Gunfight in the Red Sands

In an article from The New York Times from 2004, the very first 'spaghetti western' was "A Fistful of Dollars" back in 1964. Well, a Facebook friend recommended I see "Gunfight in the Red Sands" ("Duello nel Texas") and it clearly IS a spaghetti western. First, it has a lot of Italian and Spanish actors and was filmed in Spain (like these Italian westerns). Second, it has an American in the lead...not a requirement but common in the spaghetti films. Third, most of the music is from Ennio Moricone..the same guy who made the most iconic music from the genre, including his gorgeous music from "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"!

When the story begins, three masked bandits come to the ranch owned by Gringo's father. They kill the old man, steal his money and shoot someone else. Gringo (Richard Harrison) is the dead man's adopted son...making him a white guy raised by Mexican-Americans. This also makes him REALLY irritable whenever folks make nasty comments about Mexicans!

The trail leads to a town where the sheriff insists there is no crime...none. Now considering he said this right AFTER two guys pick a fight with Gringo and try to beat him, I think the sheriff's credibility is low! And, as the film progresses, you realize that the sheriff is either incredibly stupid or a crook. After all, his response every time someone tries to kill Gringo is to lock up or threaten to lock up Gringo! To assist Gringo in his quest is his brother, Manuel. But do these two stand a chance against this crappy and corrupt town?!

The film looks like a spaghetti western in pretty much every way. My only complaints are minor. The opening song is godawful and sounds like it was recording in someone's bathroom (I am NOT exaggerating). The chase scenes on horseback are poorly filmed and very jerky. And, there are a few silly anachronisms (such as having folks gambling with 1960s US dollars and Manuel with a 1920s style .38 revolver). But the story is very involving and solid. Harrison (virtually unknown in his home in the USA) is very good as are the other actors. And, the action is very good. All in all, a very good film and better than most Italian westerns...and well worth seeing.

By the way, I tried watching this on YouTube but found they were putting commercials in the film every five minutes!! Instead, I found it on a Roku channel....with no commercials! My Facebook friend....he paid for it on Amazon Prime...which, in hindsight, he didn't have to do...but I am VERY glad he recommended the film to me.

This film essentially begins with a young man named "Manuel Martinez" (Daniel Martin) and his sister "Elisa Martinez" (Sara Lezana) riding into a nearby town to buy some supplies. Once there, Manuel heads straight for the saloon while Eliza goes to shop at the local general store. As is often the case, Manuel then proceeds to get extremely drunk and it's during this time that a brief fight breaks out which results in him being escorted by a local bargirl named "Maria Huertas" (Mikaela) to her room so that he can sober up. Unfortunately, the very next day three cowboys ride to the ranch where he and Elisa live and, after killing their father, ride off with some gold Manuel had hidden under the floor of their home. Not long afterward, their adopted brother "Ricardo 'Gringo' Martinez" (Richard Harrison) arrives and, together with Manuel, decides to find and kill those responsible. But what neither Gringo doesn't realize, however, is that one of the people involved in this crime is someone he considers to be a trusted friend. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was an interesting film due in large part to the fact that it was one of the earliest Spaghetti Westerns to hit the American market. Having said that, one particular issue concerned the rather basic script which could have been compromised to a certain degree by the English dubbing. But even so, it wasn't a bad film by any means and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

GUNFIGHT AT RED SANDS is a good-natured spaghetti western, made just one year before Sergio Leone's A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS helped to define the genre as we know it today. As such, GUNFIGHT is more in line with the kind of Hollywood westerns that were produced in the 1950s, such as HIGH NOON: it's neither as gritty nor as dark and violent as many of the spaghetti westerns made in the late '60s. Nevertheless, I'd recommend it as a film definitely worth a watch, because it has much going for it – not least another effective leading man performance from peplum actor Richard Harrison. Harrison, who made his name in equal numbers of westerns and historical adventures, is as tough and ready as he ever was on screen. He's no Eastwood, but he does a good job.

My biggest complaint with this movie is the score by Ennio Morricone. This guy is one of my favourite composers, thanks to his iconic work on Leone's DOLLARS trilogy, but his music here sounds twee and dated, as if it came from some '30s melodrama than a '60s western. It seems he's constrained here by the producers, and the lack of experimentation hurts the movie a lot. Still, it's not all bad. The screenplay by future trash director Albert Band breathes life into old genre staples – i.e. the adopted son, the corrupt lawman, the criminal gang, the fiery love interests – and the action is well-handled, with plenty of nicely-choreographed brawls, shoot-outs, and gun battles. The chief villain role goes to Giacomo Rossi-Stuart and he fits it like a glove; I never did like this actor when I saw him playing the 'good guy', much preferring him as a slimy creep. Mikaela and Sara Lezana play opposing love interests, the former fiery while the latter sweet, although astonishingly I read somewhere that Lezana was born in 1948, which made her only 15 when she appeared in this film, kissing and frolicking with Harrison – surely an error?

Gunfight At Red Sands is an excellent early spaghetti western. It is probably the best pre-1964 eurowestern I have seen.

I wouldn't be surprised if this spaghetti was the one that started it all, as far as the style goes. The other early examples of the genre I have seen seem to be lacking in the defining characteristics that make these films so great, but this movie has all of the stylistic elements in place. The ultra-bleak depiction of life in the west, a couple of oddball off-kilter characters, a great music score (by the master, Morricone, no less), some great suspense-building camera work, a dramatic showdown, and lots of rousing action really make this one stand out.

The acting in the film is very good, and definitely above-average for a eurowestern. Richard Harrison is great in the role of "Gringo." Giacomo Rossi-Stuart also does an excellent job in the role of Sheriff Corbett. All of the other players are great as well. The character "Lisa," played by Sara Lezana, is one of the strongest female characters I have seen in a western. She's every bit as tough, and can shoot as well as any other character in the story, and she has a very prominent role in the most important action scenes of the film.

The story is a very engaging one, and it moves along at a really good pace. There are no slow parts or fillers in this movie. There is also a strong element of mystery, as Gringo has to do a fair amount of detective work to figure out who murdered his father.

All in all, this is a great movie that no spaghetti western fan should overlook.

Richard Harrison is a gringo raised by a family of poor Mexican farmers, who have recently discovered gold on their property. He returns home from a war in Mexico to find his father shot down by three strangers looking to take his treasure, leading to a showdown with several local bigots and friction with the town's new sheriff.

Although definitely not the first western shot in southern Spain nor the first Italian-made western, this may have been the first real "spaghetti western" (albeit with American co-writer Albert Band), by Jolley Film of Rome, the studio that made A Fistful Of Dollars the following year.

Some say that El Sabor de la Venganza, released the same year, came before. However, I'm not entirely convinced, as this is the one that's acknowledged as the film debut of Spanish genre star Aldo Sambrell, an actor who appeared in both films.

Harrison, better known for starring in a slew of Italian sword and sandal features, is pretty good playing the sullen, lone-avenger type in this typical but entertaining flick, that benefits greatly from a fast-pace, good action, and gun-play.

This is also notable for being the first western film scored by the great Ennio Morricone. It's not his best, but there's a few good moments, including the catchy main-theme "A Gringo Like Me", featuring a truly odd vocal performance that was changed and made more mainstream for it's CD appearances!