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.

Confederate Major Sanders (Jacques Sernas), continues fighting the North after the conclusion of the American Civil War. Former Rebel Gary Diamond (Giuliano Gemma), now a guide, leads a pair of Union soldiers to obstruct Sanders before he can pull off a raid on Fort Yuma. However the others are unaware that Diamond knows that one of the Union officers is actually Sanders' spy. More complications ensue, pairing Diamond with the aptly named saloon-girl Connie Breastful (Sophie Daumier). Later Diamond is found to be a traitor and is tortured severely before Sanders' plot is foiled.

Giuliano Gemma plays a stalwart hero in a western that has an interesting storyline with enough action to keep spaghetti westerns fans happy, however it never lifts itself above average. The plot can be complicated, thus confusing. There's bizarre scene where Gemma is staked out in the desert so the sun can burn out his eyes; a fishnet-like material is placed over his head with eye holes cut out. Which leads to a protracted sequence where he's pretending to be blind in order to escape and continue on his mission. There's an exciting shootout finale in a mine.

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!!

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.

When Giuliano Gemma came to Bulgaria in 1970, on a working trip, he was very surprised to find out that he had already achieved some kind of a "legendary" status among the Bulgarian moviegoers. One of the reasons for that was "Per pochi dollari ancora", which had had its premiere in 1967... The plot of the movie is not typical for the most Spaghetti-Westerns. It is set in the late spring of 1865, immediately after the end of the American Civil war. A young Confederate lieutenant and POW, named Gary Diamond, is asked by the C-in-C of a Federal POW camp to accompany two of his men /capt. Lefevre and sgt. Pitt/ on a special mission - to give the commander of Fort Yuma a warning of an impending attack against it, prepared by the ex-Confederate 5th Colorado rgt., Diamond's ex-unit, commanded by major Sanders. The task is very complicated and tricky, because in the same time major Sanders has a different plan - to sneak in Fort Yuma through the so-called Red Mines, together with the gang of Nelson Riggs, an infamous villain, and steal a great sum of money. Of course Sanders's men of 5th rgt. are doomed - Fort Yuma is very well defended and their purpose is only to divert the attention of the Federal soldiers. Diamond, Lefevre and Pitt begin their dangerous mission and some new elements of the puzzle are added... The film contains a lot of action. There is one particularly good fighting sequence, when Giuliano Gemma shoots dead one of Riggs's henchmen /played superbly by Benito Stefanelli/- the sequence is very short and breath-taking, but is also perfectly executed. The cast is solid - particularly Gemma himself, Sophie Daumiers /as Connie Breastfull, the inevitable faithful and beautiful girl, who falls for Diamond/ and Nello Pazzafini as the tough sgt. Pitt. But the actors, who play the villains, are marvelous - Dan Vadis is memorable as the tough, crude and unmannerly Riggs, who nevertheless possesses certain charm. Many consider the role of major Sanders too small /and even a waste of talents/ for Jacques Sernas, but his cold and aristocratic presence is one of the key features of the movie. And not to forget the unforgettable performance of Angel del Pozo as the sly, treacherous and sarcastic capt. Lefevre. I like very much the march of 5th Colorado rgt towards Fort Yuma - it is indeed impressive and, in my opinion, catches the spirit of the historic time in which the film is set. And I should not forget to mention the wonderful soundtrack, composed by Gianni Ferrio, which is already available on CD. Anyway, this is a very interesting and entertaining western, which must be seen. It is already available on DVD, so there isn't any problem finding it. And it is definitely a must for the numerous fans of Giuliano Gemma!