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Acquasanta Joe

  • 1971
  • 1h 34m
IMDb RATING
4.6/10
290
YOUR RATING
Ty Hardin, Richard Harrison, and Lincoln Tate in Acquasanta Joe (1971)
Spaghetti WesternActionAdventureDramaWestern

A gang of robbers armed with a union army cannon rob the bank holding bounty Killer Acquasanta Joe's earnings to date. He pursues, crossing and double crossing along the way.A gang of robbers armed with a union army cannon rob the bank holding bounty Killer Acquasanta Joe's earnings to date. He pursues, crossing and double crossing along the way.A gang of robbers armed with a union army cannon rob the bank holding bounty Killer Acquasanta Joe's earnings to date. He pursues, crossing and double crossing along the way.

  • Directors
    • Mario Gariazzo
    • Richard Harrison
  • Writers
    • Mario Gariazzo
    • Ferdinando Poggi
  • Stars
    • Lincoln Tate
    • Ty Hardin
    • Richard Harrison
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    4.6/10
    290
    YOUR RATING
    • Directors
      • Mario Gariazzo
      • Richard Harrison
    • Writers
      • Mario Gariazzo
      • Ferdinando Poggi
    • Stars
      • Lincoln Tate
      • Ty Hardin
      • Richard Harrison
    • 13User reviews
    • 3Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos105

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    Top cast34

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    Lincoln Tate
    • Acquasanta Joe…
    Ty Hardin
    Ty Hardin
    • Jeff Donovan
    Richard Harrison
    Richard Harrison
    • Charlie Bennett
    Silvia Monelli
    • Estella
    Giulio Baraghini
    • Jim, Donovan henchman
    • (as Lee Banner)
    Pietro Ceccarelli
    • Sergeant Butch
    Mario Novelli
    • Donovan Henchman
    • (as Anthony Freeman)
    Fedele Gentile
    • The General
    • (as Fidel Green)
    Tuccio Musumeci
    • The Sicilian
    Alfredo Rizzo
    • Captain
    Adriano Vitale
    Dante Maggio
    • The Banker
    Virgilio Ponti
    Pietro Rosella
    Sergio Serafini
    • Confederate Lieutenant
    Rosita Torosh
    Rosita Torosh
    • Saloon Girl (Bennett's bedfellow)
    Enrico Casadei
    Domenico Maggio
    • Gunman
    • Directors
      • Mario Gariazzo
      • Richard Harrison
    • Writers
      • Mario Gariazzo
      • Ferdinando Poggi
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews13

    4.6290
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    Featured reviews

    5Nightgaunt

    Limited spaghetti western with limited budget

    I rated this one with solid 5/10 points. It's very limited in various ways. Let's face it, most Italian westerns weren't blessed with a high budget, this wasn't either and it shows. The action takes place mostly somewhere in a canyon or woods, you barely get to see. Still, it's entertaining. The characters are stereotypes, starting with the hero Holy Water Joe, the ruthless but cunning headhunter who brings down a pack of bandits that robbed the bank he put all his earnings in. The action is quite fast and though this kind of movie naturally isn't a grade A product it's fairly entertaining. The soundtrack is quite interesting, as it contains both the usual orchestration for spaghetti westerns as well as some 60/70s style music. A product of it's time I guess. However, I felt entertained by this one and for that it gets a bonus pushing it to 5 of 10 points, with the entertainment factor higher than that.
    4b_kite

    a strange mixture of spaghetti western violence and zany comedy. Ty Hardin makes it worth the watch.

    A bounty hunter who goes by the name of "Holy Water Joe" or "Acquasanta Joe" decides to put all of his savings into a bank. However, when gangster Donovan and his gang rob the bank, he sets out to get his money back. But, rivalry in the gang makes things complicated, as the union army also is interested in finally putting the gang to rest. "Holy Water Joe" gets four stars. Two for the performance from Ty Hardin of "Bronco" fame who absolutely steals the show with his nutty performance, and two more stars for the grand gun-cannon-bow and arrow battle at the end, other then that its a strange mixture of spaghetti western violence and zany comedy, with a rather bland forgetful lead in Lincoln Tate.
    4Wuchakk

    Spaghettimbicility

    Released in 1971, "Holy Water Joe" (aka "Acquasanta Joe") is an Italio Western about a gang of outlaws who steal a Union cannon and use it to rob a bank that contains the savings of bounty hunter Holy Water Joe (Lincoln Tate). Of course, he aims to set things aright. Ty Hardin plays the leader of the outlaws while Silvia Monelli appears as the lone female member of the gang, a half-breed. Richard Harrison is also on hand.

