Reviews

You gotta hand it to Tony Anthony. The man definitely thought outside of the box. Not content with recycled "revenge for a slaughtered family" or "gang of vicious thugs control a town" plots.......he co-wrote & starred in a series of films as "The Stranger", which, coincidentally, no pun intended, got stranger & stranger as they went along.

He..along with director Ferdinando Baldi, brought "Zatoichi" to the Spaghetti West w/ Blindman in 1971... fought against Moors and Vikings in Spain in 1976's "Get Mean",...& ushered in a modest 3d revival w/ 1981's "Comin' At Ya".

This, the third collaboration with Director Luigi Vanzi...."The Silent Stranger" predates a bunch of East-meets-West Spaghetti Westerns, including 1971's "Red Sun", "Fighting Fists of Shanghai Joe" in '72...and "The Stranger and the Gunfighter" in '73.

I was, for the most part, pleasantly surprised...by this Italian/Japanese/American co-production. There's a pretty good script..a mixture of Spaghetti Western violence...a number of well-staged Samurai sword fights which aren't bad at all....nicely done, & a lot of humor.

Plodding through the snow in the Klondike.........The Stranger has a run-in with bandits who are attempting to rob a young Japanese man of an apparently valuable scroll. The Stranger manages to kill the bandits, but the young Japanese man is shot. He tells The Stranger that the owner of the scroll will pay him $20,000 for its return. Entrusted to return this mysterious scroll to its rightful owner, & looking forward to a big payday.. The Stranger and his trusty horse board a ship for Japan. Once there, he discovers that two powerful warlords have been vying for control of a village and both parties claim that the scroll is rightfully theirs. The Stranger realizes that the only way to save his hide....and get his money, is to play both sides against each other.

Yes, this is yet another twist on Yojimbo, ...adding the old fish out of water bit...having a gunfighter battle both with & against samurai in Japan.

A dispute between the American producer and distributor MGM kept it from being seen in USA theaters until 1975. ..seven years after it was produced.

A little "Yojimbo"...a bit of "Ran"...a "Fistful" of other stuff...it's fun.

Capturing the spirit of Zorro ...The Lone Ranger..Robin Hood.....a large dose of Clark Kent...Batman & Robin...yes, even Mighty Mouse..."Starblack' mixes tongue in cheek humor...high camp...A lot of good Spaghetti Western action ..into a pretty entertaining movie.

Robert Woods stars as Johnny Blyth...who returns home after striking out on his own..building a ranch in Colorado..(at least that's his cover story)...accompanied by his deaf mute sidekick (yes, just like Zorro & his Bernardo)...to discover (?) his father dead..under mysterious & shady circumstances.....his mother remarried to his uncle...his dead father's brother..the respected Judge King. The locals are being squeezed by a gang of cutthroats led by the well scrubbed but slimy 'Curry', saloon owner..banker..money lender...supporting a very profitable business driving people to financial ruin......then seizing their homes & assets.

Curry's thugs are beginning to encounter an obstacle to their terrorizing & killing of landowners...in the form of a masked protector...his face completely covered by a black mask....who rides a white stallion (like the Lone Ranger, yup).....carrying a black star, which he always leaves at the scene , as a symbol of justice. Zorro has his Z...Starblack has silver badges.

Woods plays it straight..and plays it well..both as the dashing, swashbuckling Starblack...& the mild mannered, guitar strumming, somewhat meek & cowardly Johnny.

It's obvious that this is in the hands of a good director..the guy knew his Western movies..knew the old 40s serials..& without a ton of money, fashioned a nice little nod to them.....in the true spirit of old time good guy B Westerns...comic book super heroes..and old time movie serials........complete with secret tunnels..deception.....very hammy bad guys..and all not necessarily being as it appears to be......featuring our hero getting into dangerous predicaments & getting out of them..sometimes inexplicably....with an uncanny knack for always being in the right place at the right time..

......but there's no doubt we're firmly in Spaghettiville---> due to whippings...knives in the forehead...a rape followed by a stunning scene....a moment not only one of the best resolutions in Spaghetti Westerns..but in Movieland itself...I cheered.

Grimaldi was obviously aware of Leone..it shows ...but at a time when copies and simple variations of "Dollars" ..& "Django" were flying out of Texas Hollywood..he went in his own direction. He also wrote the dialogue..& threw in some wonderful lines.....like "gotta go where people need our help" ...I was waiting for.... ''ma'am"..ha ha..just like the old movies.....in one early scene..after Starblack has saved the day...a woman looks up at him adoringly...uttering "Starblack"...a simple hoot of a scene.

Some of the camera shots are spot on terrific.. innovative & fresh..such as peeking through a noose ....overhead shots....shots from behind..from inside a moving miner's cart......& violently funny..like when Starblack knocks off 10 guys like shooting ducks.

Both a tribute..a spoof..AND playing it straight.. a fairly difficult blend to pull off......it's clear that there's a genuine affection for his subject matter & his characters. ............the too often obligatory comic saloon fight was actually pretty good..the stunts were well done...the fights choreographed well...some nice moments in the score..nice whistling theme.. and Robert Woods really sings.- which, as it is, turns out to be integral to the plot.

