Toshirô Mifune entertained the cast and crew throughout the entire production with his refined culinary skills, bringing over a supply of Japanese meats, watercress, seaweed, and other ingredients. He would also exchange recipes for French and Italian dishes, including spaghetti.
Mifune is an izakaya-style Japanese restaurant in
Roppongi, but it is also the name of the very famous actor Mifune Toshiro.
[These daily posts will cover little known actors or people that have appeared in more recent films and TV series. Various degrees of information that I was able to find will be given and anything that you can add would be appreciated.]
Anthony Caruso, not to be confused with the Italian/American film and TV actor of the same name (1916-2003), is/was an Italian character actor. His only film role that I can find was his oly Spaghetti western film: “30 Winchester per El Diablo” (Gold Train) - 1965
CARUSO, Anthony [Italian] – film actor.
“Una pistola per Ringo” / “Il ritorno di Ringo”
(A Pistol for Ringo / The Return of Ringo)
(1965 / 1965)
Composer: Ennio Morricone
Country: Spain
Label” Quartet Records
#QR550
Tracks: 48
Listening time: 1:29:17
Quartet Records, in collaboration with GDM and Universal Music Publishing Italia, presents a revised, remastered edition of two iconic western scores by Ennio Morricone for the for the classic RINGO diptych, directed by Duccio Tessari in 1965 and starring Giuliano Gemma.
This 2-CD deluxe edition brings together all the previously released material from both RINGO movies with programs that were originally put together for RCA and GDM Music.
Disc 1 contains the stereo program of both RINGO movies, with the cues selected by Morricone for the original RCA release. We have also included the very rare 1965 album originally entitled “La Storia, I Dialoghi, Le Canzoni di Il Ritorno Di Ringo.” This soundtrack was a dialogue/music hybrid that featured Morricone’s music interspersed with newly recorded narration and even included sound effects to retell the whole story in about half an hour. This album also notably includes some short cues that can only be heard in that program.
Also included is a clean take of “L’incontro con la figlia” Although originally composed for his rejected score for THE BIBLE, and later used in THE SECRET OF THE SAHARA, Morricone also used this cue in IL RITORNO DI RINGO, and it even appeared on the 1965 dialog album.
Disc 2 includes the first version released by GDM on CD in 2004 with cues once again selected by the composer, which was entirely in mono. It is interesting because some takes are different from the previous stereo version, as well as the fact that the program was expanded.
Restored and mastered by Chris Malone and supervised by
Claudio Fuiano, the richly illustrated 16-page booklet contains in-depth liner
notes by the much-missed Gergely Hubai discussing the film and the score.
-QUARTET
DISC ONE
UNA PISTOLA PER RINGO (Stereo)
1. Angel Face 2:18
2. Honky Tonky 0:42
3. Suspence Grottesca 1:40
4. Rag Sospeso 1:24
5. Messico Eroico 1:35
6. Bamba Bambina 1:31
7. La Strage 1:58
8. L’attesa 2:36
9. Lo Scontro 1:23
10. Una Pistola per Ringo 2:17
IL RITORNO DI RINGO (Stereo)
11. Il Ritorno di Ringo 2:16
12. Il Travestimento 2:23
13. Lo Sceriffo Carson 1:20
14. Dai Fuentes 1:08
15. L’incontro con la figlia 2:45
16. La Bamba di Barnaba 2:34
17. Il Matrimonio e la Vendetta 1:28
18. Il Funerale 2:03
19. La Pace Torna a Mimbres 2:20
LA STORIA, I DIALOGUI, LE CANZONI DI IL RITORNO DI RINGO
(Mono)
20. La storia, I dialogui, le canzoni di Il Ritorno di
Ringo Part I 17:47
21. La storia, I dialogui, le canzoni di Il Ritorno di
Ringo Part II 18:58
Total Disc Time: 73:49
DISC TWO
UNA PISTOLA PER RINGO (Mono)
