El Puro / La taglia è tua … l’uomo l’ammazzo io (Edoardo Mulargia, 1969)

Necessarily, the movie was released immediately after the authorization and a public screening with a modified cut was not permitted.

I have seen the French release, an English audio version (94 minutes) and a Portuguese audio version (104 minutes). They all open the same: A close up of Cassidy and Specs just before Cassidy frees Gypsy. How is the other opening?

I have no idea. Found this though on
http://onceuponatimeinawestern.com/el-puro-1969/gustavo-re-as-specs/

Yes, that’s what you always say, but is there anybody who can confirm for sure that this version ever existed? And why is this version not the one shown on TV?
Which was the restored version which Tarantino presented in Venice a few years ago?

If you are right, what happened to all these longer versions?

In Germany, in the USA, in France, probably in every country in our world there is one version which was released theatrically, and with a few exceptions this is the version which was shown on TV, released on VHS, released on DVD and Blu, and was also used for theatrical re-releases. There are some exceptions when films were re-released slightly cut for a lower FSK rating, and later this re-release versions was the one that survived, but in the most cases the original version remained intact, and is now easy to restore for the home video releases.
I doubt that in Italy so many original versions disappeared, and only much shorter versions, much different versions survived.
Jonathan, if you are right there must be an explanation for this unusual circumstances.

At least we have now prove that the original theatrical release of GBU was slightly different than the actual home video versions The longer torture scene was indeed part of it. And in the case of Massacre Time we know that a so called second version is the basis for the home video releases.
But are these the exceptions, or are these the rule?

The Portuguese version is 101:07 min. It leaves out altogether a sequence after the gang jumps off the coach and before Gypsy enters the store. It is 7:53 min. This adds up to 109 minutes exactly. The sequence left out contains the scene where Tim rapes a young girl, a scene with the gang stealing horses at a ranch, a scene with the gang in the chapel and the scene introducing El Puro where he is thrown out of the saloon and then taken in by Rosie.

Thank you, morgan! But as far as I’m concerned, it is undisputable that Gustavo Re played Fernando.

By the way, who corrected the credits on El Puro’s SWDb page? Sebastian? Well, thanks, but some kind of notification would surely have been nice …

You can check it out under the _histor_y link in the actions meny on the film’s page…

Yes, that certainly is a possibility to consider. In any case, Fiorini and Woods contributed more to El Puro than just being actors, as Phil Hardcastle’s conversations with them make clear. This is corroborated by Kevin Grant in his book Any Gun Can Play: “Woods […] had a hand in shaping the film’s story along with co-star Marco Fiorini […].” (p. 157)
For those who read German, my thoughts on the movie and its different versions:
http://nerdistan.at/der-reine/
http://nerdistan.at/der-mit-den-komantschen-pfeift/

Thanks! JonathanCorbett made the edits.

Question is now is the Portuguese version a Pal version? I assume so, as Wiki says that Portugal was a Pal country (maybe our member Topo van confirm this).
The 102 min version is a Pal version, which adds up to ca 107 min theeatrical.
These 109 min would then add up to a little over 113 min.

Now it would be interesting to know what the Portuguese version adds to the known versions?

And it would be still interesting to know the runtime of the Venice Film Festival version.

The scene starts earlier with some unimportant shots. But I love this unusual first shot, which looks like it starts in the middle of a scene (which it does). This is a perfect opening for this unconventional film.

From the top 20 thread:

Ok, and from what video source(s) is that version taken?

I have today watched both the Portuguese and the English versions simultaneously. It seemed to me they were the same, except for the 8 minute’s sequence mentioned before. Leaving that out, the English version would be 86 minutes, while the Portuguese, covering the same scenes, is 101 minutes. So I think the Portuguese could not be a PAL version (it’s by the way currently on YouTube), and there must be some minor cuts here and there throughout the English version.

It’s the French Gladiateur Films release (PAL).

But that’s only the 86 min version. You said you watched 109 min with English audio. You meant probably that you watched 109 min at a whole, but not completely in English, and not from one 109 version.

Better than the French DVD was a 94 min (Pal) VHS Rip in 1,78:1 and in English. Also a 86 min 2,35:1 version exists, which also misses the complete part after the stagecoach scene.
And I have a composite version of the 94 min VHS with added scenes from an Italian TV version (weak picture quality), that’s the 102 min (Pal) version I mentioned.

You are right: Portugal and Brazil are both PAL countries, but for the 101 min version with English credits available on YouTube the file properties say 29,97-fps.

From Robert Woods and Marc Fiorini on El Puro
Meanwhile, Woods had plans for the script beyond its original form. This was why he had requested Mulargia for the project initially. Because, as he puts it, Mulargia as a director “was more malleable”.

But we don’t know if the screenwriter, on set and playing an important role in the movie, was ‎just as malleable… :wink:

If you didn’t notice it immediately after I did the editing… :relaxed:

Yes, that’s what I meant. What will 101 minutes be in PAL? 97 minutes or something like that?

I noticed the editing but didn’t know who did it. I wasn’t aware that you could look up the page’s “history.” Now I know. :relaxed:

That’s right, 97 minutes.

In which the start of the scene with Mario Brega, Turi Campochiaro and the girl looks cut.


The full technical specifications page on IMDb reports this wrong film length derived from Anica data and in addition a 90min runtime despite the fact that 2750 meters are equivalent to 100 minutes!

I compared the first scene of the Portuguese version with the widescreen version. It seems the secret of runtime of the Portuguese is that it simply runs much too slow. When the credit sequence starts there is already a time gap of 10 sec. And the voices sound very deep cause of that slowness.

I think it’s exactly the same version as the 86 min version. Worthless …