A Pistol for Ringo

This is the original installment from Gemma-Tessari trilogy formed by ¨A pistol for Ringo¨, ¨The return of Ringo¨ and ¨Kiss, Kiss , Bang , Bang¨ , though the later is set in modern times and deal with a heist . All of them are amusing and entertaining and starred by similar cast as Gemma , Fernando Sancho , Lorella De Luca , Nieves Navarro and Antonio Casas ; furthermore same artistic equipment . They are familiar films , in fact , the actress Lorella De Luca married director Duccio Tessari and Nieves Navarro married the producer Luciano Ercoli . This is the first part from Duccio Tessari trilogy, starred by an awesome Giuliano Gemma . It's a tremendously exciting story of an ex-convict named Ringo who had only one more killing to go . A band of Mexicans pull off a bank-robbery in a little town . Ringo (Giuliano Gemma) is spending time in prison for a case of "self defense" . Meanwhile , the gang of a nasty Mexican named Sancho (Fernando Sancho) and his bandits ( Nazzareno Zamperla , Jose Luis Martin) trespass the little town and occupy a mansion and take the ranch and its inhabitants as hostages following the foiled getaway . The ranch is surrounded but when Sancho threatens to murder two hostages a day unless he and his band are freed , the local Sheriff ( Jorge Martin) who has his bride among the hostages , gets no option but to send in Ringo. Ringo goes the ranch and seeks vengeance against Sancho's hoodlums (Nazzareno Zamperla , Jose Luis Martin , Frank Oliveras ) who kill , mistreat countrymen and attempt to rape a young ( Lorella De Luca) . Ringo comes to the ranch just in time to make sure its inhabitants , taking place a cat and mouse game , but later the events get worse .

This Western is superior than subsequent entries because it displays thrills , stirring adventures, shoot'em up , riding pursuits and is pretty amusing . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing some shots or stunts every few minutes . This is a good S.W. plenty of action , shootouts , fist-play and some touches of humor in charge of Giuliano Gemma character . Ringo is a type of selfish adventurer of the West , an elegant marksman and resourceful ¨Bon Vivant¨ who is stunningly played by Gemma . Giuliano is very fine, he ravages the screen, he jumps , bounds and leaps, hit and run ; plus jokes , laughs , he's a complete show . Fernado Sancho as a cruelly baddie role as Mexican bandit is terrific , subsequently the would play similar role in other Spaghetti . In the movie appears usual support actors as Spanish : Antonio Casas , Jose Luis Martin , Francisco Sanz as Italian players : Nazzareno Zamperla and Frank Oliveras . Special mention to Nieves Navarro or Susan Scott as attractive and rogue woman but she unfortunately would finish shooting erotic cinema . It's a co-production Spanish-Italian and of course shot on location in Almeria that is well photographed by Francisco Marin , though is necessary a fine remastering because the film-copy is washed-out . There are many fine technicians and nice assistant direction and excellent production design by the usual Juan Albert Soler , he creates a magnificent scenario on the interior ranch and barren outdoors , dirty landscapes under a glimmer sun and fine sets filmed in Almería, Andalucía, PC Alfonso Balcazar Studios, Barcelona and San Jose, Andalucia, Spain . As always , the musician Ennio Morricone, composes a nice Spaghetti soundtrack and well conducted and splendid leitmotif ; it's full of enjoyable sounds and emotive score .

This Italian writer / filmmaker Duccio Tessari so consistently mixed the good with the mediocre that it became quite impossible to know what to expect from him next . He wrote several Western as ¨A fistful of dollars ¨, ¨A train to Durango ¨Seven guns for McGregor¨ , ¨The return of McGregor¨ . He directed five Western with abundant touches of humor as ¨Vivi o preferibilment Morti¨, ¨Don't turn the other cheek¨ and ¨Zorro¨ with Alain Delon and of course ¨Ringo ¨and sequel , mostly starred with his fetish actor Giuliano Gemma . Rating : 6 , acceptable and passable movie that will appeal to Spaghetti Western buffs .

"Merry Christmas".

It is with this customary exchange that "A Pistol for Ringo" opens. Christmas is only two days away, but the towns-folks festive celebrations are about to come to an abrupt halt, when a band of mexicans, led by Sancho (played, quite aptly, by Fernando Sancho), take a ranch and its inhabitants hostage following a failed escape from a bank-robbery. The local sheriff, Ben, (played in true Hollywood style by Jorge Martin) has the ranch surrounded, but cannot attack for fear of the hostages being massacred. A particular concern in view of the fact that his love interest is amongst the hostages. Ringo (Gemma) is spending time in jail for the killing (albeit in "self defence") of a local gang. But when Sancho threatens to kill two hostages a day unless he and his gang are freed, the Sheriff has no option but to send in Ringo.

