The Longest Hunt

I'm pretty picky about my Spaghetti Westerns, so it's very rare that I watch one with fair to middling ratings that I think is much better than that. This is one of those rare cases. I really don't understand all the meh-ness about it. I thought it was creative, well made and very enjoyable. It definitely has some odd touches for the genre, but I thought they worked very well and were never over the top or distracting. A solid contribution to the filone, I say!

Guess IMDb's never heard that brevity is the essence of wit. This didn't need the extra two lines, IMDb. And still not enough. Is the 10 line minimum based on something or did a programmer just make that up?

Chad (Brian Kelly in his only Italian western role) escapes from prison and needs a job to make some money. It seems like good fortune when Don Hernando Gutierrez (Folco Lulli) offers him the princely sum of 5000 dollars to bring his runaway son Fidel (Fabrizio Moroni) back from the US to Mexico. Little does Chad know how difficult his task is - and that Gutierrez doesn't want his son back for the reason of fatherly love...

Well paced and well written western from the hands of Bruno Corbucci who is otherwise only known for his comedies. Rik Battaglia appears in a guest role as an army captain while Keenan Wynn has a larger role as a renegade leader. Sante Maria Romitelli contributes a tasteful epic soundtrack. All in all a satisfying contribution to the genre.

Passable Spaghetti Western about a pistolero, Brian Kelly, who escapes from prison by pretending to have leprosy. He is called Stark, Brian Kelly, a notorious gunfighter who seeks peace, justice and vengeance, too. Later on, he is detained and about to death from hanging, then he is saved by a powerful Spanish landowner, Folco Lulli, who offers him a reward to find and return his son Fidel, Fabricio Moroni . Shortly after, Chad Stark finds Fidel who is joined up a hazarous gang led by The Major, Keenan Wynn, Stark's previous colleague at army.

Decent Western with thrills, noisy action, go riding, twists and shootouts , following Spaghetti ordinary trademarks . It deals with an escaped convict who carries out a perilous mission, as he agrees to bring a rebel son of a wealthy land-owner. Brian Kelly gives an acceptable action as the gunfighter hero . Special mention for the notorious American secondary Keenan Wynn as the duck-loving, sympathetic Major and boss of a nasty gang of bandits. And a plethora of usual Italian secondaries as Folco Lulli , Rik Battaglia , Ferdinando Poggi , Krista Nell , Roberto , Emilio Messina, Pasquale Basile , Andronico , Jimmy el Fenomeno , Fortunato Arena , Jose Riesgo , Andronico and many others. Atmospheric and evocative cinematography from Carl Chan and Fausto Zuccoli , though a perfect remastering is necessary . Enjoyable Spag musical score by Santa Maria Romitelli , adding wonderful songs .

The motion picture was professionally written by Mario Amendola and directed by Bruno Corbucci who was brother of Sergio Corbucci, the latter made a lot of prestigious Spaghetti Westerns. Bruno directed various vehicles for notorious comical actors as Franco Franchi, Ciccio Ingrassia, Bud Spencer, Tomas Milian. As he wrote and directed a great number of films. As Bruno wrote/directed several Bud Spencer vehicles as ¨Bulldozer¨, ¨Aladino¨, ¨The Supersheriff¨, and ¨The sheriff and the extraterrestrial little boy¨ and directed him in ¨Mister Charleston¨. And Corbucci wrote and directed various Terence Hill-Spencer films as ¨Banana Joe¨ , ¨Miami Supercops¨ , ¨Par-Impar¨ , ¨Cat and Dog¨ and ¨Aladdin¨ . If you love the Spaghetti movies, go for it, and if you've never seen one this is an acceptable start ; but only for Spaghetti Western fans .This is an average entertaining juvenile that will appeal to Italian Western buffs .

Criminal Brian Kelly escapes from prison by pretending to have leprosy. Finding himself at the wrong end of a rope, he agrees to bring home the son of a wealthy Spanish landowner, who's fallen in with fun-loving (and duck loving!) outlaw Keenan Wynn and his gang of misfits.

A sense of deja vu does hang over the proceedings. However, the action is plentiful, the scenery nice to look at, and the stars (particularly Wynn) full of roguish charm, all making this a breeze to watch, even if it's not very original. The twist at the end is cool.

Cult Euro-babe Erika Blanc is nice to look at too, even though her screen time here is as short as her dress is long (way too long, that is).

Writer/director Bruno Corbucci may not be as fondly remembered as his brother Sergio (even though he helped pen some of his best work), but his direction is quite solid too, making for a satisfying if not entirely memorable western.

Spara Gringo Spara is a particular favorite of this spaghetti western fan in that it combines the expected Italian western bravado and action with a respectable attempt at offering unique character relationships.

While lacking the depth and intrigue of classics of the genre, such as "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly", Spara Gringo Spara (aka Shoot Gringo Shoot) does manage to avoid the confusing plot lines and over-indulging intensity that often spoils many shoot-em-up films. Westerns, at least the better ones, more often than not revolve around a simple theme of good vs. evil. And although many recently produced old-west films successfully cloud that issue ("Open Range" for one), most films of the genre are better served remaining faithful to the standard, to-the-point presentation that exemplifies the western... keep the storyline simple and punctuate it with in-your-face, gun-blazing action.

Spara Gringo Spara delivers these elements without watering down the dialog, mixing in unnecessary plot twists, or exceeding the duration required to achieve its goals.

The bottom line... Spara Gringo Spara makes no attempt to deliver anything beyond its capabilities. Sometimes, less is more, as this movie properly demonstrates. A nice addition to any spaghetti western collection.