Of course the German version called him Django.......w/ the great title "Django - Black God of Death". .brrrrrrrr!!! Call it a popcorn & pasta flick...perfect for a Saturday afternoon matinée, perhaps..maybe w/ some cartoons & a newsreel and then.......

"Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear.... A fiery horse with the speed of light, A cloud of dust, and a hearty "Ciao-Yo, Argento...... Via" !!!!!!!

Hey..it's not high art...but I give it a "Bravo" anyway.

By 1981, the heyday of the Spaghetti Western was over..that golden era finished..played out...& pretty much left for dead. A few interesting stragglers trickled out..."Mannaja" in '77..Lucio Fulci delivered "Silver Saddle" in '78.. & Michele Lupo's "Buddy Goes West" in '81. The previously bustling sets in Almeria & other Spanish locations were abandoned...& allowed to fall into disrepair. Director Ferdinando Baldi & Producer/Actor Tony Anthony, who ten years earlier had collaborated on adapting & bringing the blind swordsman "Zatoichi" to the Spaghetti West..resulting in the entertaining ........"Blindman",.............decided to do it again.......... filming a loose remake of Blindman in Spain.

Producer Tony Anthony decided to film it in 3-D...to give it life... to make it stand out...& that's precisely what it did. Originally called YENDO HACIA TI (GOING TOWARDS YOU) ,... Filmways picked up the film for North American distribution, re-named it COMIN' AT YA! ...it wound up making a bundle at the box office...grossing $12,000,000 in the USA...becoming the 23rd highest grossing Western ever among all post 1980-present Westerns... & sparking a modest 3D revival.

Anthony stars as H.H. Hart...who's not given any backstory but I'd project him as a former gunslinger. His wife, Abilene, is played by the gorgeous Victoria (TIE ME UP! TIE ME DOWN!) Abril. Gene (TREASURE OF THE FOUR CROWNS) Quintano plays the sleazy leader of the bad guys, Pike...unfortunately he plays it badly, in a terrible performance.. Quintano also had a hand in the script. Pike's fat, disgusting brother, Polk, is played by Ricardo (ARK OF THE SUN GOD) Palacios.

After an opening credits sequence in which beans spill all over the camera, bullets fire at the audience, a snake slithers out of a basket.., and hands reach out for the viewer's face... this recycled, slightly fiddled & diddled with clone of "Blindman"....... ....gets going as Hart embarks on a rescue mission after his wife is kidnapped, he lies shot & left for dead......the priest shot & killed... by the Thompson brothers (Gene Quintano, Ricardo Palacios)...in the little border chapel...as they exchange their vows...anticipating and influencing the chapel massacre in "Kill Bill".

We discover that the Thompsons & their gang have been kidnapping women all over the territory in order to sell them to Mexican brothels... taking them all down to Mexico to be sold to the highest bidder. Hart follows, carrying a pump shotgun , blasting his way through the bad guys, getting beaten up several times (an Anthony trademark...he always gets pummeled a lot). After capturing one of the brothers and giving him a beating. ..he then tracks down the other brother/rest of the gang, hoping to release the captive women...& save his wife. Release...escape..recapture..& murder ensue.

As Hart continues on his quest, we're treated to guys falling downstairs (in slooooow motion), spinning fiery pinwheels (for the five minute recap at the end), an attack of bats, spiders, scurrying (and hungry) rats, flaming arrows (the best part...& the 3D works), and even a baby's bare bottom.

As the gang kills time in a windswept ghost town waiting for Hart to show up ...it's an excuse for more gimmicks....yo-yos...paddleballs... playing cards flipped at you....as Hart, despite being greatly outnumbered... rides into town to save his wife....& exact his revenge. The explosive finale works well in 3D...or maybe I was just sufficiently cross eyed by that time.

The old, abandoned, crumbling, delapidated sets work well.......conveying an air of desolation & desperation.

Carlo Savina scored a lot of Spaghetti Westerns...all low budget "B" stuff. Here he contributes a spare, elegiac score......using ambient voices pleasingly. His best moments are during a 5 minute replay of its best 3D moments after the movie.....which I'm guessing was probably the original opening credits title tune.

I've always liked Anthony...although he never achieved the status of a Nero, Eastwood or a Garko ... he always gave a good performance...was one of the most likable SW "heroes"..as well as being a talented writer & producer.....& Baldi...never accorded the reverence of a Leone, a Corbucci.. always delivered the goods.......never afraid to take chances.

When presented in the theater...........viewers used polarized (gray lenses) to gain the 3-D experience. The DVD utilizes Anaglyph 3-D, centering around the wearing of glasses with red and blue lenses...to effect the illusion of depth. It's best to view the movie in a fully darkened room with the red lens over the right eye...as it appears to be Reverse Anaglyph. The close, foreground shots don't work too well...........the foreground objects that are supposed to loom out at you are always breaking up & tend to produce a "ghosting" effect, which ruins the overall illusion. ..The 3-D actually works best............producing pretty good depth effects, in the regular shots...the medium & background shots.