This is a really enjoyable movie, that sits somewhere in-between the dirt and grittiness of Leone and his Italian counterparts, and the classic American western. Even Morricone's soundtrack leans towards 50/60's Hollywood, with its crooned (and toe-tappingly catchy) theme tune.

The leading roles played by Gemma and Sancho are very convincing, and the dialogue is entertaining and full of classic quotes throughout: "God created men equal. It was the six gun that made them different". Ringo is far cleaner than Eastwood's Man With No Name (thus his name Angel Face), and cares not for alcohol, much preferring milk. But he shares the same ability and ruthlessness with a gun. Sancho meanwhile is gruff and merciless, revelling in carrying out his threat to kill one hostage at sunrise and one at sunset daily. Didn't anyone tell him it was the season of goodwill to all men????

Although not quite as strong as Director Tessari's follow up "Return of Ringo", this is one of the best of the early Spaghettis, and definitely a must view.

This spaghetti western was apparently a big hit when it was released, enough to get a sequel ("The Return of Ringo") made. Watching it, I couldn't help but wonder why audiences flocked to it. Don't get me wrong, I usually like spaghetti westerns, but I found this particular one to be largely boring. Most of the movie takes place in one location, and there is a lot of scheming but very little advance in the plot. When there is gunplay, it often comes across as kind of disturbing, with little regard for life by those who fire their guns (even the hero is guilty of this on more than one occasion.) And the Ennio Morricone score is far from his best. Fernando Sancho does well as the villain, the production values are acceptable, and the climatic action sequence does have some excitement, so the movie is not without merit. But even with this stuff, this is one drab western.

This Italian Western - which just so happens to be set at Christmastime - made a star out of the charismatic former stuntman Giuliano Gemma. Using his Anglicized pseudonym Montgomery Wood, he stars as title character Ringo, an amiable outlaw. Ringo is in jail for murder (which he says was done in self defense) when the town bank is robbed of a substantial amount by bandits. They hole up in a remote community, and take hostages. The law enforcement types come up with the idea to have Ringo infiltrate the criminal gang, which he does in his own inimitable style.

"A Pistol for Ringo" is a solid and engaging example of the Spaghetti Western. It may not be as well known, or well regarded, as the most famous films in the genre, but it offers ample entertainment. A large part of the appeal is Gemma himself. Handsome, charming, and sly, he does a fine job at portraying a man who doesn't seem to have any real loyalty to anything other than money. He actually offers his services to the bandits if they will promise him a larger percentage of the take than the law. We're never quite sure what to make of him, but we do know that he's fun to watch.

The exceptional composer Ennio Morricone, who's done hundreds (!) of scores during his life and career, gives this film a typically atmospheric soundtrack. The widescreen photography is first rate, and Gemma has a fine supporting cast to work with. The prolific, corpulent, robust character actor Fernando Sancho has a field day as bandit leader Sancho. Lorella De Luca as Miss Ruby and Nieves Navarro as Dolores are simply beautiful. Antonio Casas is excellent as the hospitable Major Clyde, as is George Martin as Sheriff Ben, who is in love with Ruby (you can't blame the guy).

Exciting action scenes and a healthy dose of humour also make this quite pleasing to watch.

Seven out of 10.

"A Pistol for Ringo" is an above-average Spaghetti Western. The anti-hero (Gemma) and villain (Sancho) are both very charismatic, and each has a good sense of humor. The basic plot situation is interesting: Fleeing from a bank hold-up in which their leader was wounded, a gang of bandits takes refuge at a farm. Although the farm is surrounded, the posse cannot attack because of the hostages. The anti-hero is highly paid to infiltrate and destroy the gang, and recover the money. The film has some unusual twists; for example, the bandits are executing two hostages per day, even after the anti-hero joins the gang, and he makes no effort to halt the executions. There is an interesting contrast between the behavior of the anti-hero (Gemma) and the sheriff (Martin) who behaves like a traditional Western hero. The film has a nice music score by Ennio Morricone. But somehow, this film failed to fully satisfy this viewer. The heroine is dull and bland, too much of the film takes place at the farm, and the anti-hero kills the villain in an absurd manner. There are also some gaps of logic-why didn't the bandits lock the sheriff in his jail? In any event, the film was such a financial success that the seven principal actors were reunited in "The Return of Ringo" (a sequel in name only, since all characters were different). This review of "A Pistol for Ringo" is based on the (poorly) English-dubbed home video version, titled "Ballad of Death Valley." The video suffers greatly from lack of widescreen; for example, the first shootout has Ringo against four opponents at once, but all you can see on the TV screen is Ringo and one of the opponents, so you don't even know who drew first. If you want to see this film, try to see it in widescreen.