11 Spaghetti Westerns Forgotten to Time (Part 2)

 Films that don't feature Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, or Franco Nero, aren't helmed by the Three Sergios, and aren't scored by Ennio Morricone.

Movieweb

By Mona Bassil

10/6/2023

5 Ballad of a Gunman (1967)

Directed by Alfio Caltabiano and starring Serbian actor Antony Ghidra, Ballad of a Gunman is also known as Pistoleros and Ringo, Pray to Your God and Die. While Ghidra portrays the vengeful ex-sheriff Rocco, Caltabiano himself plays the main antagonist, a bandit named El Bedoja who is skilled at robbing stagecoaches and banks and has eyes on Maruja (Monica Tueber), a sizzling brunette kidnapped by his own brother, Chiuchi (Mario Novelli).

4 Terrible Day of the Big Gundown / Vendetta at Dawn (1971)

Sergio Garrone’s Terrible Day of the Big Gundown stars George Eastman (born Luigi Montefiori) as Dr. George Benton, Ty Hardin as Jonathan Benton, Bruno Corazzari as Rod Fargas, and Laura Troschel as Lory Baxter. Recent graduate Dr. Benton returns home from San Francisco to marry his longtime squeeze Lory and temporarily move in with his brother Jonathan. When a gold stride attracts all sorts of ruffians into the area and Benson’s family is nearly decimated, the good doctor transforms into a vigilante.

Per Once Upon a Time in a Western, “Particularly interesting is the way Garrone juxtaposes scenes of desperation and violence with cuts to scenes of tenderness and happy moments. Some fine camera work and some very nasty villains.”

3 A Stranger in Town / For a Dollar in the Teeth (1967)

Starring Tony Anthony as The Stranger, Frank Wolff (Frank Wolf) as Aguilar, Jolanda Modio as Chica, Gia Sandri as Maria Pilar, and Raf Baldassarre as Corvo, Luigi Vanzi’s A Stranger in Town had to make due with a budget of $190,000, but after being released by MGM, it earned $1.5 million in North America. The plot involves a lone, blanket-clad gunslinger who coerces a Mexican bandit and killer into a deal to split stolen gold coins, and the betrayals that ensue.

2 God Does Not Pay on Saturday / Kill the Wicked! (1967)

Directed by Tanio Boccia AKA Amerigo Anton, God Does Not Pay on Saturday stars Larry Ward as Benny Hudson, Rod Dana AKA Robert Mark as Randall, Furio Meniconi as Braddock, Massimo Righi as Lester, and Maria Silva as Shelley. The plot centers on a band of robbers, namely Braddock, Randall, Lester, and the sultry Shelley. After a holdup goes wrong and Randall is left for dead, they decide to lay low with the loot in a ghost town. Except there is a greedy elderly woman already living there, and two strangers suddenly appear: Hudson and Judy. Mighty suspicious, especially when Randall turns up, very much alive and thirsty for revenge.

1 Ten Thousand Dollars Blood Money / Guns of Violence / $10,000 for a Massacre (1967)

Helmed by Romolo Guerrieri, the somewhat surreal Ten Thousand Dollars for a Massacre revolves around the infamous bounty hunter Django (Gianni Garko AKA Gary Hudson), who is commissioned by affluent rancher Mendoza (Franco Bettella) to save his daughter Dolores (Adriana Ambesi) from the grips of gang boss Manuel Vasquez (Claudio Camaso). It’s a game of double-crosses and unexpected twists from there.