Could it stand on its own...w/out the 3d...something to be watched & watched again? No. The story...pretty much paint by numbers, point a--> point b--> point c.............doesn't warrant repeated viewings. That being said...I'll watch it again........not for the story..but for the 3D.

In 1983...Baldi & Anthony collaborated on another 3D movie.."Treasure of the Four Crowns "....which marked the final on-screen performance by Tony Anthony, though he continued working for a time as a television producer. From his experience working on the 3D film techniques for this movie, Tony Anthony now manufactures specialized lenses for the medical industry.

Grab some buttered popcorn......a Giant Coca-Cola...an x-large box of Junior Mints...& check it out.

The memorable main theme of composer Armando Trovaioli's sole Western score, a slow and stately trumpet soaring over acoustic guitar and rolling percussion, kicks off 1966's Long Days Of Vengeance.

As 2 prisoners carry out a daring escape from a harsh, brutal military prison....we get our first look at Ted Barnett......, who, as we discover later, is serving his 3rd year of a sentence of 30 at hard labor...framed for the murder of an Army Colonel...as part of an elaborate plan involving & including the murder of his father....slave labor..gun running.. & the ownership & control of a railroad.

The story quotes quite clearly from it's inspiration .... "The Count of Monte Cristo". Guiliano Gemma, as Barnett..looking very much like the imprisoned Edmond Dantes....plots revenge against those who betrayed him. After making his escape, ...and a NOT your typical day at the barber shop...he manages to find some helpers for his plan to exact revenge...from a traveling medicine show..who are VERY aware of the $10,000 bounty now on his head.

The only Western directed by Florestano Vancini ........he makes use of a good plot...with definite noirish elements-- fall guy out for revenge.. the shady former lover , here played by Nieves Navarro , as the femme fatale, who may have access to evidence implicating the conspirators............greed, redemption and payback. It's a good story...one could see it used in an 40's B&W potboiler...as well as a lean, mean 50s American Western..but here it gets the Spaghetti treatment. ...there's even a bit of ninja fare thrown in..to good effect, I might add..as it plays into the final showdown..from which some will walk away unbowed, but none will walk away unbloodied.

Of course no Gemma film would be complete without the former stuntman's trademark athleticism.....he shows off his gymnast roots...but this is a slightly darker Gemma...the smile & the humor are there.....but also the grit of an avenger as one by one the conspirators are confronted......as evidenced by the lengths to which he'll go as he attempts to set the sides up for a fall...and by what he sets himself up for to carry out his plan.

A good supporting cast....which, atypically for most Italian Westerns, features 2 strong female supporting characters...the fetching Navarro....and a nice turn by Gabriella Giorgelli as the aptly named, sweet but feisty Dulcie...who proves equally adept w/ a guitar or rifle.

The catchy & varied score contains a variety of themes & influences...ranging from Morricone to Toots Thielman's harmonica soundtracks. The stunning main theme appeared in Tarantino's "Kill Bill", during the "Origin of O-Ren Ishii" anime sequence.

An interesting story..well told.. badly dubbed... nicely filmed....a nice fit somewhere in the middle of anyone's Spaghetti Western collection.

Recommended.

The sound of a plaintive solo trumpet.......a tight shot of Anthony Steffen as ex con Johnny Liston... introduces this slightly mad..somewhat fascinating...often bad but never dull Spaghetti Western from 1966. After spending 12 yrs in prison for a murder he didn't commit, he encounters a deadly ambush as he returns to town ........only to find it under the boot of a gang of vicious thugs...led by none other than his brother, Sartana (No..not THAT Sartana)....a loony self styled 'General' commanding the forces of a brutal protection racket. Johnny also discovers his former lover, Manuela, in his camp...(which looks kinda like a combination Aztec temple/fort built into the side of a mountain..) He visits his wacked out mother.....living in what looks (architecturally) like a Greek Temple...the "queen", if you will..of the town..deluded & under the spell of luxury & power...anointed by her mad son's butchery.

Quite a morning...huh?

Directed by Alberto Cardone..a/k/a Albert Cardiff...best known for his work as assistant director on "Ben-Hur"..& second unit director on "Barbarella"...., this was Gianni Garko's first Western...and it's quite a debut. You've never..& never will again..see Garko like this...as a cruel, crazed, , psychotic maniac....with 3 entire towns under his domination......whose citizens are forced to pay tribute.........in return for his "protection".

Oozing with classical themes & references...elements of Greek tragedy...Shakespearean drama....high Italian opera..( I half expected to see someone break into an aria at any moment... a Greek chorus commenting on the action wouldn't have been a surprise, either)....Oedipal themes...religious parables (Cain & Abel)...A Christian passion play of resurrection & redemption......all stirred and whipped into a very 'Italian' melodrama. ..and quite violent (babies, women..all's fair game here) Western.

As far as I know...this was the only pairing of Steffen & Garko, who star as the conflicted brothers..............and probably the first use of "Sartana" as a character's name.

