1976
Italy v Israel
Director: Gianfranco Parolini
Cast: Lee Van Cleef, Jack Palance , Richard Boone, Sybil Danning, Leif Garrett, Rafi Ben Ami, Heinz Bernard, Chin Chin, Ricardo David, Didi Lukov, Zila Carni, Robert Lipton, Cody Palance, Ian Sanders, Pnina Golan, Carolyn Stellar
Photo: Sandro Mancori
Music: Sante Maria Romitelli
Menahem Golan is an Israeli producer, along with his cousin Yoram Globus and after stay in the United States under the tutelage of king Roger Corman b-series, returned home with the intention to develop in him a strong film industry to back the U.S. found the Cannon Group, the company responsible for much of the films of Jean Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris. Among the road projects in their countries of origin include two westerns of dubious quality played by Lee Van Cleef in decline along with a strong and very young Leif Garrett, who by then had become the idol of teenage girls through their participation in series "Three for the Road" (1975), and those who took advantage of the possibilities of the Israeli desert to recreate the old west, this being the first and better of the two (the other be released in Spain under the name of "Bloody Vengeance" directed by TV Joseph Manduka and Jim Brown to accompany the main couple.)
The Clayton, a band of outlaws led by Sam Clayton, after robbing the bank of Crane City, head to Juno City with the intention of robbing a stagecoach next to arrive. They murdered a citizen and only father they will face John. After finishing with him as Johnny, an orphan boy who maintained a special relationship with the priest, to search for the brother of John, a former gunslinger Lewis called refuge in Mexico, in order to finish with the bandits.
This time the Golan-Globus tandem commissioned a regular direction of this subgenre, Gianfranco Parolini (creator of two mythical characters of spaghetti: Sabata, played twice by Lee van Cleef, and Sartana who gave life, mainly, Gianni Garko), I guess to facilitate the marketing of the product by passing it through the U.S., I use the pseudonym of Frank Kramer. The result of their work, far from that obtained in other spaghetti, it is quite common and does not exceed that of any TV movie of the time, highlighting just the idea (I guess you look) that what we are seeing is not real but a representation (as well as the images of the principle as the end appear framed in a puppet theater) and the long sequence that ends with Lewis the gunmen do not use the guns and that gives Parolini supernatural and fantastic aesthetics (the use of fog but not knowing where it goes, image distortion, use of twisted frames, etc), but from the narrative point of view that scene does not make much sense (you do not quite understand why a gunman Johnny decides to help and avenge his brother without using their tools).
If the address is vulgar, Parolini the script work with John Fonseca (writer I have no references) is nonsense from the initial premise (the kid looking in Mexico at the Lewis and clear, as the country is small finding it upon arrival), to the speech disorder in which Johnny gets miraculously recovered in the end, to the turn in the script in relation to the true parent of the child. Moreover, as history did not allow for much more, both are invented several scenes that do not contribute to plot development, especially on a long flashback to the past Lewis.
The soundtrack composed by Sante Maria Romitelli main theme has a passable, though the rest weakens much, especially one that is repeated constantly and it became unbearable, with a whistle followed by a touch guitar.
As for the acting cast is headed, as would subsequent "Bloody Vengeance" (1977), by American actors. First, we are doubly, as the father and his twin brother John Lewis, with Lee Van Cleef as interpretation, but not bad far from those carried out in its heyday (the two with Sergio Leone spaghetti, "The day of wrath," "Man to man" or "The Flame and the prey" ) plus wear a wig really ridiculous. Jack Palance, one of the greatest bad that in this sub-genre gave us a couple of unforgettable characters under the direction of Sergio Corbucci is really overacting in the role of Sam Clayton, the head of the bandits. Richard Boone, another great side of Hollywood (" The lawless prairie," "The Alamo," "Rio Conchos" ) merely provides the physical the cowardly sheriff of Juno, a character who disappears after half an hour and not appear again until the final cut-scene. Leif Garrett, as unbearable as the usual, gives life to Johnny and the Austrian Sybil Danning plays Johnny's mother Jenny, a character who keeps a terrible secret regarding the true father of her son, secret to be revealed through another unnecessary flashback.
As curious comment that the ill-fated son of Jack Palance, Cody Palance, plays in the film Zeke Clayton, one of his nephews.
As for the DVD sold by Wild West, and as often the case with the products of this company has poor quality, does not respect the original format, the image appears in a video obtained in poor condition and in many scenes the picture and sound are out of sync. A new joke for fans of this subgenre. As for the extras, put back the same documentary, a series of trailers for spaghetti with image burn and the usual chips Filmography and technical and artistic.
Definitely a late spaghetti clearly shows the decline of this sub-genre and one of its icons, the great Lee Van Cleef. So I think it is only recommended for fans of actor or hardcore subgenre
SCORE:
HISTORY: 2
AMBIENTE: 3
ADDRESS: 3
ACTORS: 4
MUSIC: 4
MEDIA: 3.2
SCORE:
HISTORY: 2
AMBIENTE: 3
ADDRESS: 3
ACTORS: 4
MUSIC: 4
MEDIA: 3.2
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