1. Angel Face (Titoli di testa) 2:18
2. Honky Tonky 0:41
3. Suspence Grottesca 1:40
4. Lo Scontro 1:58
5. Rag Sospeso 1:24
6. Messico Eroico 1:35
7. Una pistola per Ringo (Instrumental) 2:17
8. Bamba Bambina 1:31
9. La Strage 1:58
10. L’attesa 2:36
11. Lo Scontro (#2) 1:30
12. Rag Sospeso (#2) 1:13
13. Messico Eroico (#2) 1:00
14. Angel Face (Titoli di coda) 1:40
15. Una pistola per Ringo Suite 3:53
IL RITORNO DI RINGO (Mono)
16. Il ritorno di Ringo (Titoli di testa) 2:15
17. Il Travestimento 2:23
18. Il ritorno di Ringo (Mariachi #1) 1:51
19. Il ritorno di Ringo (Violenza) 5:54
20. Lo Sceriffo Carson 1:20
21. Dai Fuentes 1:07
22. Il ritorno di Ringo (Mariachi #2) 2:03
23. Il ritorno di Ringo (Instrumental) 1:26
24. La Bamba di Barnaba 2:33
25. Il Matrimonio e la Vendetta 1:27
26. Il Funerale 2:01
27. La Pace Torna a Mimbres 2:20
Total Disc Time: 55:28
Romanian actor, director Lucian Iancu died in Bucharest, Romania
on November 20th. He was 84.
Born in Constanţa, Romania on February 3, 1940. He graduated from the Theatre
and Cinema Institute in Bucharest in 1940. He became one of Romania’s leading
actors and the General Director of the Dramatic Theatre of Constanţa. Iancu
performed roles in plays by Sophocles, Euripides, Rostand, Brecht, Ionescu,
Sartre, Shakespeare, Moliere, Chekhov and many others. He’s appeared in over 20
films and has been awarded various prizes and recognition for his contributions
to the dramatic arts. Iancu appeared in three Euro-westerns: “Apaches” in 1973
as Chico, “The Prophet, the Gold and the Transylvanians” in 1977 as Will
Clanton and “The Oil, the Baby and the Transylvanians” in 1981as a McCallum
henchman.
[These daily posts will cover little known actors or people that have appeared in more recent films and TV series. Various degrees of information that I was able to find will be given and anything that you can add would be appreciated.]
Armando Catiglia is/was an amateur actor who appeared in the film “Cowboy Story” in 1953 as the outlaw villain of the film. The film’s dialogue was supplied by Italian director and screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi. Ernesto was a friend of the director of the film Giuseppe Sacchi and therefore helped in the production.
No other biographical information is available on Armando.
CARTIGLIA, Armando [1932, Biella, Piedmont, Italy
- ] – film actor.
Cowboy Story – 1953 (outlaw)
“Winnetous Rückkehr”
(Winnetou’s Return)
(1998)
Director: Marijan David Vajda
Starring: Pierre Brice, Candice Daly, Pierre Semmler
Country: Germany
Label: Pidax
DVD
Language: Dolby Digital 2.0 German
Running time: 2 hours and 56 minutes
ASIN: B0DHHHRGWP
Release date: November 21, 2024
As we know most of the Euro-westerns were co-productions from Italy, Spain, Germany and France which incorporated British and American actors to gain a worldwide audience. The films were shot silent and then dubbed into the various languages where they were sold for distribution. That means Italian, Spanish, German, French and English voice actors were hired to dub the films. Even actors from the countries where the film was to be shown were often dubbed by voice actors for various reasons such as the actors were already busy making another film, they wanted to be paid additional salaries for dubbing their voices, the actor’s voice didn’t fit the character they were playing, accidents to the actors and in some cases even death before the film could be dubbed.
I’ll list a Euro-western and the (I) Italian, (S)
Spanish, (G) German and (F) French, (E) English voices that I can find and once
in a while a bio on a specific voice actor as in Europe these actors are as
well-known as the actors they voiced.