As Sartana's 'troops' march into a nearby town to collect their booty....Johnny declares "this town's under my protection", setting up some gun battles, which are basically boundary & limit defining contests......leading up to the inevitable confrontation..brother against brother...... & a starkly surreal & well filmed (best in the movie) ending......including, (but not limited to) the fires of Hell.......with the main street of the town acting as the river Styx' path to the Underworld...a biblical quote from Leviticus as we fade..with the heavens darkening & grumbling...(Zeus didn't make an appearance...but that doesn't mean he wasn't in the vicinity......)

Composer Michele Lacerenza was a trumpet player on the Fistful of Dollars score...& manages to come up with a serviceable soundtrack...including the melancholy trumpet theme...numerous Morricone rips--> electric guitar & flute..., organ music...and what sounds like incidental opera music.

While there's no shortage of things gone a little wrong here...there are ridiculous shots of the sun accompanied by cheesy organ music... some absurd dialogue..bad dubbing..... silent film style- like overacting.....& some intense closeups of maniacal laughter...which we all know & love from countless SW...I would never dismiss this as one to avoid.

There's a lot going on here..& while much of didn't work...some of it did...& can be quite a hoot if viewed w/ the right spirit.

It could qualify as a somewhat campy...fascinating failure of a stewpot of themes & references...& w/ the 'Wow' factor of Garko's Spaghetti Western 'debut'...the pairing of Steffen & Garko.... It can be a somewhat bizarre...weirdly entertaining hour and a half or so.

The second film in the popular Sartana series is, on the whole, pretty entertaining ..well spun in Carnimeo's typical "Sartana" style....combining a whodunit...w/ elements of a smokey good mystery...with Spaghetti Western action & humor. More than a bit tongue in cheek...yet straining for credibility & often (but not always) hitting the mark.

"Sono Sartana......" hits the ground running...in a snappy opening...as Sartana is implicated in a bank robbery. A $10000 reward on his head insures that he's pursued by bounty hunters....many of whom are known to him already as friends, allies, competitors. There's a good amount of tension & unpredictability as Sartana tries to get to the bottom of it all, as he follows the trail of clues as to who framed him.. as well as the wherabouts of the $$$$$...all the while being stalked by bounty hunters and people trying to get their own grubby little hands on the $$$$$. Unfortunately...those remaining who can shed any light on the issue are knocked off before he can get to them.

The trail takes him to Poker Flats...a gambling town where everybody's a cheat...out for themselves...& can't be trusted. A shady saloon owner...corrupt judge...dishonest sheriff....are but 3 of the slightly twisted characters we meet in this quirky corner of 'Spaghettiville'.

Frank Wolff puts in a nice turn as Buddy Ben...although willing to lend his assistance, you never know exactly where his loyalties or motivations lie............& it's a nice performance.

Kinski delivers one of his most sane Spaghetti Western roles as the unlucky gambler/bounty hunter...........Hot Dead.

Mancuso's music/score has some nice moments...and some lesser ones. Sartana's theme is good..but tends to be overplayed...over & over & over (and over)...........Kinski's theme --> a little banjo tune --> is recognizable as "Santa Claus is coming to town." Interesting choice of melody...to say the least.

All in all...an enjoyable romp.......with enough twists & turns to keep you guessing....... Within a genre filled w / copycats & overused plots...I appreciate any Spaghetti Western that has a different style...w/ at least an attempt at an original plot. "Sono" manages to be intelligent...funny ..pretty brutal w/ a lot of action...& an entirely satisfying conclusion.

Sprinkled throughout are some great names ..Slim Shotgun...Shadow...DeGuello......some great dialogue...the bounty hunter who announces his arrival with "I am death"...& of course Sartana's quip "I'm your gravedigger".

My cherished little copy used for this review is in Italian w/ English subs..so I can't comment on the English dubbed version...nor can I be aware of any changes or differences in the English translation (and there always are differences). Spaghetti Western w/ a definite twinkle.

In Gianfranco Baldanello's third (of 6) Italian Western...Guy Madison stars as a mercenary undercover agent for the military... in this minor..but on the whole pretty well done western.

Martin Benson hasn't quite made it home from the war..rather working undercover & gaining a reputation as an outlaw. As 3 bad guys he helped to capture are hanging in the wind..he's offered a substantial amount of gold to find the leader of the gun & liquor smuggling operation he's helped to take a bite out of..even as.....gang members are out to get him..& target his family as well. His parents are killed..younger sister raped..& he & his younger brother set out for revenge...also trying to stay alive..as the remaining family members (2 sisters..2 brothers) are still being stalked.

Madison, of course, knows his way around sixguns, fistfights & horses..& it shows. He's as comfortable to watch as wearing an old pair of worn in jeans. There are no 'corrida' type showdowns..but some medium to larger gunfights...& probably pretty much how gunfights really were...shooting people anywhere & anyhow you could..in the back..through windows...whatever works.

Amedeo Tommasi's (The House with Laughing Windows ) first & only Spaghetti Western score is imitation Morricone..but good imitation Morricone......strings & horns w/ the dominant electric guitar..& the title vocal tune is a typical catchy Spaghetti Western pop ballad. Overall , among the best Morricone rips I've ever heard.

So what we have here is kind of a mixture of the pre-Leone SW & some post Leone elements......brutality...rape..nudity...& the the usual bloody messes. I don't believe that a widescreen version of this movie still exists...it's showing up on a lot of those 5..20..50 cheapo Movie packs...the fullscreen is watchable...I do recommend zooming it down to 1/2 if you come across the DVD. It's worth a viewing.

