Guns for Dollars

I bought a copy of this film from an on-line cult-movie dealer solely on the basis of its title: HEADS YOU DIE,TAILS I KILL YOU. This is one case where a spaghetti western lives up to its nifty title. Though a bit overly-plotted, this is a machinegun-paced, fun oater. More in common with the westerns of Howard Hawks and Burt Kennedy than the sweltering pasta dishes of Leone and Corbucci. Holds your interest throughout its running time. Great script.

A first rate Italian Western starring the great George Hilton and which was recently shown at Tarantino's (very own) festival of classics. His own runaway success has really brought these obscure 'Spaghetti's' into the public eye. This example is more along the lines of the fun 'Sabata', rather than (the gritty) 'A Fistful of Dollars' and showcases a vast array of unusual/inventive weaponry. Highly enjoyable and strikes a near perfect balance of comedy and action.

Goofy , entertaining and amusing tongue-in-cheek spaghetti Western . This exciting picture contains Western noisy action , gun-play , fun situations and bits of humor . The film gets the comic remarks from Western parody united the features of typical Spaghetti . Offbeat Western comedy with a hero named ¨Alleluja¨ who looks partially ¨Sartana¨ . It is a bemusing SW with lots of mayhem , crossfire and nutty incidents ; however , being slightly mediocre . This time the new hero is named ¨Alelujah¨ (George Hilton) who carries a ¨surprising machine gun¨ which displays unexpected and magic resources . He is a elegant gunman and his companion is Gen. Emiliano Ramirez (Roberto Camardiel) , both of whom join forces along with a suspicious nun (Agata Fiory) to take a bag full of valuable jewels through gang-infested lands . They face off a powerful banker (Andrea Bosic) and his hoodlums as Fortune (Paolo Gozlino) . It stars ¨Alleluja/George Hilton¨ who unites a mysterious , fake sister and a Cossack Duke (Charles Southwood) . The resourceful hero , freelance gunman , named ¨Alleluja¨ appears to chase nasty gunfighters , as well as to get a gold stash . The confrontation will be inevitable between the mean cutthroats , scoundrels , villainous gunslingers and , of course , ¨Alleluja¨ . As 'Trinity' is the Game...'Hallelujah is his Name!

Silly slapstick euro-western, Terence Hill-Bud Spencer style . Amusingly starred by George Hilton , it is plenty of action , shootouts , tongue-firmly in cheek , double-crosses , fights with lots of punches , kick-ass , bounds , leaps , twists and loads of shots . The movie takes parts from Enzo Barboni movies such as ¨Trinity is my name¨ and ¨Trinity is still my name¨ . The picture is acceptable and amusing which doesn't say a lot because it has some cheap and ridiculous moments , too . This is a regular Faglioli-Spaghetti Western in Trinity and Bambino style and that's why there is a cult to idiocy surrealism , silliness , dirtiness with an appropriately goofy tone , customary issue in this sub-genre . The violence isn't crude but suits the light-weight comedy fun and silly slapstick like the Trinity series . It certainly has an enthusiastic cast , plenty of slapstick , some very impressive gymnastics , especially in the massive fight sequences ,especially set in the Chinese laundry and Monastery . The film is filled with action , twists , fun , brawls , shootouts , surprise-filled entertainment and with a couple of frankly bemusement moments . It does eventually outstay its welcome , and there are a surprising amount of fights and laughter . The movie is running out of ideas a bit ; nevertheless , it is still good enough to be fun . ¨Alelujah¨ is a two-fisted and tough gunfighter with technical weaponry and a lot of tricks similarly to previous Sabata , here he is attempting t to take down European emperor Maximilian by seizing a purse of precious jewels intended to be used for the purchase of weapons . ¨Alelujah¨ is another hero of second class in the S.W. genre as Sabata and Sartana . The Uruguay-born George Hilton was a Spaghetti first-star such as ¨ Sartana no perdone¨ , ¨Go kill and come back¨ , ¨Kitosch¨ , ¨They call me Alleluja¨ , ¨Ruthless four¨ , ¨Alleluja for Django¨ , and also played successful Giallo as ¨The strange vice of Mrs Wardh¨ , ¨The scorpion's tale¨, ¨All colors of the dark¨ , ¨My deal Killer¨ . He teams up , as co-protagonist , with the Spanish Roberto Camardiel , he is one , (along with Tito Garcia , Chris Huerta , Pedro Sánchez, and the great Fernando Sancho) of the ordinary support characters who accompanied to starring in the multiple Spaghetti/Paella Westerns of the 60s and 70s . The movie gets the usual Italian Western issues , such as greedy antiheroes , violent facing off , quick zooms , exaggerated baddies , among them . It appears ordinary secondary actors who are habitual in Italian Western and Peplum genre , such as : Andrea Bosic , Paolo Gozlino , Franco Pesce , Fortunato Arena , Goffredo Unger and Federico Boido or Rick Boyd and Roberto Camardiel as Mexican general fighting for the revolution against European domination.

