The Price of Power

I like the popular review titled, "A better film that I think it is". Spot on. It is truly unique, and if you collect and like the "Zapata Spaghetti Westerns", and the political undercurrent, then this is a must see. I'll leave it at that. Austin Fisher has done a great job analyzing it in his book on the subject. Good review of it here. He does better than I can, but, suffice to say, still waters run deep.

"http://tinyurl.com/oaqmdr7"

One problem may be the release. I didn't like watching it in Italian with English subs, since one imagines the action being in English, and the English dubs are really bad. The most important line, the last one in the movie is completely left out! So, perhaps I liked it because I did my own edit with the English track, the Italian subtitles, English subtitles and the HD Italian vid track, so you can mix and match to your heart's content. Yeah, I don't know I'd give it over a 6 if I had to watch the dubbed English version.

This is a gripping story that borrows elements from the Kennedy assassination, and uses them successfully to create an excellent western tale.

The movie has a good music score, though it relies on repeating the title theme a little too much. Giuliano Gemma and the rest of the cast are superb. This is a more cerebral than usual spaghetti western that relies more on story than action, and it succeeds because the story is excellent. This is not to say that there is no action in the movie. There is plenty, and it is very well crafted. This movie pulls you in right away, and keeps you absorbed til the end. You'll always be wondering what's in those documents everyone's after. It also has some biting commentary on American politics.

This movie shows why Valerii, in my opinion, is in a three way tie with Sollima and Corbucci for second place in the rankings of spaghetti western directors.

Out of the 600 or so Spaghetti Westerns made this has got to be in the top twenty somewhere. Can not believe this hasn't received any reviews! Gemma is excellent in this. Van Johnson is good too though his dubbed voice is a little off killter but that's the charm of the Italian style. Beautiful photography and some excellently staged action. All the supporting characters are well played. The severity of the racist streak in the bad guys is pretty tough even by todays standards which creates an emotional depth to Gemmas character in some of the situations that take place. Absolutely FANTASTIC score by Luis Bacalov. See this is in the wonderful Wide screen DVD from Japan. A spaghetti must have.

Based largely on the Kennedy Assasintion, Director Valerii's The Price of Power is quite a hard going, albeit very well made, film.

President James Garfield (Van Johnson) arrives by train in the state of Texas to debate his political reforms. His anti-slavery stance is extremely unpopular with the locals, particularly the corrupt Sheriff and the banker Pinkerton (Fernando Rey), who secretly plot his assassination, knowing that his probable successor can be bribed by incriminating evidence that they hold.

Ben Willer (Giuliano Gemma) discovers that his father has been murdered by the Sheriff, because he knew of the plan to kill the president. Despite his efforts to provide some protection, the assassination is successful, with Willer's Negro companion (a staunch believer of the President's cause) blamed and imprisoned. Willer attempts to seek justice, assisted by the President's aide Arthur Macdonald (Warren Vanders).

In truth, Valerii's film is an outstanding piece of Italian cinema, with a fine performance from Gemma, and an enjoyable Bacalov soundtrack. Despite this, I struggled to be really convinced by the movie, even though it is so highly respected in euro-western circles. I think in particular I found that some of the more typical Spaghetti Western fare (such as the rifle hidden in the crutch of the disabled newspaper employee) sat uneasy within the context of the film.

That said, there were a handful of great scenes, such as the failed initial assassination attempt as the President's train arrives, the flashback and the court sequence. But in the end, I couldn't help but find the whole thing disappointing - probably because I expected so much.

"The Price of Power" (1969), directed by Tonino Valerii, is a Spaghetti Western starring Guiliano Gemma, Van Johnson, Fernando Rey and Benito Stefanelli. Made six years after the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy, it seeks to comment sharply on the situation, perhaps more bitingly than Hollywood wanted or was able to do at that time.

The plot is thus, with their 1963 equivalents blatantly obvious: in Dallas, Texas, 1883 an unpopular liberal President (Johnson) visits the city and is assassinated in a crossfire of lead. A black patsy is quickly found by the corrupt sheriff (Stefanelli) and is killed while in transit between prisons. The framed man's friend (Gemma) seeks to find out the truth, variously aided and set back by a mysterious government agent (Warren Vanders).

Reading the synopsis, it's pretty clear where Valerii is heading, and he does so with style and tension. Well-acted, photographed and edited, with some excellent gunfights, this is a Spaghetti Western that deserves a much wider reputation that the one it currently holds.