...Navajo Joe...directed by Sergio Corbucci.

I'd rate Navajo Joe a "must see"...for Spaghetti-heads, at least....although I wouldn't place it in my top 10 SW. Somewhere in my top 20's more like it.

It's certainly one of the least 'cartoonish' SW...the themes touched on in the movie are well chosen & well done....the score is soooooooo good............Reynolds is good in the part (he's half Cherokee Indian, by the way)........Joe is not your run of the mill SW character--> it's refreshing to have a hero (as opposed to hero/anti-hero) for a change...he's an 'assassin', & a good one...wiping out 40+ guys is no small feat.

The ending was handled well..& slightly ambiguously...there is room for speculation as to Joe's ultimate fate in the movie....although w/ a little thought...it's pretty clear...& adds to the film's quality & richness. The usual atrocious dubbing....occasionally some excellent dialogue will poke through.

Good one.

A tall, gaunt figure...wearing black...face hidden by a wide brimmed hat..places a cross bearing a name & date of death in the ground.......a creepy opening that is almost completely silent except for the howling wind.......so begins director Sergio Garrone's "The Stranger's Gundown", better known in Europe as "Django The Bastard" (Django Il Bastardo). Obtaining an "X" rating on its initial Italian release....it was released in the U.S. in 1974 as "The Stranger's Gundown" ....& has no connection to Corbucci's original "Django"....none..zip...zilch..nada...bupkis.

Here's a rather traditional revenge plot ....but.....revenge, whose origin lies in a dark secret............... & constructed w/ elements of a horror movie as well as a tale of vengeance.

Steffen portrays the title character... a character popularly considered to have inspired the one Clint Eastwood played in High Plains Drifter...not so much a remake..but the latter film clearly derived inspiration from it.

He is a man of few words - & when he does speak, manages to say very little. He walks slowly - . His expression doesn't change much, if at all. Steffen co-authored the screenplay with director Sergio Garrone....who directed 6 other Italian Westerns...then 'graduated' to a bunch of 'captive women in prison' movies. ....the visual style is unique & effective with its appearance and disappearing appearances of 'Django'..................in one very interesting scene 'Django' becomes a shadow, or melts into a shadow..becoming part of it.........it's quite well done. ......The innovative camera angles, which vary from overhead shots to close-ups to fade-in's to hand-held shots contribute to the creepy atmosphere.

The original version of this film has a precredits explanatory scene. The version released in the UK & the US places this scene, the entire reasoning behind "Django"'s motives in the film in a flashback later in the film.........., roughly half way through the film, rather than before the credits, which is how it is presented in the Italian version. I prefer the US edit.... the prehistory of 'Djangos' revenge campaign, spells it all out for you..& .detracts from the air of mystery & "who is this guy?" that supports & sustains the movie's mood. In a rare case...a US/UK edit of an original Italian Western actually improves the film.

I'm not suggesting that Strangers Gundown will find a place among the top non Leone SW...or jump to the top of anybody's list...but this little low budget affair is a pretty good one to take in...interesting, entertaining...& a little different.

Recommended.

1963...Sergio Leone had done 1 film as credited director..."Colossus of Rhodes"..; Clint Eastwood was still best known as "Rowdy Yates" on "Rawhide". Duello Nel Texas was released in Italy in Sept. 1963...Filmed in Northern Spain....using the set that would later be used as the town in FOD & FAFDM. Ricardo Blasco ..directed 8 other films..a couple of Zorro movies...most of his work was as Second Unit Director or Assistant Director. Massimo Dallamano, the cinematographer, went on to be director of photography on both Fistful Of Dollars and FAFDM.

Richard Harrison..had appeared in 1 previous "pre-spaghetti" Western..."El Sabor de la Venganza" (1963) (Gunfight at High Noon (USA) )....& went on to play Ringo in "$100,000 for Ringo"....Rocco in "Vengeance" (.Joko invoca Dio e muori).. & starred in "I'll Forgive You, Before I Kill You" .... .."Aquasanta Joe" & others. Gunfight at Red Sands is also noteworthy for being the first Italian Western to feature a Ennio Morricone score...& if my instincts are correct......a collaboration w/ Bruno Nicolai.

Harrison is Ricardo..a/k/a "Gringo"......who returns from an unsuccessful campaign fighting w/ guerillas in Mexico...& now just wants peace.......to discover that his adoptive father has been killed & the family's gold stolen. So he's gotta..avenge his father..& get the gold back.

This is Harrison without the stubble..not quite the antihero...an avenger...but not "The Stranger"...although he has been away for 4 years.

As for Ennio Morricone's first Western score.....parts of it are quite nice...others are just...OK...Hollywood-style stuff, as requested by the film's producers. ..Of course, early Morricone is very interesting...the title song (A Gringo Like Me) is a different version than the one that's become somewhat familiar...an earlier version w/ a different vocalist. He is also credited as musical director under the name of "Leo Nichols"...which for me is too close to Bruno Nicolai..that I suspect that to be a mistake..& Nicolai to be the true musical director.

