As a second unit or assistant director, Alberto Cardone (here billed as Albert Cardiff) worked on Ben Hur, Barbarella, Summertime and Carmen among others; as director he is responsible for several 'Dollar' westerns attempting to cash in, if you'll pardon the pun, on Leone's success.The title sounds expensive but it's probably more than was spent on this spaghetti western which spares every expense but achieves a kind of style through its very sparseness; unfortunately, this pared-down approach is also applied to the story which is the most basic of revenge plots. The beautiful Aurora Batista (often in Leone-like close-ups)is wasted since she is given almost no lines to deliver in the few scenes in which she appears. There's a great deal of far-fetched tricksy shooting, and equally unbelievable fistfights. There are, however, a couple of inventive 'guns' on display, and the symbolism of clocks with no hands probably means something, though I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. Great music, though, conducted by Cipriani. Recommended only for die-hard fans/completists of Italian westerns.
