Spaghetti Westerns are known for cynicism and for
painting society as a grim place where no one (except the protagonist) is ever
up to any good. That’s arguably a true reflection of the era in which most of
the movies are set, and it can be argued that the genre really thrived when the
characters weren’t always in a joyous mood. Corruption, revenge, killings, and
betrayal all make for great viewing.
However, a few Spaghetti Westerns stick to the basics
while still infusing various satirical or ordinary comedy elements. Such films
were popular in the late ‘60s and ‘70s as they were intentionally made to
revive a genre that seemed destined for doom, like the person with the slowest
draw during a standoff. Even though they are not as popular as other
productions, they still qualify as guilty pleasure viewing.
Movieweb
By Philip Etemesi
November 9, 2024
10 For a Few Dollars Less (1966)
Sergio Leone was reportedly furious when fellow Italian
director Mario Mattoli parodied For a Few Dollars More, but no one else
complained because For a Few Dollars Less is pure fun. The film follows two
cousins who realize there is a lot of money to be made through banditry and
bounty-hunting. They thus pose as expert marksmen and gain employment in a
Mexican gang. How long can the ruse go on?
Fewer Dollars, More Fun
The film was presumably also made for a few dollars less
than the one it lampoons, and the budgetary constraints are sometimes painfully
apparent (most notably in the exterior locations). There’s hardly a structure
and prop that doesn’t look as if it were constructed a few days earlier, and
most of the locations have uniformly awkward, depersonalized quality. However,
such is the quality of the direction, writing, and performances that all the
flaws don't matter. The character dressed like Clint Eastwood will have you
rolling on the floor.
Stream it on Plex on Apple TV+
9 Trusting Is Good… Shooting Is Better (1968)
Trusting Is Good… Shooting Is Better gives us exactly
what the title promises. A few outlaws believe they are on another routine
crime mission, but when the leader of the gang dies, cracks form in the team,
with the remaining three criminals attempting to outdo each other to get the
loot. Fresh revelations also mount from there, drawing the criminals deeper
into a hornet's nest of betrayal, and recklessness.
Slaptstick Mayhem
Cynical, and brooding, yet hilarious and knotted with
mystery, Trusting is Good… Shooting is Better" is an inspired update of
the crime-gone-wrong picture that equals most of what we got at the height of
the genre. The villains are clumsy, you’d mistake them for Looney Tunes
characters, but they survive long enough to ensure you’ve laughed as much as
you expected. On top of that, inspired performances from the likes of Jorge
Hilton and John Ireland only make things better.
Stream it on Prime Video or Tubi
8 My Name Is Nobody (1973)
What good is retiring if you don’t retire in style? Such
is the idea that a young fan of the aging gunslinger, Beauregard (Henry Fonda),
plants in his head in My Name Is Nobody. Beauregard wants to move to Europe and
enjoy a peaceful life, but the young man convinces him to take out 150 stubborn
outlaws first, as such a move would make him a legend. You’d think he’d say no,
but this film comically reminds you of the Western movie trope involving
gunslingers taking up every job that comes their way.
Gunslingers Can Talk
When the fan assures Beauregard that he’ll make his way
into the history books after he takes out all 150 outlaws, the protagonist
responds with, “You'll be down on Earth reading them while I'm up there playing
on a harp.” This kind of clever, humor-laden dialogue is splattered across the
movie, and the introduction of a character known as Nobody sure feels like a
slight dig at “The Man with no Name” in Sergio Leone’s Dollars Trilogy. Sit
tight and enjoy yourself.
Stream it on Prime Video
7 Have a Good Funeral, My Friend... Sartana Will Pay
(1970)
Have a Good Funeral, My Friend... Sartana Will Pay’s
protagonist, Sartana (Gianni Garko) has found himself confined to a boring,
uneventful existence among the stand-offish locals. No major crime is
happening. Soon, he finds fresh purpose when a massacre happens and several
figures make offers to buy the pieces of land that belonged to the victims. Are
the buyers the killers?
Powerful Performances All Around
An unpitying attack on corruption in the Old West,
Balabanov’s Have a Good Funeral, My Friend... Sartana Will Pay is grim, mildly
scary, shrewdly funny. Long under-appreciated even by director Giuliano
Carnimeo’s fans, the Western is a sweetly kooky affair that weds frontier humor
and investigative hijinks. Unlike many of the outlaws he's played, Garko's
inept Sartana is surprisingly a hoot to observe here. You'll often wonder what
his face was like during filming.
6 They Call Me Hallelujah (1971)
Revolutionaries need money… lots of it, so the Mexican
guerrillas in They Call Me Hallelujah hire a famed American gunslinger named
Hallelujah to steal a stash of jewelry for them. He does so, only to discover
the jewels are fake. Unwilling to accept failure, he goes after the real jewel.
