Day of Anger

Really good, from the languorous, elegiac opening to the full throttle finish, I enjoyed it all. I note that IMDb shows a running time of 95 minutes whilst my new Arrow DVD runs nearer 115. Can that be so, 20 minutes cut from the previous print? It is just possible for there is a surprisingly large amount of time given to introduction of the characters and the town so that we might become totally involved. Goodness knows what anyone would make of much of this film without the precious opening ten minutes where Giuliano Gemma is introduced to us, literally as a sh*t shoveler before coming under the wing of the majestic Lee van Cleef. The famous Almeria set and surrounds plays its part well too and whilst the tale is fairly simple (revenge!) it is so well told and whilst the opening scenes seem to show a ghost town by the end we have seen it teeming with folks from all around. A fine film with much violence.

Lee Van Cleef rides into town and befriends the local stableboy.

The plot nominally revolves around Lee Van Cleef collecting on an old debt, with the help of the stableboy, Scott, as his protege.

There's plenty of excellent killing over the course of 90 minutes.

Excellent chemistry between Van Cleef and Scott. Lots of crooked townspeople. A rousing musical score. And an excellent final showdown.

But the coolest part of the movie has gotta be the duel between Van Cleef and some hired killer. It's like a throwback to medieval times and I'm almost certain there's nothing like it in western movies.

One of my favorite teen memories surrounds the film "Day of Anger." I saw it at the El Rey Theatre in Walnut Creek, California in 1972 as part of a double feature with "Superfly." Don't ask me how that match-up was booked, but I went with a couple of friends and thanks to the new release paired with it, the place was nearly packed. Old school singleplex with 1000 or so seats. Everyone was hushed and into the story until Lee Van Cleef stomped into the scraggly bar in the scraggly village, banged on the wooden plank serving as the bar and demanded: "Get me Wild Jack!" For a moment the theater remained hushed. Then, from a few rows behind us, a guy yelled out "WILD JACK! What kinda name is that?" Suddenly taken by the over-the-top melodrama, the crowd turned the whole experience on its end and started howling at what now seemed to be a self-referential satire on the spaghetti western genre. Of course I didn't think in such high-falutin' terminology at the time, I just thought it was funny. With all due respect to serious aficianados of the genre, it was just one fun night. One of the guys I went with suggested that we go back and repeat the astonished "WILD JACK!" comment the next night, but we figured, I think rightly, that you had to be there, it was a one shot thing, with perfect timing that had us laughing too hard to take it seriously when poor Scott Mary finally had his day in the sun and finished off his mentor while reciting the final rule of the gunfighter.

Nothing here you haven't seen before if you're a fan of Italian westerns, but DAY OF ANGER develops its plot and characters carefully, keeping you on the edge of your seat throughout. Van Cleef is terrific--this is surely one of his finest moments--yet he's matched stride-for-stride by Giuliano Gemma and the rest of the cast, with solid performances from many bit players. The direction and camera work are first rate, also. It may fall just short of Leone and the first Django movie, but it's still a first-rate spaghetti western.

As was so often the case, the only thing that lets this spaghetti western down is the atrocious dubbing. Otherwise Tonino Valerii's "Day of Anger" is a remarkably fine and suitably violent addition to the genre with Giuliano Gemma's garbage-boy being taught the art of gun-figting by gunslinger Lee Van Cleef. The setting is one of those corrupt western towns where almost everyone's a villain so when they get their come-uppence you can't help but feel a degree of satisfaction.

Van Cleef may not be much of an actor but he had real star presence and he's at his best here. It's harder to judge Gemma's performance since it's not his voice we are hearing but he was certainly photogenic and handles the role with aplomb. Enzo Serafin was responsible for the superb widescreen cinematography, (it was shot in Spain), and, perhaps not surprisingly, the film has built up something of a cult reputation.