fitting description for Raf Baldasarre and his cohorts just as easily as it could for a pirate hord. And if there is treasure buried it doesn't really matter where the geography of it is as long as its isolated and hard to get at.

Between God, the Devil and a Winchester manages to cover all these bases and stick reasonably close to the story and themes of Stevenson's original while populating the story with characters just different enough to add something new but similar enough to keep a firm grip on this children's favourite yarn. But therein lies the rub. This is a family adventure film. Something which spaghetti westerns really are not. As a result, although perfectly fine as a sunday afternoon time passer with your youngsters, this is not a film likely to successfully press the buttons of your average (or even not so average) spaghetti fan. For a start the central protagonist is a 10 year old boy and, as has been proved on more than one occasion, this is genre poison. Cute kids and spaghetti don't mix. Except perhaps with a garlic sauce and a nice chianti. Moreover, if the kid is being mentored and cared for by a pacifist priest in civvies with as much edge as a plastic butter knife you are doubly hindered in going anywhere other than syrup city and inevitably this is the destination of this film.

It's no one's fault really. The cast all do a reasonable job. Richard Harrison as the aforementioned plain clothes clergy does what is required of him, Robert Camardiel is reasonable value as the somewhat bizarrely named comic relief Uncle Pink. Even the kid plays his part with relative professionalism. It's just that the subject matter doesn't gel with the spaghetti sensibility and so we are left fundamentally unsatisfied. The problem is clear enough. In the cases cited above where older tales are retold in a western setting the stories were dark and full of gritty themes like revenge, incest, adultery and a loss of place. These are themes which lend themselves perfectly to the spaghetti style as they are the same ones at play in original stories throughout the genre. A bit of gold lust and treachery is all well and good but if it is played too light and tied up with an uplifting moral denouement someting is lost which no end of explosions and shoot outs can fix.

Gilbert Roland's character is a good example of what I mean. Obviously representing the Long John Silver role, Roland has an iron arm instead of a wooden leg but embodies the same mix of charm and baseness of the pirate captain. His charismatic untrustworthiness is a magnet to the boy and, on a surface level, leaves the viewer unsure as to which way he will ultimately turn. All so well and good, but, as a family adventure story with a firm moral position at its heart, it gradually becomes all too obvious which way he will finish up and the sacharine ending when it arrives undermines any pleasure we may have gained from him during the twists and turns of the story. Gilbert Roland always delivers a solid performance and adds a hint of class to anything he appears in. This is just as true here as elsewhere in his career. But solid and classy or not, he cannot inject more into the piece than the plot will allow and his qualities are inevitably undermined.

Ultimately then, this is a misguided film rather than a bad one. Treasure Island retold in the west probably sounded like a good idea when first suggested. A popular classic tale (out of copyright) involving treasure, bandits and double crossing seems to suggest plenty of opportunities for action and drama but, in reality, the idea was misplaced. Mythological or tragic dramas are far better suited to adaptation into this genre than adventure yarns. They are based around human weakness and passions, dark pyschological struggles where violence and revenge find a natural environment.

Of course there are plenty of lighter spaghetti westerns; films which don't delve too deeply into the darker sde of humanity. And some of these are very entertaining. But it's a difficult trick to pull off and I'm afraid Between God, the Devil and a Winchester just isn't special enough to really carry it off. It's not a bad film. It's not even a bad adaptation of Treasure Island. It just isn't good enough to overcome its weaknesses. If you have kids and want something for a rainy afternoon in front of the telly you could do worse. But you could do a lot better too.

Kill or Die

Dir: Tanio Boccia

1966

A violin playing drifter arrives in town and becomes embroiled in the affairs of a pair of feuding families. His killing of the favourite youngest son of the wicked Griffith clan and his budding romance with the eldest daughter of the beleagured Drumonts means that things get a whole lot hotter before they are settled in a showdown at the wedding meant to bring the families together.

Responsible for a handful of Spaghettis, Tanio Boccia can best be described as a journeyman director. Reasonably capable but rarely inspired and usually shackled to a low budget, his work is unlikely to excite anyone looking for a hidden treasure in the genre. Kill or Die certainly fits this profile. Despite its gritty title this is a strictly pedestrian stroll through a conglomerate of cliches interspersed with some reasonable, if not overly invigorating action sequences. The story is based on the 'feuding ranchers' model and has a strong romantic element which gives it something of a traditional U.S western feel. The crusty old man for 'comic' relief and a clean cut younger brother learning how to be a man add to this ambience and then we have the hero's life saved by a cute looking dog for good measure. This may all work in a saturday matinee oater starring Bob Steele or Crash Corrigan but Spaghetti with syrup is a sickly combination and just tends to leave the consumer with a stomach ache and a bad taste in the mouth.

It is clear that the producers were attempting to recreate the success of the Giuliano Gemma films here. The main character turning out to be called Ringo is a clue but that happens in a lot of films from this period that are giving no more than a nod in the direction Tessari's classics. The clearer evidence that we are witnessing near plagiarism is the hero's repeated use of a catch phrase; in this case, "Maybe later, maybe later." This is an unmistakable attempt to mimic the style which had made the original Ringo films such domestic money spinners. Unfortunately, Rod Dana, although not overly bad, is no Giuliano Gemma and Tanio Boccia is definitely no Duccio Tessari. Neither has the panache of the originals and what we are left with is a second rate copy which fails to deliver on all fronts.

This is not to say that Kill or Die is a terrible film. It's just a bit ordinary and falls between the categories of 'decent' and 'so bad it's good', making the final product just a bit forgettable. In fact, it turned out to be so forgettable that, on sitting down to write this review, I realised I remembered practically nothing about it despite having viewed it only a short time ago. I had to watch the whole thing over again (not something I'd recommend to anyone else) in order to be able to write something accurate.