Today we’ll cover “Yankee”
[(I) Italian, (S) Spanish, (G) German, (F) French, (E) English]
Yankee - Philippe Leroy (I) Sergio Graziani, (S) Arsenio Corsellas, (G) Eckart Dux
Grande Concho – Adolfo Celi (I) Renato Turi, (S) Alfonso Santigosa, (G) Alf Marholm
Filosofo – Jacques Herlin (I) ?, (S) Antonio Gómez de Vicente, (G) Alois-Maria Giani
Luiz - Tomás Torres (I) Aldo Giuffrè, (S) Dionisio Macías, (G) Alois-Maria Giani
Consalvo - Paco Sanz (I) Gianni Bonagura, (S) José Maria Santos, (G) Wolfgang Spier
Rosita – Mirella Martin (I) Rita Savagnone, (S) María
Luisa Solá, (G) Eva Ingeborg Scholz
Eckart Dux (1926 – 2024)
Eckart Hermann „Ecki“ Dux was the son of the chief insurance inspector Eugen Dux. As a 17-year-old, he was drafted by the Wehrmacht, and after the end of the Second World War he caught up on his high school diploma. His first marriage was to the actress Gisela Peltzer [1926- ]. From 1970 he was married to the film editor Marlies Dux [1945- . This marriage produced a son. Dux lived in Dannenbüttel, where he died on April 9, 2024, at the age of 97.
From 1948 onwards, Dux was extensively active in dubbing and, together with Jürgen Thormann, was one of the longest-serving German voice actors in his old age. In the 1950s and 1960s he was the standard voice of Audie Murphy, from 1957 to 1991 the standard voice of Anthony Perkins, whom he voiced in the classic “Psycho”, among others. Dux also dubbed such well-known actors as Van Johnson, Steve Martin, Fred Astaire and the actor George Peppard in the action series ‘The A-Team’. From 2001 to 2007, he lent his voice to actor Jerry Stiller in the role of eccentric father-in-law Arthur Spooner in the sitcom ‘King of Queens’. After the death of Joachim Höppner in 2006, Dux took over the dubbing of Ian McKellen (Gandalf) in Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy (2012–2014). He also had this role in the films “The Lego Movie” (2014) and “The Lego Movie 2” (2019). In the series ‘Designated Survivor’ (2016–2019), he dubbed Geoff Pierson in the role of former president Cornelius Moss in 16 episodes. He can also be heard in the animated film “The Boss Baby”. In the animated series “Santa Claus & Co.KG”, which has been broadcast every year at Christmas time on Super RTL since 1997, he took on the role of Santa Claus.
Eckart Dux has also worked as a radio play narrator, for example as Flitze Feuerzahn in the radio play series of the same name von Europa (1984 to 1987), as Conni's grandfather in the radio plays for the children's book series ‘Meine Freundin Conni’, as narrator in the Maritim production ‘Edgar Wallace’ (from 2004) and in the audio book series Darkside Park (2009) by Ivar Leon Menger. In 2001, Dux voiced the audiobook of Blanker Unsinn by Steve Martin. He took on guest roles in several episodes of the detective series ‘Die drei ???’ (first in 1984 in the episode ‘Die drei ??? und der Höhlenmensch’) and ‘TKKG’ (first in 1984 in the episode ‘Wer raubte das Millionenpferd?’). From 2010, Dux regularly took on roles in Titania Medien's horror cabinet series.
Dux lived in Dannenbüttel, where he died on April 9,
2024, at the age of 97.
[These daily posts will cover little known actors or people that have appeared in more recent films and TV series. Various degrees of information that I was able to find will be given and anything that you can add would be appreciated.]
James Edward Carter was born in Harrogate, Yorkshire, England on August 19m 1948. His mother was a land girl (Women's Land Army WLA) and later a school secretary, and his father worked for the Air Ministry. Carter attended Ashville College, Harrogate, where he was head boy in his final year, and the University of Sussex where he studied Law and appeared with the fledgling Drama Society, playing the title role in “Serjeant Musgrave's Dance”, the first student production at the newly-built Gardner Arts Centre theatre. He dropped out of university after two years to join a fringe theatre group in Brighton.
