A so-so Ravioli Western that packs duels , go riding , emotion , shoot'em up , fist-fight , intrigue , nastier villains and some familiar faces who include Anthony Ghidra, Anthony Freeman or Mario Novelli, and Angelo Infanti . We open with a hellacious , frightful bandit, who brutally kills riders in a stagecoach for money. Then we cut to a dreadful bounty killer (Angelo Infanti) following an older rough and gritty gunman (Antony Ghidra) and subsequently , confronting two odious, nauseating killer brothers : the hardcore villains El Bedoja (Alfio Caltabiano) and Chiuchi (Mario Novelli) . Both of whom decide to rob a bank together. But the outlaws begin by robbing a stagecoach before going on to rob a bank .Then , they are relentlessly pursued the clad-in-black bounty killer (Angelo Infanti) who collects the money and a righteous ex-sheriff (Anthony Ghidra) who doesn't rest and shows off even more skill in using his gun on his ghastly purports . After robbing the bank and needlessly shooting several townsfolk , the foul cutthroats hide out in a mine, taking beautiful Maruja (Monica Teuber) as a hostage. Asan attractive girl gets kidnapped , one gets captured and then relies on the others to save . Although Rocco and Nigros follow different paths , they must work together to beat a repulsive adversary and eventually unite forces which , of course , leads up to a well staged crossfire and a predictable plot twist . Later on , they hire Explotion (Dante Maggio) for the dynamite. Because Rocco is out of ammunition, he impales one of the gunslingers with a wooden stake. After that , a second showdown plays out in a farm.
This is another standard, very ordinary Spaghetti Western with typical ingredients and with plenty of clichés . A simple and plain plot about the classic issue : the merciless confrontation between two expert shooters agains their vile nemesis : two nauseous , disgusting brothers , and at the same time both of whom seeking for vengeance , but eventually they join forces . Acceptable action sequences with rousing crossfire and spectacularly bloody shootouts and there is a surprising twist at the final. ¨Ballad of a Gunman" there is plenty of habitual Spaghetti Western ingredients to be had here, including violence , despicable antiheroes and hideous , sickening vendettas . The production values are extremely cheap with many of the locations looking nothing more than poor sets . However, the crossfire towards the end in a collapsing mine is top-notch . It is a moving western with breathtaking showdown between the stoic starring Anthony Ghidra and his loathsome, revolting enemies : Tano Cimarosa and Mario Novelli . An average Spaghetti Western about a run-of-the-mill plot , as avaricious and corrupt gunfighters , starring Angelo Infanti/Nigros who attempts to get the money, while Anthony Ghidra/Rocco justice, and the two compete with each other to track down two repugnant, horrendous villain brothers , Chiuchi : Antony Freeman and El Bedoja : Caltabiano. This is a horrid story about ambition and greed , a dark and sinister subject one might expect from a typical Spaghetti , being more a story of ambitious people than about avenger gunslingers seeking revenge . The story is one of those in which everyone double crosses one another in the search for money , as a number of betrayals while attempting to take the stash .Stars Anthony Ghidra as an aging gunman who has a personal agenda against the renown bandits in a merciless hunt against two repellent criminals . Antony Ghidra is really fine and he easily steals the screen away from the cocky and arrogant young bounty hunter played by Angelo Infanti . The Servian Dragomir Bojanic-Gidra starred various Spaghetti Westerns being a main figure in the genre , such as : ¨A hole in the forehead¨ , ¨Cjamango: The Revenger¨ , ¨The last killer¨, ¨Tequila Joe¨ and ¨Ramon the Mexican¨ . While Mario Novelli is the highlight of the film by performing a complete evil and abominable jackass , that's why he rapes and hit women, he even shoots defenseles people and an innocent dog.
The motion picture was professionally directed by Alfio Caltabiano , though it has flaws , gaps and failures . However , Alfio working hard to give us some interesting camera angles to spice things up. Alfio was a fine actor usually playing secondary roles and he often played forming a nice couple along with Lou Castel . And he shoot six films : ¨Cosi sia¨ , ¨Una spada per Brando¨ , ¨They still called Amen¨ , ¨Bootleggers¨, ¨Comandamenti per un gangster¨ and this ¨Ballata per un pistolero¨(1967). Ballata per un pistolero rating : 5.5/10 . It may be nothing new for enthusiasts of the genre but it has enough violence and anti-hero antics to keep fans interested throughout it's running time.