In looking for positives I could say that it is always good to see Andrea Bosic; in this case unusually cast as the honest sheriff. Gordon Mitchell also shows up in a short lived cameo as a black clad hired gun with just enough screen time to fit in a fist fight, a maniacal laugh and a bullet riddled death. Elina De Witt looks OK, if a bit insipid. And Rod Dana, although not up to the grade of the guy he's clearly trying to stand in for, does a reasonable job within the constarints made by the poor script.

On the down side, Rustichelli's score is weak, and badly used, Boccia's direction is no more than adequate and Alberto Farnese (as bad brother Chester) comes off like a pissed off lounge singer more than a mean cow punching killer. All in all, the best that can be said is that Kill or Die is a great title that is not lived up to by the film in general.

But what the heck, not every spaghetti western can be a classic and this one held just enough interest to keep me awake for an hour and a half without thinking about what might be for dinner or wondering what was happening on Gardener's World. And X Rated are to be applauded for putting out a nice quality DVD with english audio on a very clean widescreen print. It's just not a film I could highly recommend to anyone. Let's call it one for the completists among us.

Arizona Colt

Dir: Michele Lupo


1966



Giuliano Gemma created a very successful career for himself during the mid sixties making a series of westerns that showcased his matinee idol looks, athleticism and ability to be gritty and ironic at the same time. These films succeeded, like no others, in marrying action and violence with a certain romanticism and dry humour and Gemma must take the lion's share of the credit as to why these films worked so well. Arizona Colt is one of his best.


Gordo Watch (Fernando Sancho), a bandit Chief in need of new recruits, attacks the local jail and carries off the inmates to his desert hide out. There they are given the choice of being branded (literally) into the gang or die. Arizona Colt, one of the freed men, outwits Gordo and escapes, telling the blustering outlaw he will "think about that". This becomes his catch phrase throughout as he weighs up each situation before exploiting it to his own advantage. On meeting Gordo's right hand man (Nello Pazzafini) on the stage into town, Colt stays quiet, even though he guesses that the town's bank is under threat. What he doesn't expect is that the popular saloon keeper's daughter, Dolores, (Rosalba Neri) will be murdered and that he would come under suspicion. However, once the bank has been robbed he offers Dolores' father a deal. He will bring back Dolores' killer for $500 as long as his other daughter, Jane, (Corrine Merchand) is handed over to him. Filled with a thirst for vengeance, Jane agrees, but when the killer is brought back with the help of the repenting drunken bandit, Whiskey, (Roberto Camardiel) the father (Andrea Bosic) understandably refuses to hand over his surviving daughter. The matter is resolved when Gordo comes back to town searching for his gold which Whiskey has secretly taken with him and Arizona squares off against the evil bandit leader.


A brief glance at this synopsis tells you one thing very quickly. Arizona Colt is far from being a hero in the traditional sense. He starts the film in jail, he soon declares himself a bounty killer by trade, he shows little or no regard for the general welfare of anyone but himself and even stoops as low as demanding a berieved man hands over his one remaining daughter in a trade for vengeance, making it quite clear that he doesn't mean to take the girl for the purpose of marriage. This is not the same avenging hero of Return of Ringo, or even the impressionable stray from Day of Anger. This character is harder edged and darker in tone and it is the dichotomy between his ruthless, mercenary actions and his clean cut good looks with kindly smile that creates a really interesting core to the film.


What is also obvious from a brief glance at the above synopsis is that this picture has a Spaghetti cast to die for. Fernando Sancho, Rosalba Neri, Roberto Camardiel, Nello Pazzafini, Andrea Bosic and, of course, Gemma himself; this lot line up like some kind of Eurowestern super group. But it doesn't even stop there. In the shadows you also find some of our favourite genre 'uglies'. Perenial bad guy Jose Manuel Martin is here and so is Jose Terron; a face once seen and never forgotten. The bottom line is that with all these gems on show this film would have to work very hard to disappoint and in Michele Lupo's capable, if not overly inspired hands, the result is all you could hope for. With everyone playing their part in a first rate package.


But first among equals here is most definitely Giuliano Gemma. It is easy to allow his boyish good looks to overshadow the fact that he was a very capable actor in these types of films. As I mentioned before, his ability to blend action hero, romantic lead and ruthless gunslinger into one role while simultaneously injecting a wry, ironic comic element with seemingly effortless flair is a skill unmatched by any other spaghetti actor outside of Clint Eastwood himself. And as such it is no surprise that he was such a popular actor in Italy during this period. In fact, in terms of box office success in westerns in his homeland Gemma outperformed every other single actor in the genre. His films consistantly made money throughout the cycle and, in Arizona Colt, it is easy to see why. All his strengths are on show, from acrobatic physical agility to comedic timing to gritty dramatic presence; Gemma exhibits it all here and it is hard not to be impressed.


Credit must also go to Michele Lupo of course, not just for his fine direction but also his contribution to an excellent script. The camera work of Francisco Marin and Guglielmo Mancori is also worthy of merit and the music score from Francesco De Masi is excellent.


All round then this is a top notch spaghetti made by a fantastic array of talent who all punch their weight. There are certain similarities here to the Ringo films (especially A Pistol for Ringo) but as mentioned before this one has a decidedly darker edge to it without ever being overly sombre. What's more is that it is readily available on DVD in a number of editions, although usually under it's U.S title 'The Man From Nowhere'.


Definitely not to be missed.