Ah, now that was much more like it. Shoot the Living and Pray For the Dead (Vari, 1971) is a taut game-of-two-halves type of movie and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Klaus Kinski is in magnificent form, maybe the best of his Spag career. Not just him, though; the entire production is a cut above.
[size=12pt]The King and Four Queens [/size]- 1956 - Raoul Walsh
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Itās the second time I watch this one, I was thinking it was a first time, by I didnāt remember the title only a few scenes.
I was never really a big fan of Gable, I guess I never seen much of his films. This little western is really nothing special but itās fun to watch, and that is the finest compliment that can be made about the King and fur Queens.
The plot is very simple Gable, plays a con man that hears about a treasure buried in a ranch kept by four young widows and their mother in law. The women were all married to the four sons (a bunch of bank robbers), of the old lady, and only one is known to be alive, but no one knows which, so all the ladies/widows have been waiting for two years for their husband to come and take the treasure, of course two years is a long time for such young and beautiful ladies. So the film is mostly Gable showing is charms around, while trying to find out where the treasure was buried.
Not quite a comedy western but almost, at least is not a pure comedy, still very light stuff in style, also some strong sexual overtone for a fifties film, one of ladies the almost takes her cloth off in order to take a bath with Gable in a lake. I remember watching a Spanish film with a very similar premise, Truebaās Belle Epoque (first Penelope Cruz long feature), with a similar lake scene.
One of those film you will only watch once, thereās some kind of twist in the end, and Gable even sings a song, the general mood is quite pleasing, best thing in the film is how Gable deals with very different gals that despite their different personalities really want the same thing. Strong performance from Jo Van Fleet, playing the old lady.
Ah, how content I am that you enjoyed the film. Yes, itās a very good pic. The fact that some people dislike the movie probably stems from its slow pace which puts some people off. For me, itās one of the most atmospheric low-budgeted spags.
The Great Chihuahua Treasure Hunt
Quite enjoyable caper movie, made in '72, but could have been a '67/'68 movie
Nice mix of tongue-and-cheek & tough action, with Rosalba Neri in fine form (in any possible meaning)
Review coming up
Yes nice mix like you say and it works, unlike some of course which try and fail.
āRita of the Westā - found it on youtubeā¦bizarre (a musical spaghetti western) but a great 30 minutes or so the middle, parodying Clint, Ringo, and Djangoā¦
Iām still behind by a couple of pictures but today I gave a re-watch to The Strangerās Gundown aka Django the Bastard (Garrone, 1969), which I enjoyed a lot more this time than last, and I gave a first look to May God Forgive Youā¦ But I Wonāt (Musolino, 1968), which I thought was fun if unremarkable. Well, I say unremarkable, but there was a pretty remarkable gatling gun slaughter at the end, on a ranch: Humans killed - approx. 500. Horseys, cows and chickens caught in the crossfire - not even one. Now thatās some shooting, Cjamango!
After taking a break, all of a sudden Iām watching Spaghettis againā¦caught āBlack Jackā on youtube as well, rotten copy, probably better with a nicer print.
Also saw āAnd God Said to Cainā for the first time - between that and āDjango the Bastardā Iāll never look at āHigh Plains Drifterā the same againā¦
Re-watched MƔtalo! (Canevari, 1970) yesterday; still seems to me to be a movie frustratingly determined to snatch mediocrity from true greatness, thanks to a couple of fuckawful missteps. Those aside though, it really is a cracking film.
Todayās movie is supposed to be Twice a Judas (Cicero, 1968) but I donāt think Iām going to get the opportunity. Thatāll leave me three behind with three days left! Very tall order now to complete my ā30 Spags in 30 Daysā November odyssey. Iām pretty pleased with how itās gone though, and Iāve got my schedule all lined up now for Decemberās ā31 Days of Christmasā.
acquasanta joe It`s extremely rare case when get zero enjoyment from sw but this is so awful. Everything in movie is bad. 90 mins of life wasted. Avoid this wreck.