The Italian Western was still very much an American Western imitation..but we see the SWlike quirk here & there..a lot of "roots" of what was to come in many films....the weird villain type (giggling..twitching guy)............& there's gold..Mexican revolutionaries...a corrupt sheriff who hates Mexicans....more than a few killings..a couple of not very well done fistfights..a final showdown that's OK.......minor red herrings & misdirection..pretty straightforward. Good bit early..the shootout w/ the Federales...although it does come off as too theatrical. Check out the scene early on when a jeep drives by in the background. Rest of the cast ranges from pretty awful to pretty good... nice turn by Sara Lezana as Lisa..who gets to show off some action chops that a year later became traditionally not done by women in SW.

Gunfight At Red Sands is really a PRE-Spaghetti Western....in tone... & spirit....dramatically & musically. It has more in common with the Hollywood knockoffs produced in Italy pre '64...but SW devotees will definitely notice & appreciate the elements of future films that are there...

The style hadn't arrived yet......nor the twinkle in the eye..but something quite unique and wonderful was just about to be born.

Spaghetti Western? Maybe an Antipasto Western.

"Money. Is that worth risking your life for?" a Juarista general asks Ben Trane...played by Gary Cooper. "Comes closer than anything I know." says he.

Robert Aldrich's second feature film ...Set during the Mexican revolution of 1866, filmed on location ...featuring a number of now familiar faces: Ernest Borgnine ; a young Charles Bronson (who hadn't even changed his name to Bronson yet); Jack Elam.... packed with plot twists, intrigue, double crosses, triple crosses.....backstabbing..shaky & shifting alliances........is a lot of fun....shot in SuperScope featuring the great Ernest Lazlo's cinematography. In many ways...a transitional film (from a 40's style -->the 50's style)..& a transitional western, one that signals a change from old-style epic Hollywood Westerns...it actually combines the large Hollywood spectacle with the grittier, more cynical Westerns of the 50's & 60s... and anticipates & influences the Spaghetti western ...& the "Mexican Revolution" theme or subplot.

Cooper plays a loner named Benjamin Trane. He rides into Mexico hoping to sign up with either Emperor Maximilian or the revolutionary Juarez--whoever will pay him the most. ...He stumbles across Joe Erin (Lancaster)..their first encounter is a hoot & gets this movie off on a rousing note.. ...& hooks up with a group of mercenaries headed by Erin.... . However, their negotiations with Marquis Henri de Labordere (played to the hilt by Cesar Romero) is interrupted by the arrival of the Juaristas. From then on...The story becomes a matter of who's conning who. .... a fortune in gold ...& what seems like EVERYBODY's playing EVERYBODY....& a terrific conclusion.

"Man's got to have more. Needs something to believe in." "I've got that too," says Trane as he holds up his rifle and gives it a shake.

Cooper & Lancaster are terrific as Ben Trane and Joe Erin...playing with & off each other smoothly & delightfully....the character that Burt Lancaster plays in "Vera Cruz" really paves the way for his portrayal of Dolworth in "The Professionals"..(could be a younger version of the same character, in many ways...although ultimately much darker)...............Neither Aldrich, nor Lancaster, take the easy road w/ Joe Erin's character...& kudos to both of them for it.

A fabulous supporting cast.........some great dialogue......(Joe Erin's "Ace Hanna" story being a particular favorite of mine), ahead of its time as well as a product of it....... major inspiration of the Italian Westerns, which came a decade later...."Vera Cruz" is not only a top notch, crackling good Western.....but an important one......& deserving of " must see" status.

"That's the way it is. You're a fighter, you gotta fight" ...Stoker Thompson

Thanks to Warner Brothers...this critically acclaimed corker of a movie has been rescued from the cracks into which it had fallen. The Set-Up tells the story of a nearly washed-up 35 year-old prizefighter, Stoker Thompson ,..a fourth rate boxer in a two-bit town, brilliantly & compellingly played by Robert Ryan, in perhaps his finest hour in his finest role. Stoker finds himself on the boxing B Circuit... in the sweltering, smoke-filled, world of seedy nightclubs and cheap motels that thrive in the ironically named Paradise City,......... who prepares to enter the ring against an up and coming fighter 12 years his junior.. , he doesn't know that his manager and trainer have set him up to take a dive , having made a deal with local gangster Little Boy (Alan Baxter) but they don't bother telling him, figuring Stoker is so washed up he's going to lose anyway..foregoing the need to convince him to do it/cut him in...Meanwhile, Stoker's wife (Audrey Totter, herself a veteran of many films of the noir cycle), across the street in their seedy hotel room, tries to decide if she wants to see her husband get his brains bashed in again...tired of wondering if this will be the one he doesn't walk away from, takes an amazing walk along an amazing nighttime landscape.. a garish..moonlit..neon world filled with arcades ( the wonderfully named Dreamland Arcade), bars, and chop suey places.......populated by dreamers, & schemers.

Directed by the prolific Robert Wise.. who effects a remarkable fluidity within scenes, as well as from one scene to the next...the composition of each scene is impeccable in it's details.. background.. each frame teeming w/ life, ..full of shadows....hopes...dreams..& unfulfillment.

