Fort Yuma Gold

In this spaghetti western from director Calvin J. Padget (real name Giorgio Ferroni), Montgomery Wood (real name Giuliano Gemma) stars as Confederate officer Gary Hammond, imprisoned shortly after the end of the Civil War. The Union general in charge of the prison asks Hammond to go on a mission to stop a renegade Confederate general and his band of outlaws from robbed the gold deposits at Fort Yuma. Hammond agrees, but soon discovers that there's more to the story than he was led to believe. Also featuring Sophie Daumier as a character named "Connie Breastfull".

The movie has six credited screenwriters, which was not uncommon on Italian films at the time, but it may explain the overstuffed and piecemeal feel of the story. Wood/Gemma is boring as the hero, but Dan Vadis makes for a good villain, and Sophia Daumier is good as the showgirl love interest. There's a little bit of Ennio Morricone music on the score.

Giuliano Gemma is a Confederate raider freed from a Yankee prison in order to avoid an unnecessary slaughter in Fort Yuma, and he will have the help of a beautiful dancer and a good old man in his dangerous mission. It is not an innovative movie, for sure, as many of the usual clichés are there in this highly conventional spaghetti Western (in reality, it is a co-production Italy-France-Spain) without deepening the characters: saloon brawl, piano-playing, shoot-out inside the mine, torture under the sun, honored Southern soldier... Though, it is an unpretentious nice Western, with good filmmaking, good soundtrack, good action, and even good (although not special) acting. Far from achieving the high quality of Leone's movies, this spaghetti Western with a similar name is still above average, anyway.

Here's a very entertaining film: Unusual (for an SW) story-line, not a revenge, but a "savior" story, loads of familiar faces, good and vehement action, solid acting. The sets are nice, the girl's named "Breastfull" - go and see this one.

"Fort Yuma Gold" offers some good entertainment for lovers of the Spaghetti Western genre, with another charismatic performance by Giuliano Gemma a.k.a. Montgomery Wood. The story & screenplay (credited to six people!) are set after the Civil War has ended, and concern Gary Hammond (Mr. Gemma), an imprisoned Confederate raider who agrees to a dangerous mission. He must inform the people at Fort Yuma that a raid on their fort - and gold reserve - is being planned. During a subplot, he also briefly accompanies a gorgeous blonde saloon singer named Connie Breastfull (!) (played by Sophie Daumier). Among the villains Gary will face: a physically imposing thug named Riggs (Dan Vadis) and the maniacal Southern major Sanders (Jacques Sernas).

"Fort Yuma Gold" delivers to its audience plenty of two-fisted action (including a major barroom brawl) and gunfire, leading to a fairly memorable finale inside a mine. The story may not be anything special, but it holds' one attention capably enough, with some diversions along the way. (Such as performances by sexy female bit players.) It pretty much paints its characters in "black & white" shades, with no doubt as to who the good guys and bad guys are. And the bad guys are pretty good antagonists for this sort of fare. (If you recognize the studly Vadis, it's because he became a regular player in Clint Eastwood movies of the 1970s and early 1980s.) Angel del Pozo is effective as the weaselly Captain Lefevre; this guy might just as well be twirling his moustache constantly. The handsome Gemma is once again a worthy genre hero, and the stunning Ms. Daumier is appealing as his love interest.

The majestic score is credited to both Gianni Ferrio and the great Ennio Morricone, although the story is that the producers borrowed some Morricone compositions from the film "Malamondo" just so they could put his name in the credits. And later, Morricone took them to court over the matter!

Well acted and well photographed, this shows SW admirers a pretty good time.

Seven out of 10.

I sensed that "Fort Yuma Gold" might have a few problems from the opening credits, since SEVEN screenwriters are credited. But I stuck with it to the end, and while this is definitely not the worst spaghetti western I've seen, it is definitely unsatisfying. There are a few good things here and there - the production values are acceptable, there is some nice scenery, there is a very good bar room brawl sequence, and the full name of the lone female character is worth a few chuckles. But for the most part, the movie feels kind of flat. Giuliano Gemma's character often feels like a secondary character instead of a heroic lead. The action apart from that bar room brawl sequence come across as ordinary and not exciting. But I think the biggest problem is that the movie, while not boring, feels really slow and lacking grit or some other effective atmosphere. Too bad, because you can see signs this could have been a knockout spaghetti western had it had more careful direction and writing. It's not awful as it is, but it is definitely disappointing.