Right, itās this simple: I either watch all six of these over the weekendā¦
Execution (Paolella, 1968)
Face to Face (Sollima, 1967)
Twice a Judas (Cicero, 1968)
10,000 Dollars For a Massacre (Guerrieri, 1967)
Garringo (Marchent, 1969)
The Mercenary (Corbucci, 1968)
ā¦or Iāve failed my Spag odyssey. I can do this. Iām going to prioritise Execution, Twice a Judas and Garringo though, because Iāve never seen those. Just in case I donāt make it.
days of violencewas ok. I expected more thanks to loads of praise from my friend but it did not quite deliver. Storyline is good, but (for me) director&actors failed to create enough drama or tension.
Maybe I am still recovering from magnificent āday of angerā and after next screening I like this more. 
Thatās Twice a Judas and Execution out of the way. I didnāt mind Twice a Judas; it didnāt blow my mind but it was a decent little divergence. The lead guy (checks - Antonio Sabato) was a bit one-note I suppose, but Klaus Kinski more than made up for that. Execution - well, itās a decent looking film but it seemed a bit hamstrung by characters making boneheaded decisions in order to progress (or hinder) the story.
[i]āIām not John Coler, Iām his brother! Johnās got a tattoo on his right arm, right?ā
(general agreement)
āRight, well, check my arm!ā
(No tattoo)
āOkay, youāre not John Coler.ā[/i]
Hey, fella! Did it not occur to you to mention the tattoo thing BEFORE you were tied to a stake and mutilated with a fucking MACE? Because Iād mention that right up-fucking-front!
And so on. That said, itās got a weird, spaghetti-like vibe going on that I respond to (especially as the movie moves on), so itās kind-of frustrating, really. Maybe that good old second look will make or break it for me somewhere down the line.
10,000 Dollars For a Massacre and The Mercenary got their re-watches last night, and largely cemented my opinion of them both as top-draw movies. I even caught mrs.caress watching The Mercenary along with me, and as a rule she doesnāt especially care for westerns and has no time at all for spags. Watching Garringo for the first time right now, just Face to Face to (re)watch tonight and Iāve done my 30 spags in 30 days, even if I didnāt quite do one per day every day.
EDIT: Garringo was really enjoyable, I thought. A few daft double crosses at the end which robbed the movie of its protagonist/antagonist showdown marred events slightly, but Iām nitpicking. A very easy watch.
I think Iām starting toā¦ like??ā¦ Anthony Steffen. No, not in that way, you dirty hobbits; I mean that Iām enjoying his work lately, and Iām thinking that maybe heās more than simply a plank of wood with a face drawn on, which was my suspicion for quite some time.
Joining the fanclub. I already know two members ā¦ (and no, Iām not one of them)
Klimovsky: Torrejon City[url]http://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/TorrejĆ³n_City[/url]
-Comedic spanish western from 1962. Tony Leblanc plays both spanish immigrant who becomes a sheriff and his cousin who is notorious outlaw. Doppelganger theme seems to have been popular in pre-Leone eurowesterns, I feel like Iāve seen half dozen of them already. Not particularly funny film and there isnāt much any action either.
Today: Taste of Death (Merolle, 1968). Good - very good, really - without being remarkable. Well, John Ireland and Bruno Corazzari are both pretty remarkable in it, so thereās that. Enjoyable enough way to use up an hour and a half, anyway. Score is a bit old fashioned and overwraught, but thatās about the worst I can say of it.
Four Candles fot my Colt (1971, Ignacio F. Iquino)
A stagecoach robbery, one of the villains trying to steal the gold but found dead the nex morning, a greedy widow, a sexy stepdaughter, Robert Woods as a sheriff caught between two fires - it all seems to be there for an enjoyable spaghetti western ride, but somehow they blew it, almost completely. The second half is a bit better than the first and thereās a good cat fight, but then we get an endless fist fight instead of a spaghetti western duel to round off the whole thing. What the hell is that?
Iāve never seen Woods in such a hyperactive mood. His performance must be seen to be believed.
More Dead Than Alive (1969)
Average western with Clint Walker in the lead. The big fella plays āKiller Cainā in this and after serving time in prison, he wants to go straight. But after joining a traveling sideshow as a gunslinger run by ( the great Vincent Price ) trouble follows. Enjoyed watching this, it was different for sure.
cjamango. I love it, story goes on nicely. Music score is really good and there is enough gunsmoke to satisfy my bloodthirst. Maybe the kid was bit irrating or more like drama overdone with his character involved but that besides, flick is masterpiece. Koch media disc was certainly great purchase.