The 50th Anniversary of “They Call Me Hallelujah”

 

Today marks the 50^th Anniversary of the premier of “Testa t’ammazzo, croce... sei morto... Mi chimavano Alleluja” (They Call Me Hallelujah / Guns for Dollars). Directed by Giuliano Carnimep using the alias Anthony Ascott and starring George Hilton and Charles Southwood. The film tells the story, in Mexico, during the reign of Maximilian, a gunman named Alleluja is commissioned by the revolutionary general Ramirez to capture a bag of jewelry that the Emperor is sending the United States in exchange for weapons. Hallelujah is prepared to act not so much for the reward, but because he intends to keep the jewels for himself. However, many other competitors: Krantz, a shady arms dealer, a self-styled Russian prince, and a nun, which is actually a secret agent of the United States also want the jewels. Alleluja forms an alliance with the Russian and the nun to defeat the evil Krantz. After a violent confrontation with Krantz’s henchmen, Hallelujah and the Russian split the jewels, while the nun, whose mission was to identify and stop the weapons trafficking and receives a decoration from the U.S. government.

Testa t’ammazzo, croce... sei morto... Mi chimavano Alleluja - Italian title

Juveljagten - Danish title

Nimeni on Hallelujah - Finnish title

Pile, je te tue face, tu est mort in m’appelle Alleluia - French title

On m’appelle Alleluia - French title

Man nennt mich Hallelujah - German title

Y hora le llaman Aleluya - Spanish title

Me gusta matar - Spanish title

Vende la pistola y comprate la tumba - Spanish title

Juveljakten - Swedish title

Dom kallar mej ‘Halleluja’ - Swedish title

Haleluya - Turkish title

Heads I Kill You... Tails You’re Dead! They Call Me Hallelujah - English title

Heads You Die... Tails I Kill You - English title

They Call Me Hallelujah - U.K. title

Deep West - U.K. title

A Fistful of Lead - U.S.A. title

Guns for Dollars - U.S.A. title

 

A 1971 Italian production [Coloseo Artistica SRL (Rome)]

Producer: Dario Sabatello

Director: Anthony Ascott (Giuliano Carnimeo)

Story: Tito Carpi (Fiorenzo Carpi)

Screenplay: Tito Carpi (Fiorenzo Carpi), Anthony Ascott (Giuliano Carnimeo)

Cinematography: Stelvio Massi [Eastmancolor, Colorscope]

Music: Stelvio Cipriani

Running time: 98 minutes

 

Cast:

Hallelujah/Alleluia - George Hilton (Jorge Acosta y Lara)

Alexi Grand Duke Viosarevich Koperkin/Alexi Ivanovich ‘The Bear’ - Charles Southwood

Sister Anna Lee/Lieutenant Donovan - Agata Flori

General Emiliano Ramirez - Roberto Camardiel (Roberto Escudero)

Frank/Duke Slocum - Rick Boyd (Federico Boido)

Fortune - Paolo Gozlino

Larry – Bruno Ukmar

Trace – Giglio Gigli

Fortune henchman – Gaetano Scalla, Aldo Berti, Antonio Basile, Marcello Meconizzi

Ebenezer - Franco Pesce (Francesco Pesci)

Johannes Krantz - Andrea Bosic (Ignazio Božič)

Gertrude Krantz - Linda Sini (Ermelinda Siniscalchi di Venosa)

Father Victoriano Pacheco - Aldo Barberito

Yucca Sheriff - Fortunato Arena
Yucca Deputy – Romano Milani

Pablito - Ugo Adinolfi

Glock - Furio Meniconi

Butch - Claudio Ruffini

Slim - Freddy Unger (Goffredo Unger)

Krantz henchmen - Paolo Magalotti, Lero Rocco (Rocco Lerro), Sergio Smacchi

Mexican revolutionary - Lina Franchi

Condemned Ramirez bandit – Calogero Azzaretto

Government officials – Osvaldo Peccioli, Filippo Perego, Decio Gambini

Officer – Mario Pascucci

Dead man - Janos Bartha (Janos Barta)

Fake monk - Amerigo Santarelli

Blonde outlaw - Luciano Rossi (Luciano Romano)

Sentenza - Lino Coletta (Pasquale Coletta)

Laundry worker – Sergio Ukmar, Rinaldo Zamperla, Arnaldo Dell’Acqua, Oscar Giustini,

     Mauro Mannatrizio

Soldiers – Renzo Pevarello, Riccardo Petrazzi

Villager – Adriana Bruno