A Stranger in Town

I don't grade spaghetti westerns on a curve but I do judge them for what they are, spaghetti westerns. Spaghetti westerns are in breed of their own. "A Stranger in Town" ends up being a near miss for me. I thought Tony Anthony (Wow, that's a great name) was fine as the stranger and Frank Wolff made a good villain. The rest of the cast doesn't matter. "A Stranger in Town" (that's the title under which I saw this movie) has a pretty good first half hour or so but then it slides down for a quite a while. "A Stranger in Town" is never a bad movie but despite the violence is an often dull one. That said, I'll probably watch it again.

This movie rocks! Tony Anthony is the other "man with no name." He is great in this movie. His performance is every bit as good as Eastwood in "A fistful of Dollars," but he'll never get as much recognition because he's not a square-jawed pretty-boy like Clint. Frank Wolff is also in top form in this film, as usual.

This is sort of a minimalist spaghetti western. The story is simple but great. It never gets boring. There is very little dialog, and that works well in this film, giving it an ultra-cool vibe without being too slick. Yes, there are a few small similarities to "A Fistful of Dollars," but it is by no means a copy of that great film, as some other reviewers might have you believe. This movie has a personality all its own, and the situations here are very different.

The music score is incredible. It manages to be great, and very stylish in a spaghetti western sort of way without owing anything to Ennio Morricone. It is really quite memorable and original, and one of the few non-Morricone scores that would be worth owning the soundtrack to.

There's lots of great lines and cool action in this movie. Tony Anthony really "takes a licking and keeps on ticking." One of my favorite parts involves the lovely Gia Sandri as "Maruca," a butch looking (for the 1800's) S&M babe. Anthony kills her by using her fetish to his advantage. I also love how Frank Wolff's great line "I'm a fair man" comes back to haunt him later. It's classic stuff all the way.

If you like spaghetti westerns, you've got to see this one!

Other than thinking a USB cable unplugged every few seconds this was an OK movie. Somewhere a sound engineer looking for an Android system sound saw this movie and said, "hey, that's perfect!". I saw where others had compared it to other Italian westerns and that's OK, they are fun to watch on a slow day. I could see this in a marathon on a boxed set or on TV late at night, even in an RV on a long road trip. Compared to today's post Covid offerings this is fun, like most old foreign westerns. I gave it a middle of the road score because there are better foreign westerns than this one but this offering was a little different. It's always fun seeing how different cameramen work.

Offbeat Western about a strange but deadly gunfighter and taking on a nasty bandit called Aguila and his hoodlums . The movie contains gun-play, action Western , chills , and bloody spectacle . Unknown to anybody else but himself , no one knew the stranger , not the band of killers he destroyed o the woman he ruined . The Stranger (Tony Anthony) arrives in an abandoned village where he witnesses the massacre of Mexican soldiers by a heinous bunch commanded by Aguila (Frank Wolff) . The Stranger threatens Aguila to denounce him if he does not accept to let him take part in the robbing of a shipment of gold carried by a group of Unión soldiers to deliver the Mexican army . The scheme is a success but when The Stranger claims his due of the theft , he gets a good punches instead . But The Stranger is not the kind to get trapped so easily. Tempt him , whip him , brand him , break him , but makes damn sure the stranger doesn't crawl out of town alive ¡ .

The film packs violence , shootouts , high body-count , and it's slow-moving but when take place gun-play results to be fast moving and quite entertaining . Acceptable Spaghetti Western ; it follows the Sergio Leone wake , including close-up , zooms , choreographic duels and no being proceeded in American style . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing some shoot'em up or stunts every few minutes . Tony Anthony is very fine, giving even some cynic touches , he ravages the screen , he shoots , hits and run and ultimately takes the law on his own hands . The Stranger is caught and there takes place the ordinary ¨Pestaggio¨ in which protagonist receives hitting , punches , beating , knocks but he manages to escape with the gold , then the bandits, who want his skin, chase him . This movie gets the ordinary Western issues, such as avengers antiheroes , violent facing off , quick scenes and exaggerated baddies . This is a good Spaghetti Western with some moments genuinely entertaining if you can avoid thinking too much . It's an improbable blending of standard Western with pursuits, high body-count and though sometimes minimalist turns out to be quite amusing . Made on a fairly middling scale with passable set design , adequate photography filmed in Elios studios and evocative musical score . Screenplay with interesting premise about a 'strange gunfighter' , it follows a similar plot to classic ¨For a fistful of dollars¨ . It's an exciting western with breathtaking showdown between the starring Tony Anthony and his enemy Frank Wolff who steals the show as a sensationalistic villain . The notorious Spaghetti actor , Tony Anthony , is good in his usual tough as well as silent role and he starred some decent Westerns . Anthony did work for many years on Spaghetti Westerns ,some with co-production company Lupo-Anthony-Quintano Production . He produced and starred in two 3-Dimensional movies, both of which enjoyed a modest theatrical release . After making various films , Anthony effectively retired from the movie industries . In addition , a nice casting full of usual Italian secondary such as Fortunato Arena , Aldo Berti , Giovanni Ivan Scratuglia as Aguilar henchman and the beautiful girls Jolanda Modio and Gia Sandri as Maruca . Special mention to Raf Baldassarre in his ordinary role as a cruelly baddie , he is terrific , and bears a hysterical and mocking aspect , subsequently he would play similar characters . Appropriate cinematography by Marcello Masciocchi , but is necessary a perfect remastering , being the copy a little washed-out . Rare musical score plenty of strange sounds : whistle , shouts ,voices in Morricone style , it was composed by Benedetto Ghiglia .

The motion picture was well realized by Luigi Vanzi as Vance Lewis . Direction by Luigi is finely crafted, here he is more cynical and violent and also inclined toward humor and packs too much action . Vanci is a craftsman who makes a nice camera work with clever choreography on the showdown , fighting , moving shootouts and bemusing scenes . Vanci directed a trilogy about ¨The Stranger¨ starred by Tony Anthony , they are the followings : "A Man, a Horse, a Gun" or "The Stranger Returns" with Daniele Vargas , Marina Berti , Dan Vadis and again Raf Baldassarre , and "The Silent Stranger" with Tony Anthony, Lloyd Battista, Kenji Ohara , Raf Baldassarre , this third film Tony journeys to Japan intent on returning an ancient scroll to its rightful owner . Furthermore , other films directed by Ferdinando Baldi in which appears Tony Anthony in similar character are ¨Get mean¨ and ¨Blindman¨. ¨A stranger on town¨ is an outlandish , surprising and uneven story but will appeal to Spaghetti Western aficionados . Rating : 6 , riotous Western in which there's too much action and violence and excitement enough

The Stranger (Tony Anthony) arrives in town. There aren't many people and even fewer friendly faces. Mexican troops arrive and get ambushed by bandits disguised as monks. Most soldiers surrender and are promptly executed by gang leader Aguilar (Frank Wolff). The Stranger tells him about an incoming gold shipment and wants a cut.

With the success of Clint Eastwood's spaghetti westerns, one would expect many followers. Quite frankly, I've never heard of this or Tony Anthony. (That can't be his real name.) I think I recognize Frank Wolff. First thing, Tony Tony is no Clint Eastwood. Everything is a little bit less. This is not on the same level, but maybe it's in the same building.