He was a member of the "Madhouse Company of London", a comedy troupe which performed in Boston in the 1970s. Other members were Marcel Steiner, Marc Weil and Tommy Shands. Ken Campbell, who appears in “A Fish Called Wanda” (1988) as George Thomason's lawyer was also associated with the troupe.
Under the stage name Jim Carter, he’s appeared in over 150 films and television series since 1976. As Jim Carter, he’s also appeared in theater and as a narrator
Carter was married to actress and singer Dame Imelda Staunton since 1983 but the separated in 2010. They have a daughter named Bessie born in 1983.
Chairman of Hampstead Cricket Club since 2010. He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2019 Queen's New Years Honors List for his services to Drama.
Carter has appeared in three Euro-westerns: “Hiawatha” – 1984 (narrator), “Rustlers’ Rhapsody” in 1984 as Blackie, “The New Zorro” (TV) in 1990 as Colonel Mefisto Palomarez.
CARTER, Jim (aka James Carter) (James Edward
Carter) [8/19/1948, Harrogate, Yorkshire, England, U.K. - ] – theater, film, TV actor, singer,
married to actress, singer Dame Imelda Staunton (Imelda Mary Philomena
Bernadette Staunton) [1956- ]
(1983- ) father of actress, singer
Bessie Carter [1983- ].
Hiawatha – 1984 (narrator)
Rustlers’ Rhapsody – 1984 (Blackie)
The New Zorro (TV) – 1990 (Colonel Mefisto Palomarez)
Colin Drake was born in England on March 8, 1917. Drake found incredible success as an accomplished actor, appearing in a variety of films throughout his Hollywood career. Drake started off his career in film with roles in the Yul Brynner comedic adaptation "Once More, With Feeling" (1960), the comedy "What's New, Pussycat?" (1965) with Peter Sellers and "Mister Freedom" (1968). He went on to act in the Judith Anderson horror flick "Inn of the D*mned" (1974), the John Jarratt comedy "The Great MacArthy" (1975) and "Cheers" (NBC, 1982-1993). He also appeared in "People Like Us" (1989-1990) and "Cast a Deadly Spell" (HBO, 1991-92). More recently, Drake appeared on "Megalodon: The New Evidence" (Discovery Channel, 2013-14).
Drake appeared in two Spaghetti westerns: Dynamite Jack – 1960 as Larry Schultz and “Dans la poussière du soleil” (In the Dust of the Sun) in 1971 as Sheriff Edwards.
Drake died in Auburn, California on March 27, 2011, at the age of 94.
DRAKE, Colin (aka Collin Drake)
[3/8/1917, England, U.K. – 3/27/2011, Auburn, California, U.S.A.] – writer,
theater, film, TV actor.
Dynamite Jack – 1960 (Larry Schultz)
In the Dust of the Sun – 1971 (Sheriff Edwards)
Louis Levy (composer) would have been 130 today but died in 1957.
[These daily posts will cover little known actors or people that have appeared in more recent films and TV series. Various degrees of information that I was able to find will be given and anything that you can add would be appreciated.]
Maria Luigia Carteny was an Italian production designer, costume designer and film actress. She is often confused in film credits with Simonetta Santaniello who played Maureen McBain in Sergio Leone’s 1968 “Once Upon a Time in the West”. Marilu had worked as a costume designer on Italian films since 1950. She became a production designer in 1970.
Carteny also designed costumes for two other Spaghetti westerns Quién sabe? (A Bullet for the General) and Dio perdona ... io no! 1967 (God Forgives… I Don’t!) both in 1967.
She actually appears on screen in a small role as one of the mourners at the McBain ranch in the funeral scene.
