The Return of Ringo

Duccio Tessari's RETURN OF RINGO is one of the great unseen spaghetti westerns churned out by the Italians after the unexpected success of Sergio Leone's first two "Dollars" films. A sprawling, high-powered epic tale about a Union soldier returning after the war to find his wife & home usurped by a local pistolero and his band of gunmen. Giuliano Gemma is excellent as always in the role of the suave, cool-headed hero who works up a ruse to pose as a peasant worker to infiltrate the household and fight from the inside to reclaim that which was his.

Ennio Morricone scored a magnificent musical pastiche of themes that is quite different from his usual Leone contributions. Non-fans of the genre will be pleased by the attention to detail in the lavish production, with a high profile supporting cast led by Fernando Sancho, sexy Nieves Navarro and Lorella De Luca as Gemma's former beloved. He looks odd during his scenes with his hair bleached blond and is unconvincing as a Mexican but Gemma really was one of the great Italian genre leads. His approach is somewhat different than Clint Eastwood, usually playing himself as a gentleman who simply happened to learn how to be an efficient killing machine under the stress of war.

There's some genuinely amusing and tightly choreographed gunplay in the ending showdown, and the screenplay by Tessari, Fernando di Leo and Alfonso Balcázar is surprisingly humanistic for this kind of fare. Highly recommended, look for it in North America on a VHS with the title BLOOD AT SUNDOWN.

7/10

This western may be similar to other westerns in its revenge-plot. At the same time though, there is a romance to it, seldom found in westerns. Just like 'The thief of Bagdad' (Michael Powell) had a unique atmosphere of mysticism, so does this western, although it is less pronounced and may even seem involuntary. Nevertheless, deliberate or not, it conveys a feeling of times long gone by and may even resemble something quite different of its kind, such as the 30-page adventure story by Carl Barks (Donald Duck Four Color: 'In old California'). Because of all this a 10 out of 10.

Director Duccio Tessari's follow up to his Spaghetti Western "A Pistol for Ringo" uses much of the same cast and crew, starting with the handsome and charismatic star Giuliano Gemma. Gemma plays Captain Montgomery Brown, a soldier during the Civil War who returns home to find his family has been eliminated, and now a bandit gang is reigning supreme. One of them, Paco Fuentes (George Martin) intends to marry Browns' wife Helen (Lorella De Luca), who, like much of the locals, believes Brown to be dead; Brown slips into town under the assumed identity of a Mexican named Ringo to seek revenge.

This viewer admits that he prefers the more action packed predecessor "A Pistol for Ringo", but can see why some people would appreciate this movie more. It's not so much about action (although there are some fine set pieces) as it is about character. It's fairly slow, yet interesting, going for nuance any time that it can. Even the bad guys are not as flamboyant as one may expect. Fernando Sancho is actually fairly low key as Esteban Fuentes, one of the gang. Tessari gives "The Return of Ringo" some pretty effective atmosphere, especially in sequences in the streets. There's wind, debris flying around, and precipitation at appropriate moments. Ennio Morricone once again delivers the goods when it comes to the beautiful score. That theme song will sure stick in ones' head.

Gemma does well as our hero, with enjoyable supporting performances by lovely ladies De Luca and Nieves Navarro, Antonio Casas as the sheriff, Manuel Muniz as "Morning Glory", and Victor Bayo.

Suitably entertaining for fans of the genre.

Seven out of 10.

Giuliano Gemma returns from fighting in the Civil War to find his father murdered, his wife stolen, and his hometown taken over by wealthy racist Fernando Sancho and his family, who reclaim it for Mexico, oppressing it's non-Mexican population, and even going so far as to nailing a "No Gringos" sign on the local saloon!

Not really a sequel to A Pistol For Ringo, this reunites the cast and crew for a less humorous follow-up that's actually better than the previous film, knowing exactly what buttons to push to get the audience firmly on Ringo's side and cheering his eventual squaring off with the thoroughly nasty villains.

Gemma and Sancho are truly Spaghetti western treasures, as is composer Ennio Morricone, who blesses this with one of his best non-Leone western scores.

Recommended.

The director Duccio Tessari, who began his career as a sword and sandal movie maker, made his second western "Il Ritorno di Ringo" with a crew almost identical to that of his first western "Una Pistola per Ringo". But I personally prefer this "Ritorno" definitely to "Una Pistola": While the style of "Una Pistola" was still very similar to sword and sandal movies, and therefore didn't appeal to me especially, in "Ritorno" one sees a new style clearly differs from sandal movies: a high wind blows sands and hay through a town, the pictures , and the sore as well, are more melancholy and gloomy.

Tessari nevertheless doesn't hide his 'sword and sandal origin': the plot was taken from the last part of Homor's Odyssey, and in fact he well succeeded in transferring the Greek legend into a western. No wonder, as who could better treat Greco-Roman Classics than educated Italians? Giuliano Gemma in this movie is excellent. I cannot imagine how an other spaghetti western star would play the role of Ringo, while Ringo of "Una Pistola" could be, I think, played by anyone other (for example George Hilton or Terence Hill?).

And please let me give a tip for male viewers: If you wished to enjoy spaghetti westerns together with your wife, your girlfriend or your daughter, please begin with Gemma's westerns. She would like him. Actually Gemma was so popular with Japanese girls in the 60s/70s as Leonardo DiCaprio now. I know very well, because I myself was one of those girls at that time.