I didn't even consider, as I was watching, that there was no music...it was that perfect & appropriate.....this film's soundtrack is the rhythm of life..conversations..come ons, the background from radios & jukeboxes. The pace is propulsively energetic (I stole that line from somewhere..) .................

The Set-Up works as a sports movie...a boxing movie..an allegory...a character drama...with gritty noir elements. ... the dingy and shadowy settings , and the seedy figures that inhabit them.. although Wise does manage to tweak & twist the genre somewhat. The world of noir is a dark one.............at every possible opportunity, someone is chiseling someone else............... & everyone is looking for that million to one shot to make it to the top.

The film..a tight., not at all sparse (this film is LOADED) 72 minutes, unfolds in real time. The big boxing scene, which lasts roughly a half hour...is one of the best, most realistic scenes of its kind... EVER , staged with beautiful rhythm, building and building to a gut wrenching conclusion. Ryan having been a collegiate boxing champion at Dartmouth, of course adds to the naturalism.

The ultimate set-up may be life itself....but what remains to be discovered, are the consequences of the choices made while caught in a web of fate.

This movie sticks with you....an hour..a day..after seeing it...it still resonates...and gets better.

"Grisbi" is a true classic...... Highly influential French noir/crime thriller/drama....shamefully obscure & undeservedly overlooked until now...Criterion DVD finally released in January....actually kinda ruined my evening..I had planned on watching another movie after this one..but I didn't want to let this one out of my head yet,..it was that good. 1954 Paris sparkles in glorious black & white..Jean Gabin & the whole cast, including a very young & relatively unknown Jeanne Moreau, is wonderful..Jacque Becker's direction is impeccable.

The great Jean Gabin stars as Max , an aging gangster, who, along with his longtime friend & partner , Riton , has pulled one last job and intends to retire as soon as it's safe to cash in the millions in gold bullion they have stolen. Max is an anachronism...his style, moral code, honor & ways are caught up in changing times...a theme that fans of some of the best American Westerns will recognize in this film...

It'a an absorbing , character-driven story...leading to a lonely highway with guns drawn ..trying to keep from losing everything. Highly recommended.

This is a good, good movie..underrated & under appreciated....and somewhat largely unseen. Never a Heston fan....I was very pleasantly surprised & taken by his "Will"....he gives a fine, understated performance as the aging loner just looking for his next job..to get through the winter till he can hook up with a cattle drive in the spring. Heston is excellent, free of the melodramatics & overacting found in some of his other work. Will is an aging cowboy, a loner, an illiterate, faced with the prospects of a dim future. He is someone who realizes that he can't do anything else but what he has been doing all his life..he punches cattle because it's the only thing he's ever done, and the only thing he knows how to do......even as railroad tracks laid on the prairie indicate that time may be running out for the cowboy way of life. Nearing fifty, he has never learned to read or write, and existed moving from one job to the next...

Along the way..there's a chance encounter w/ Quint ....the psycho preacher and his degenerate sons, Rafe , Rufus , & Romulus..featuring Donald Pleasance in a maniacal..over the top performance.., & Bruce Dern as one of his loony sons. These guys could give the Hammond Brothers ("Ride the High Country") a run for their money.

There's also Joan Hackett, in a lovely, subtle, yet solid performance as Catherine Allen , a woman travelling across country w/ her young son, in search of her husband, who had gone on ahead ...through whom Will sees a life he never had..& never thought possible. The film is notable in that it presents not at all a romantic image of the West..Cowpunching not being a glamorous profession....not a lot of 'Yeehas' here... it's a life of solitude and hard work.. The work is brutal..., hired one day and out of work the next....... Yes..there is action..fistfights..gunplay & violence...but the first fistfight..shows us the kind of territory we're in...get it on..get it over with.. Here we see the kind of people who must really have inhabited the West..cowpunchers,.families looking for a better life... (sure, there were bounty hunters, bank robbers, marshalls...shootouts at High Noon..the OK Corral etc.) .....but this is more of a character study of people very much like us. In one of the gunfights...a cowboy sustains a bullet wound in a way that's atypical of western movies..but probably pretty typical of the real West.

Another nice touch is the "town" Will, Blue, & Dutchy ride into...many "towns" really did consist of nothing more than a couple of buildings ..a few shacks and a tent. The direction was superb; Lucien Ballard's cinematography added to the splendor of the story. ..filmed in the glorious Inyo Mountains of California.

The music in the movie is mostly uninspired , although by no means terrible or distracting..

Some fine, familiar character actors are here.. the can't be anything but great Ben Johnson appears as the top hand at the ranch where Will takes a job riding line... William Schallert, Clifton James, and Anthony Zerbe all deliver good performances. Lee Majors is passable.

In short.."Will Penny" is a film that deserves to be seen & enjoyed.. & savored.