CARTENY, Marilù (aka Marilyn Cartemy, Maria Luigia
Carteny, Marilu Carteny) (Maria Luigia Carteny) [Italian] –
production designer, costume designer, film actress.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - 1965 (observer at Tuco's hanging)
Once Upon a Time in the West – 1968 (mourner at McBain
funeral)
Sergio Leone by Himself
Author: Sir Christopher Frayling was released by Reel Art
Press on
Country: England
Language: English
Pages: 256
ISBN-10: 1909526967
ISBN-13: 978-1909526969
Available: November 19, 2024
Between the worldwide box-office success of his Dollars trilogy and his untimely death in April 1989 at the age of 60, Sergio Leone gave several interviews to selected film journalists. He also wrote a series of thoughtful essays about his cinematic influences such as Charlie Chaplin, Federico Fellini, Henry Fonda, Robert Aldrich and John Ford. To accompany his final film, Once Upon a Time in America (1984), he published several articles about his obsessive quest to make the film and how it eventually happened. Most of these writings have never before appeared in English; as a collection they have never before appeared anywhere. Sergio Leone by Himself, compiled by Leone’s acclaimed biographer Christopher Frayling, gathers all his significant interviews, essays and articles to create a director’s-eye view of a body of work that over the past half century has had a decisive influence on world cinema. The book is illustrated with previously unseen photographs, posters and related ephemera from the Leone family collection and the Angelo Novi archive, both now housed in the Cineteca in Bologna.
The architect of cinema’s American West, Sergio Leone
(1929–1989) did not speak English. His “spaghetti Westerns” were filmed in
Italy and Spain and received both critique and acclaim for their violence,
grittiness and camera work. Leone is best remembered for his two “trilogies''
of films: the Dollars trilogy starring Clint Eastwood and his Once Upon a Time
films.
Christopher Frayling is the leading scholar on the life
and legacy of Sergio Leone and is the author of his bestselling biography,
Something to Do with Death. He served as rector of the Royal College of Art
from 1996 to 2009 and as chairman of Arts Council England from 2005 to 2009. As
Sergio Leone once said to him, “it took an Englishman to take my films
seriously.”
Trailer link: Sergio Leone by Himself, by Christopher Frayling. Published by Reel Art Press
Manoa la ciudad de oro – Spanish title
Маноа. Золотой город – Russian title
Manoa, the City of Gold – English title
A 1996 Spanish film production [Teresa Sancho de Meras,
Grup Somni, Enrique Cerezo
Producciones
Cinematográficas S.A. (Madrid)]
Producer: J.P. Simon (Juan Piquer Simón), José Ortega,
Primitivo Rodríguez
Director: Juan Piquer Simón
Story: E Salgari (Emilio Salgari)
Screenplay: Juan Piquer Simón
Cinematography: Julio Bragado (Julio Darman)
[Eastmancolor]
Music:
Running time: 80 minutes
Cast:
Webber - Andrés Alexis
Marcella - Cristina Cavallaro
Carnot – John Legget
Fernando - Juan C. Gabarda (Juan Carlos Gabarda)
Manuel - Juan C. Lee (Juan Carlos Lee)
Morgan - Frank Braña
Harkin - Fabrizio Meschini
Senor Rostand - Manuel Máñez
Brujo Indian - Germán Montaner
Guía Indian – Omar Chira
Cantinero - Vicente Amaya
Indio Shaw - Javier Sanchís
Guerrero Inca - Fernando Misiego (Fernando Missiego)
Sinoky - Francisco Pardo (Francisco Pardo López)
Hombres - Ricardo Gómez, Juan Prado, Edmond Peter Clay,
Sergio George Reig
Pistoleros - Ximo Martínez, Juan E. Chira, Rafael
Rodríguez, Javier Pérez
With: Ricardo Gregori, Paloma Gómez, José A. Rodríguez,
Marta Murcia
Webber (Andrés Alexis) and Fernando (Juan C. Gabarda)
find an old Indian who has been beaten almost to death. But before dying he
entrusts them with an Inca map that describes the location of a hidden
treasure, for which they will have to fight to find it before anyone else.
It’s based on a story by Emilio Salgari (by way of Jules Verne) set in the 1920's.
Made by Enrique Cerezo who produced "Outlaw Justice", "Dollar for the Dead" & "Return of El Coyote" (all 1998). He also made a pair of Vampire films, "La Venganza de Ira Vamp" (2010) and "Argento's Dracula" (2012). Cerezo most recently remade Jesus Franco's "Los últimos de Filipinas", as "1898: Our Last Men in the Philippines" (2016).