Politics Goes Hand in Hand with Crime
“Heads I shoot you, tails you are dead!” Not the fairest
of options in a coin toss, but Hallelujah constantly dishes out such cheesy
remarks in They Call Me Hallelujah. Away from the humor, the film weaves
multiple incredible subplots — including one involving a Russian nobleman and a
fake Russian nun — into a sprawling tapestry of cowboy heist adventure and
nifty political critique, creating something closer in spirit to a
Zapata-Spaghetti hybrid. Be guaranteed a good time.
5 Those Dirty Dogs (1973)
Those Dirty Dogs is literally about “those dirty dogs,”
as the higher-ups in the military prefer to call them. The “dogs” are bandits
who have stolen military weapons from a U.S. army wagon-train. Three soldiers
are then sent by Washington to recover the arms, and aiding them is a blond
bounty hunter who carries a pink umbrella and quotes extensively from the
Quran.
An Action-Packed Film That Never Slows Down
With its guffaw humor, self-parodying moments, and
slapstick fight sequences accompanied by kung-fu-ish sound effects, Those Dirty
Dogs is as chaotic as Spaghetti comedies get. Here, we also get minor James
Bond treatment as there are machine guns hidden in ordinary household items,
and villains who have plans that are bigger than their resources and intellect.
Jump on this ride and go after those dirty dogs.
Stream it on Apple TV+
4 They Call Me Trinity (1970)
They Call Me Trinity sees a lazy gunfighter and his
brother (played by Terence Hill and Bud Spencer) defending a settlement of
Mormons from a Mexican bandit. This is the film where Terence Hill fasted for
24 hours so he could shoot the opening scene in which he devours a full pan of
beans, bread, and booze in a single take. That little stunt would give birth to
the food-themed subgenre known as the fagioli (bean) western.
The Best of Terrence Hill and Bud Spencer
Boasting vivid arid cinematography, first-rate
camerawork, knife-edge editing, and powerhouse performances all around, They
Call Me Trinity scores a knockout. Interestingly, there is a villain who can’t
seem to land a punch. Watch out for some raunchy stuff too, such as when two
Mormon girls use biblical lines to seduce Hill’s character into bed, claiming
it is all part of their culture.
3 Life Is Tough, Eh Providence? (1972)
Life Is Tough, Eh Providence? has a simple plot, yet it
overflows with hilarious moments. The premise concerns Provvidenza (Tomas
Milian), a bounty hunter who makes a living solely by catching his dumb but
powerful bandit friend, the Hurricane Kid (Gregg Palmer), and taking him to the
authorities for the reward money.
More Silly Moments Than You Can Bear
If your life is tough, watch Providence. From nasty falls
to an amazingly loud, long and annoying belch by the Kid, the film often
catches you by surprise with its silly moments. Nothing is sacred in this spoof
of the get-em-and-free-em Western trope, and a plethora of funny actors only
adds to the divine absurdity and splendid campiness of it all.
Stream it on Prime Video
2 If You Want to Live... Shoot! (1968)
If You Want to Live... Shoot! Follows a man who goes on
the run after killing one of his opponents during a card game. The title
slightly alters one of the memorable quotes in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly:
“If you want to shoot… shoot! Don’t talk.” The bandit Tuco says the words after
gaining the upper hand on an enemy who had confronted him while he was in a
bathroom.
Visual Humor and a Broader Alluring Aesthetic Feel
This minimalist Western about a fugitive traveling harsh
desert environs has a moving delicacy, merging long spells of quiet moments
with soul-searching lines of dialogue. The cinematography is outstanding, too,
making the sun-baked plains look astoundingly inviting. There is little
fighting. Instead, we get numerous slapstick moments that make us wish we were
in the same situation to make better choices.
Stream it on Prime Video
1 You're Jinxed Friend, You've Met Sacramento (1972)
Who would have thought that boxing would have made such a
great premise for a Western? In You're Jinxed Friend, You've Met Sacramento,
Sacramento (Ty Hardin), a retired boxer, finds himself in a predicament when
his daughter gets kidnapped by a former rival, who is now a bandit. The
criminal asks for a ransom first, but his plan is to lure Sacramento to a
secluded spot so that he can beat him to death with fists as revenge for an
in-ring defeat he suffered at the hands of the protagonist.
Great Music, Coupled with Plenty of Bizarre Moments
The film is occasionally raunchy (Sacramento once peeps
on his son having sex), and it’s a mystery how it escaped the eager scissors of
1970s censors. The dialogue also feels like a kindergarten grammar exercise,
but you’ll love it as it’s meant to poke fun at some of the absurd things
villains and heroes say in Westerns. It would also be unfair to not praise the
wonderful score by Franco Micalizzi, who also did the magic in They Call Me
Trinity but is better known for his scores for Poliziotteschi films.
Stream it on Apple TV+