    This combines the tone of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" (1966) with (sort of) the plot of Elvis' "Charro!" (1969). The cast is good and I like the score with its pieces of anachronistic early 70's rock, which goes to show that "Young Guns" (1988) wasn't the first Western to do this, not by a long shot. Unfortunately, the tone incongruently mixes gravity with goofiness and it prevents the viewer from taking the story serious. The comedy's simply not amusing. Worse, the story is dull, particularly the first half. Thankfully, I started to catch a grip by the second half and somewhat enjoyed the pic. But this is Exhibit A in why Spaghetti Westerns have a bad rep.

    The film runs 88 minutes and was presumably shot in Spain. DIRECTORS: Mario Gariazzo & (uncredited) Richard Harrison. WRITERS: Gariazzo & Ferdinando Poggi.

    GRADE: C-
    5rleegray-569-58158

    Not the best, but not the worst Spaghetti western I've seen

    To me you have to really be a fan of this genre to enjoy this Spaghetti western. The biggest problem to me is the script. There are way too many plot holes that are just never explained, and questions as to why they are doing this or that. There are some good action scenes and moments. I loved the last 15 or 20 minutes of the movie just for the action alone. I will say another problem with the movie at times was the music score, which seemed way too lighthearted or comical at times for what was happening on screen turning moments that should have been played for more dramatic effect into comedy. My last problem with the movie was with the English dubbing -- at least on the version I watched. The voices seemed too alike at times as if a person not very talented was doing both parts at the same time, and didn't know how to disguise their voice well. In conclusion, I say if you are a fan of the genre, don't pass this one up. It is worth it for the action at times alone.
    4Bunuel1976

    ACQUASANTA JOE (Mario Gariazzo, 1971) **

    Like SARTANA IN THE VALLEY OF DEATH (1970), I watched this via C'Est La Vie's R2 DVD and, in hindsight, both film and disc are of similar quality. The lead is Lincoln Tate in the title role of the bounty hunter pursuing Ty Hardin's band of Renegade Union soldiers; Richard Harrison appears as one of the latter's associates who later double-crosses him.

    Having watched so many Spaghetti Westerns this past week, the films' plots get intertwined in my mind – and, frankly, I can't recall much of what this one was about!; I do know that Hardin's gang carries with it a cannon to aid in their bank robberies and that his leadership is challenged at one point by a bald-headed associate whom Tate eventually dispatches with a horde of arrows in the style of Akira Kurosawa's THRONE OF BLOOD (1957). Hardin eventually joins forces with Tate to retrieve a stash of money hidden in a cave, and also involved is Hardin's half-breed (and gun-toting) woman – who has her eyes on Tate as well.

    The director biography, included among the extras, makes some claim for him being a versatile film-maker but, personally, it's the first I've ever heard of him: his career spanned all sorts of genres from Spaghetti Westerns to crime thrillers, horror, sci-fi and even erotica (as it turns out, he also made the sentimental drama THE BALLOON VENDOR aka THE LAST CIRCUS SHOW [1974] – starring James Whitmore and Lee J. Cobb – which, when released in Malta back in the day, proved a huge box-office success)!

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    Related interests

    Clint Eastwood in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
    Spaghetti Western
    Bruce Willis in Die Hard (1988)
    Action
    Still frame
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    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      Italian censorship visa # 59250 delivered on 9 November 1971.
    • Quotes

      Charlie Bennett: I came to town to pay my last respects to my dear old mother.

      Acquasanta Joe: In a whorehouse?

      Charlie Bennett: Poor ol' mother. I guess I am a son-of-a-bitch.

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 11, 1971 (Italy)
    • Country of origin
      • Italy
    • Language
      • Italian
    • Also known as
      • Holy Water Joe
    • Filming locations
      • Cascate di Monte Gelato, Mazzano Romano, Roma, Lazio, Italy
    • Production company
      • Cineproduzioni Daunia 70
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 34m(94 min)
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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