[submitted by Gary Williams, Michael Ferguson]
Jean Manse (writer) would have been 125 today but died in 1967.
Carlos López Moctezuma (actor) would have been 115
today but died in 1980.
French composer, singer-songwriter Charles Dumont, who
composed Edith Piaf's “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien” (I Have No Regret), It topped
the charts in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Canada. The song is also
well known throughout the English-speaking world. Dumont died November 18th
in his hometown of Cahors, Lot, France at the age of 95. Born in Cahors on
February 26, 1929, he was a trained trumpeter and musician, he collaborated
with an array of international stars, including Barbra Streisand, Dalida,
Jacques Brel and Juliette Gréco, but it was his work with the late French
singer Piaf that he became most famous for. He went on to have a successful
solo career from the 1970s. Dumont composed the score for the 1968 Spaghetti
western “Il mio corpo per un poker” (The Belle Starr Story) with Elsa
Martinelli, Robert Woods and George Eastman. He also composed the music for the
song “No Time for Love” sung by Martinelli in the film.
[These daily posts will cover little known actors or people that have appeared in more recent films and TV series. Various degrees of information that I was able to find will be given and anything that you can add would be appreciated.]
Paola Carta is/was an Italian actress who appeared in only one film and that was in the 1966 Spaghetti western “Sugar Colt”.
I can find no other reference to her or any biographical information.
CARTA, Paola [Italian] – film actress.
Sugar Colt – 1966
The memorable scene of Raquel Welch taking a shower under the water tank to distract the Mexican soldiers in 1969’s “100 Rifles” was film at Llanos de La Calahorra/Granada
Nothing remains of the water tank today and is just a
barren patch of soil today and the remnants of the railbed.
Buffalo Bill
This comic book series revisits the one that was created by
Amilcare Medici and drawings by Lina Buffolente. One of the many productions
that the close-knit couple of authors created in the immediate post-war period
for a series of little-known publishers, such as Noè Cini of Stellissima C. The
images for this new series were provided by Nestore Corti. It was published in
Milan, Italy by the Publisher Stellissima in 1946. Issue #1 was released in
January and the last issue #9 was released in September of that year. Each
issue contained black and white pages with color covers.
Titles
01 (00.00.46) - “La valle della morte” (The Valley of Death)
02 (00.00.46) - “I banditi della prateria” (The Prairie
Bandits)
03 (00.00.46) - “La lotta mortale” (The Mortal Struggle)
04 (00.00.46) - “L'insidia” (The Insidious)
05 (00.00.46) - “Il salvatore misterioso” (The Mysterious
Savior)
06 (00.00.46) - “Lotta senza quartiere” (A Fight Without
Quarters)
07 (00.00.46) - “Il segreto del Capo Solitario” (The Secret
of the Loen Chief)
08 (00.00.46) - “La corsa alla morte” (The Race to Death)
09 (00.00.46) - “Sfidando la morte” (Defying Death)
Emilio Cigoli [voice actor] would have been 115 today but died in 1980.
Jarislov Stercl would have been 105 today but died
in 1996.
Arnold Alfredson (actor) would have been 100 today but died in 2015.
Nate Parker (actor) is 45 today.
[These daily posts will cover little known actors or people that have appeared in more recent films and TV series. Various degrees of information that I was able to find will be given and anything that you can add would be appreciated.]
Franco Belluci is/was an Italian Fotoromanzi and film actor who appeared in 9 films from 1960 to 1973. No other biographical information is known about him.
His only appearance in a Spaghetti western was a few seconds as Captain Ortega’s henchman in 1971’s “Uomo avvisato mezzo ammazzato... Parola di Spirito Santo” (Blazing Guns) starring Gianni Garko.
BELLUCI, Franco [Italian] – fotoromanzi, film actor.
Blazing Guns – 1971 (Captain Ortega henchman)
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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