Lone and Angry Man

Vengeance-minded stranger Anthony Steffen worms his way into a gang of thieves led by a crooked ex-lawyer and a Mexican bandit in order to find the perpetrator of a previous murder attributed to the gang.

A vivid atmosphere and some great Spanish locations make up somewhat for some rather pedestrian script-writing. Steffan and villain Eduardo Fajardo are always fun to watch too.

Though not really bad, this is still recommended only for die-hard spaghetti western fans.

Director Mario Caiano has done better work, especially in the horror genre.

Sheriff Joe Logan (Anthony Steffen) goes on an undercover mission to find the murderer of his wife. Under the guise of 'Texas Joe', he becomes a member of the bandits who held up her stagecoach. Lupe (Armando Calvo) is the leader and accepts Logan after a special contest. Murdock (Eduardo Fajardo) doesn't trust the new guy and keeps an eye on him. Wilson (George Rigaud, misspelled as 'Rigaut' in the movie credits) is the only one who knows the real identity of Texas Joe, but Lupe is planning an attack on his ranch...

Simple, straight-forward revenge movie, nothing extraordinary, but it delivers perfectly what a genre fan expects. Director Mario Caiano, passed away in 2015, and composer Francesco De Masi were always reliable contributors. Shot in 1965, re-using some locations from "A Fistful of Dollars", this is a rather early Italian western following the big success of that movie. It doesn't feel tired yet, but has some relentless energy and good pace.

For a long time l'd bought some spaghetti western with a Brazilian actor called Anthony Steffen (Antonio de Tefé in early time) but for several reasons when tried pick up any of them l've been junping this choice to a best option, the day arrives at last l've finally watched a movie from this famous actor, despite it needs a propper restoration to enhance and consequently a best clean picture, on this DVD has a classic brazilian dubbed version, due the bad translated version to english allowed by italian and spanish producers, the plot is quite the same a disguised Marshall pursuit who killed his wife in a wagon robbery ,it has so many holes in screenplay to take a knee pain so much which take me under the table, overhall an easy movie to relish for those who love this fabulous genre!!

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First watch: 2018 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 6

Una bara per lo sceriffo (AKA: A Coffin for the Sheriff/Lone and Angry Man/Tomb for the Sheriff) is directed by Mario Caiano and written by David Moreno and Guido Malatesta. It stars Anthony Steffen, Eduardo Fajardo, Fulvia Franco, George Rigaud and Armando Calvo. Music is by Francesco De Masi and cinematography by Julio Ortas.

In the grand scheme of things as regards Pasta Westerns, Mario Caiano's Oater is strictly routine. The plot is the basic lone gunman out for revenge theme, where in the weathered scuzzy frontage of Anthony Steffen, it involves the infiltration into a gang of scum-bags to get said revenge.

It's atypical of the genre around this time, it's a picture more concerned with raising the pulse rather than making any sort of thematic statements. There's no great style to praise, the dubbing is poor, the fight choreography weak, while all the foxy women on show are given short shrift big time. However, the action is never far away, thus ensuring the pic is never ever dull.

Steffen makes for a cool dude under pressure, the actor would make a telling contribution to the genre with director Caiano, and he's given a number of scenes to hone his gruff rough and tough persona. The villains, fronted by an excitable Lupe Rojo (Calvo) and a maniacal Murdoch (Fajardo) are great fun. There's a great score from De Masi to help things along, and a super title song warbled by Peter Tevis lands in the ears and stays there. Hell! There's even a comedy old geezer doing his best Moore Marriott impression to keep us perky.

It's clichéd, it doesn't utilise the locales or the Widescreen format and it is scared to deviate away from the Spag Western film making 101 play book. Yet sometimes for genre fans this sort of fare is enough for a good time to be had, and so it proves. 6.5/10

Shenandoah (Steffen) works his way into a band of highwaymen led by Rojo (Armando Calvo). His initiation consists of hunting down and killing a member of the gang who has 12 bullets while he is only given 2 bullets. When the bandits attempt to rob a wealthy rancher, whom Shenandoah knows, he warns him. The outlaws begin to suspect they were betrayed and commence to rough Shenandoah up. Shenandoah then reveals his true reason for joining the gang; one of them killed his wife and he is there for retribution.

A coffin for a Sheriff is an odd title for this 1965 spaghetti western because there's no coffin - there's a sheriff but his link to a coffin is non-existent. Its other title is much apt as Anthony Steffen is certainly a "Lone and angry Man" as the stranger who ends up joining a cutthroat gang led by Lupe Rojo and there's the usual showdowns, brawls and a vendetta. One beating that Steffen takes is quite brutal for its time. It's an entertaining western, a little slow at times, perhaps, but Steffen's performance, the landscapes and the efficient plot makes this worthwhile.