118 minutes...was claimed on the DVD......but it only runs 98. The 20 minutes cut seems to have made a very choppy...rather unabsorbing film out of what apparently..with the INTENDED..(but chopped off here) ironic ending.. some nice bits..and a very good performance by Robert Ryan..a wonderful actor...could have been at least a pretty good film. As it is now...it's confusing.....and discordant...and exceptionally ordinary..a harkback, visually & musically, to the Hollywood carbon copy Westerns that Italy used to churn out before the 3 Sergios started weaving their magic. It was nice to see Arthur Kennedy & Ryan shoot it out with the bandits at the climax...and Alex Cord had a few good moments of action...other than that...a very forgettable film.

John Hamburg tries to make a Farrelly Brothers movie...minus their wit... humor..and craft. Just throwing farting gags..overflowing toilets..pissing..& slurping someone's sweat off his chest...etc...against the wall & seeing what sticks...with a paint by numbers, connect the dots plot doesn't make a watchable movie. As for the actors...Ben Stiller shows why he's worthy of a Razzie award...Philip Seymour Hoffman, a wonderful actor, is uncharacteristically unlikable...Jenifer Aniston's OK, in a wooden, sleepwalky kind of way...Hank Azaria does a good job in a small part..& is nicely silly. The ferret was cute.

Such witty & intelligent humor throughout this gem of a "horror comedy" .....as well as some very good touches on love & friendship. Liberally sprinkled with nods, winks, and references to George Romero's films and other horror movies.. it's critical acclaim is well deserved. Not everything worked for me..(the game show.."Zombie-Aid..etc. stuff at the very end, for example)... ... but this film hits it's marks practically 100% of the rest of the time. In fact............it's so packed with sight gags and sharp, funny dialogue that one viewing can't do it justice. The outtakes on the DVD are very funny and well worth watching.

"Shutup...you!!" Fun.. modern, 'fantasy western'........with a great score..breathtaking scenery.....and wonderful sense of adventure. As an afterthought........the studio added a pointless narration by an uncredited Wilford Brimley.......arguably the most irritating..annoying..unnecessary voice over I've ever heard......this is called the Theatrical audio on the disc...& should be avoided like a week old plate of beans.

Before you play it..go to the 'Languages' section on the DVD..choose the Director's audio version...& enjoy this improbable little gem of a film.

After filming was completed, a shake-up at MGM saw Peckinpah supporter Sol Siegel ousted and replaced by Joseph R. Vogel, who "barred the director from the studio, forcing him to consult with editors and sound mixers by phone." (Incredible) Word has it that he thought the film was terrible. (RE: this dolt's taste & understanding of films...see below)

The film was dumped onto the bottom half of double bills, but "proved an astounding popular and critical success in Europe, winning First Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, the Grand Prize at the Brussels Film Festival (beating out Federico Fellini's 8 1/2), and the Silver Goddess from the Mexican Film Festival for Best Foreign Film". It was added to the National Film Registry in 1992. Not available on DVD (Consider the dreck that IS).......only on VHS P & S........if it weren't for TCM and Film Societies (I was fortunate enough to see this film in its big screen glory in a Church basement!!)........no one could see this film as they should. Dreadful treatment ....not only of a wonderful movie...but also of the movie loving public.

...........just not coming from where you expect. ********SPOILERS*******************

In a beautifully scripted & realized "misdirection", if you will............the "Horror" here is not a supernatural one..rather one rooted in the bitter reality of war, greed..& brutality. Where's the "suspense" ? The dread of impending doom? Look no further than the expected arrival of Franco's Fascist thugs,..very real & on .....their....... way. There's a firing squad killing people nearby. Looking for a monster? a little terror?..some blood & gore? Several children...the 3 adult teachers....are killed viciously or savagely wounded by an intentionally set gasoline explosion ...a child is murdered..a young woman is knifed to death...by a "real person"...who plans to murder the surviving children.

That's VERY scary...

Of course, it's also a well written and very satisfying ghost story..........with a nice twist as one ghost finds his peace & hopefully "moves on"......another rises.

First, secure the rights to a classic, critically acclaimed Samurai film...made 6 yrs earlier.....set it in the old west.........cast your lead w/ a bald, Russian/Mongolian emigre...pass him off as a gunfighter of "Cajun" heritage......throw in a "TV Cowboy"...whose few screen credits included a starring role in "The Blob", as your second lead...a relatively unknown Lithuanian-American actor as a Mexican/Irish half breed....a German actor named Horst as a young Latino known as "Chico"......a well known character actor born in Moscow as a wise old Mexican peasant........and a Jewish method actor from the Broadway stage and TV as a ruthless Mexican bandit........& waddya get? Not the best western ever made (although certainly a case can be made for it's being one of 'em).......but possibly the most fun. It worked...maybe because it was so rousing..& so much fun..w/ that superb score..that you just want it to work..need it to work...& let it take you wherever it leads. Numerous wonderful scenes .. One that sticks out for me is..after Chris & Vin have driven the hearse back down from the cemetery..a guy comes up & offers Chris a drink...and asks "Where ya from"?........answered w/ a thumb pointing back over the shoulder............."Where ya headed"?....... a wordless point ahead. A simple scene...yet resonant & memorable...& defining. .................Very much a "Hollywood" western......but when was it ever done better? .....Consistently colorful and exciting....wonderful characters....often eloquent... The total package is a great adventure.