The Ruthless Four

This is a very good western with an excellent story and a great cast.

Klaus Kinski, George Hilton, Gilbert Roland, and Van Heflin are all superb, as one would expect, in this film. Kinski is perfect for the part of "The Blond," a bizarre sadistic character who dresses like a preacher because he likes to- not because he's trying to pose as one. Nobody else in the film seems to think this is odd, although Hilton's character snickers a little when an old woman calls Kinski "Father." Odd characters like this are a big part of what makes Italian westerns so entertaining to me. It sure as hell ain't a John Wayne flick, and that's a good thing.

The score is OK, although it could have been better. It's good in a few parts when it sounds like it belongs in a spaghetti western, but too much of it sounds more Hollywood than Rome.

The plot is excellent, and keeps you engaged until the very end. It's not an epic, but it is a tight little story with all the grittiness and violence one expects from a Eurowestern made in the 1960's.

I recommend this one to all Eurowestern fans if you can find it.

Ruthless Four, The (1968)

*** (out of 4)

Spaghetti Western take on The Treasure of the Sierra Madre has Van Heffin playing an elderly gold digger who finally hits it big but is betrayed by his partner who he has to kill. After being robbed by some bandits, Heffin must leave his gold behind and head back to the city where he asks his stepson (George Hilton) to go back and get the gold with him. The stepson agrees to go but is forced into taking an ex partner (Klaus Kinski) and even Heffen is forced to bring along a man (Gilbert Roland) and soon all four are looking over their shoulders. This is far from a great film but it has a terrific cast and a very good story, which makes this a worthy addition to the good titles that this genre has given us. The music score really hurts the film as it sounds out of place but outside of this everything else works just fine. What works the best are the terrific performances with Heffen leading the way. Just take a look at the early scene when his character is dragging himself out of the desert and nearing death from lack of water. I'm not sure what Heffen did to "look" the part but it's rather amazing to watch him. Kinski, playing that mysterious silent man, is terrific as well and makes for a great villain. Roland also delivers a fine performance as the calmer bandit and Hilton is good, although can't really touch the other three men. There are a couple classic shoot outs in the film with an excellent one coming half way through the film. The direction is also nice throughout and there's some wonderful scenery as well.

It's Brokeback Mountain - The Western!

Four strong leads all out for the same gold make this a Western worth tracking down. George Hilton has basically confirmed in an interview that he and Kinski are supposed to be gay lovers in this film too, which lends a unique angle to the film.

Van Helfin plays Sam Cooper, a gold prospector who, after searching for decades, finally finds gold out in the middle of nowhere and is immediately double-crossed by his partner. One dead partner and a blasted mine entrance later, Cooper heads across the endless landscape and finally makes it back into town, where he sends for surrogate son and ex-partner Georgel Hilton.

Hilton worked with Cooper for years but gave up the search to go off and do something else. Cooper reckons that Hilton is the only guy he can trust, and while having a sauna together (more homoeroticism here as they spot two semi-naked blonde gunslingers), Cooper bumps into another ex-partner, Gilbert Roland, who has a major chip on his shoulder with regards to Cooper.

Stranger still is the blonde, milk drinking preacher who has started hanging around the place, staring at Hilton. It turns out that Hilton and Kinski have some sort of relationship but judging by the body language it's an intimate one, and not a fair balanced one as Hilton seems to be Kinski's 'b*tch'. Cooper isn't too happy to have this weirdo come along with him, but Hilton tells him a third pair of hands is better than two. Cooper then hires Gilbert to watch his back, saying that four pairs of hands are better than three. I'm detecting some trust issues here...

While basically a film where four guy stare at each other mistrustingly, the film is fascinating due to the actors involved. Van Heflin literally looks like someone's hung him to dry in the sun for several months, while Gilbert Roland alternates between being immaculately turned out to shivering with Malaria tremors, and gives us a little dance right before a gunfight that wouldn't be out of place in a Tarantino film! Kinski keeps himself restrained and that's what gives his character so much menace. He uses those crazy guy to glare at everyone without expression, but you know there's murderous thoughts going on in there. His understated, hinted relationship with Hilton just adds another layer to this outstanding film.

Nice cinematography too. I hadn't heard of this one until last week. How many other gems are out there?

Sam Cooper, (Van Heflin) was a gold prospector all his life and he finally found a good gold mine and one of his partners decided to kill him in order to keep it all for himself. However, Sam Cooper manages to blow up the mine and bury his partner instead, meaning that Sam Cooper had to hide the gold because it was too heavy to carry back by horseback through a desert area. Sam Cooper gets back in town and gathers up a group of guys, some he did not care to tag along. One guy was Mason, (Gilbert Roland) who knew Sam Cooper in past years and Sam figured he could trust him. There is one gal who appears in the town named Anna, (Sarah Ross) who is a sexy bar girl who gives Sam and eye full of her female charm. Brent the Blonde, (Klaus Kinski) is dressed up like a preacher but is a human rattlesnake who will give you one look and blow you away the next second. This film is very much like the Humphrey Bogart film, "Treasure of Sierra Madre", but this film is full of cruel evil men lusting for gold and gold only.

So many of these Spaghetti westerns were made I wonder how many lost gems there might be that will never be seen again. This one is out of print but there are a few VHS still floating around.

This one has the benefit of a really tight script and excellent cast. Two old time hollywood veterans Van Heflin and Gilbert Roland. And two spaghetti stars Klaus Kinski and George Hilton. All are on top form but its Heflins movie and he turns in a good performance. Direction is assured and inventive. Exceptionally good shoot out in the middle at the mission. Kinski is also effective as a sunglass wearing killer dressed as a preacher, who may have a homosexual relationship with Hilton. It seems hinted at. Watch and decide for Yourself!