Fort Yuma Gold

"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.

Near the end of the Civil War, imprisoned Confederate raider Giuliano Gemma is sent under guard to warn both his men and the Army at Fort Yuma that an impending rebel raid is really nothing but a ruse by scoundrels from both sides, in cahoots to take the fort's gold for themselves during the chaos. Soon Gemma slips his treacherous escort and attempts to complete the mission himself.

Fort Yuma Gold is well-paced and full of action, with unpredictable plot twists, colorful characters, and one cringe-worthy torture sequence that will have you clutching your eyeballs!

Rough-and-tumble Gemma has quite a winning personality. His charismatic performance goes a long way in helping make this already breezy, likable spaghetti western very satisfying.

The music score, co-written by the great Ennio Morricone, is fantastic and quite reminiscent of the ones he created for A Fistful Of Dollars and For A Few Dollars More.

An action-packed but unremarkable Spaghetti Western with a Civil War backdrop: it starts off with a confrontation over miserable prison service in the mould of SPARTACUS (1960), features a particularly animated bar-room brawl, and the climax takes place inside an abandoned mine. Lead Giuliano Gemma is in his element, but the villains are comic-book types - and the heroine, though spirited, is monotonous and an absolutely resistible chanteuse! The score is credited to Ennio Morricone and Gianni Ferrio: apparently, the producers borrowed some previously-composed music by the former to justify the use of his name - but he later took them to court over it!!

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.

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.