This bewildering picture was middlingly directed by Giuliano Carmineo or Anthony Scott , who directed Westerns with Spaghetti-hero named Sartana , usually played by Gianni Garco and George Hilton . Giuliano Carmineo , alias Anthony Ascott, directed various Sartana with George Hilton who replaces Gianni Garco , as Hilton played more natural and roguish than Garco who was cold and peculiar . Giuliano Carmineo realized several Spaghettis , most of them featuring mainly the same cast again , such as "Di Tresette Ce N'è Uno, Tutti Gli Altri son Nessuno" ,Uomo Avvisato Mezzo Ammazzato... Parola Di Spirito Santo¨ (original title) or "His Name Was Holy Ghost", this is probably the best among the bunch of spaghetti western comedies that George Hilton was starring in and "Lo Chiamavano Tresette... Giocava Sempre Col Morto" that actually was the last time George Hilton/Chris Huerta and Carnimeo worked on such a western comedy together , ¨The moment to kill¨, ¨Find a place to die¨ , ¨They call him Cemetery¨ , ¨They call me Hallaluya¨ , and the Sartana movies : "Have a Good Funeral, My Friend, Sartana Will Pay" , ¨Sartana the gravedigger'(69) ,"Sartana's Coming, Get Your Coffins Ready" , ¨Light the fuse Sartana is coming¨(1971) , among others . Giuliano also directed other kinds of genres , as Sci-Fi : ¨Exterminators of the year 3000¨, ¨Computron¨, Giallo : ¨The case of the bloody iris¨ , Crime thriller : ¨Secrets of a Call Girl¨ , Buddy movie films : ¨Convoy Buddies" or "Kid Stuff" , "The Diamond Peddlers" . This one is clearly inferior to his entries in Sartana series . Rating : 5.5/10 . Average but amusing .

This is a splendid comic adventure; it is also a 1971 spaghetti western that coming at the tail end of an era was not much seen.

While the cast is uniformly good, it is the script that excels. Tino Carpi's writing provides good lines for almost everybody, whether it is the lead HALLELUJAH, his aristocratic rival in arms ALEXEI, or the two parties, trying to cheat them, the Mexican bandit revolutionary RAMIREZ or the American spy disguised as a nun (AGATA FLORI); even the ruthless arms dealer KRANTZ who engineer the theft of the jewels that everyone chases after a motley crew that becomes recognizable, because they are given not only names but personalities (eg. Cookie and his comments about outlaws, going back to Utah; Fortune, and so forth).

Uruguay born GEORGE HILTON comes across as a blend of TERENCE HILL; JAMES COBURN, especially when he wears motorcycle goggles in an early sequence, and even HUMPHREY BOGART! The actor credited as CHARLES SOUTHWOOD is an engaging fellow, especially when he does his Cossack schtik.

The music by STELVIO CIPRIANI is almost non-stop and adds to the atmosphere.

This is a film that will remind you of many other spaghetti westerns, even if those were made later than this: I was reminded of the SABATA films; the TRINITY films especially the second that deals with rogue monks and their monastery; other Mexican revolutionary films all the way back to VIVA ZAPATA; VERA CRUZ (Emperor Maximilian again) and COMPANEROS/MERCENARY, plus the two Leone westerns DUCK YOU SUCKER and then MY NAME IS NOBODY with the shaving sequence. And those are some that come off the top of my head.

I watched the video distributed by ACADEMY and could almost believe it was STEREO HIFI as cited on their box, but for the fact that no one was doing that back in 1971. In fact I watched this full frame video on a widescreen TV, in the widescreen mode, and was quite satisfied with the picture quality, confirming the original photography was excellent to begin with.

It remains a western that should be seen, therefore be made more available; how nice it would be to see the film on DVD letter boxed, even if it were only in mono!

This is a film about a gunslinger who owns a machine gun that's also a sewing machine, a nun who is a secret agent like James Bond, and a Russian Prince who does Cossack Kung Fu – Let's see what IMDb commentator Ed the C has to say about it:

QUOTE "How did Mexico get Revolvers before the US Army in the Civil War? Maximillian's reign in Mexico ended just before the Start of the American Civil War. Amazing. The Revolver was Brand new Technology at the Start of the Civil War. First guns were a powder Charge and pellet, the Movie Shows a rapid firing revolver which was not introduced until the early 1870's. In 1847 appeared the First Colt Revolvers used by the Texas Rangers. But it was not a "Fan" firing revolver seen in the Movie. The War against the Comanche's an early version of the Revolver was used but it was hammer-less thus incapable of fan Firing."

Thanks, Ed the C – your last name has three letters missing from it.

This is one of Guiliano Carnimeo's daftest, and therefore most entertaining, Westerns, For his fourth film of 1971, George Hilton plays anti-hero who rescues a Mexican general from execution by using his machine gun/sewing machine combo on the Mexican army. The general then gives him the task of recovering some valuable jewellery, but of course there's a gang of hoodlums after it too (led by the usual corrupt businessman), and a nun who is a secret agent, and an uppity Russian prince who blows up bad guys with a guitar doubling as a rocket launcher.

This film is not about realism, you might get that when George uses a birthday cake with dynamite for candles to blow up the bad guys, or when he puts laxative in their food and they all crap themselves, or when he shoots someone over his shoulder without looking. Or how about when the nun climbs up a telegraph pole and uses a gadget to send a message in morse code?

I don't know how he does it, but Guiliano Carnimeo manages to find the balance between comedy and violence that is painfully lacking in other Westerns about this time. Maybe they just don't go far enough, but Carnimeo packs the film with absolute madness, and then turns the film into an eighties action flick at the end for good measure! I suppose George Hilton helps, with his Latin charm and quips (some of which make no sense) – looks like there was a sequel to this one too!

Oh, good music as well, plus, the cinematography is by future director Stelvio Massi!