A Pistol for Ringo / Una pistola per Ringo (Duccio Tessari, 1965)

Spaghetti Westerns 🎬
61

[quote=“Novecento, post:60, topic:938”]Scherp, I was just reading your new review. It was up to your usual excellent standards but one thing jumped out at me:

Only the ending is a bit silly, with Gemma using a clock to deviate his bullet in order to shoot Sancho, who would otherwise be out of reach.

Isn’t it a bell rather than a clock that he uses?[/quote]

Sure

In Dutch we use the same word (klok) for bell and clock; it’s one of those mistakes that keep slipping through the net

Thanks very much

62

That’s what I suspected. I guess the similar situation in many languages is due to bells being the original clocks that were chimed at certain times of the day according to sun. French ‘cloche’ meaning ‘bell’ but derived from the root for clock is a good example.

63

Gemma show how it’s done:

64

Nice video! :smiley:

1 Like
65

[quote=“p.pereira, post:63, topic:938”]Gemma show how it’s done:

Outstanding video, amigo!
Muito obrigado!

I am adding that video to my YouTube favorites.

66

[quote=“Chris_Casey, post:65, topic:938”]Outstanding video, amigo!
Muito obrigado!

I am adding that video to my YouTube favorites.[/quote]

Whoo! Some Portuguese coming out! O prazer foi todo meu! :slight_smile:

If doubts existed in this video he really states whom is the best handling a colt.

67

[quote=“p.pereira, post:66, topic:938”]Whoo! Some Portuguese coming out! O prazer foi todo meu! :slight_smile:

If doubts existed in this video he really states whom is the best handling a colt.[/quote]

I only know a few words in Portuguese. But, I know (or think I know) enough to say: Gemma e maravilhoso!

My friend, Joey Dillon, is pretty good at handling a colt, too, though.
If you have time, check out this video of him. The music isn’t as good as the music in the Gemma video and the video of Joey is longer, but I think you will enjoy watching Joey with his guns.
Joey has recently worked with Josh Brolin on the upcoming JONAH HEX movie. He helped Brolin to handle two guns smoothly.

[url]Joey Dillon Master Gun Handler Close up. - YouTube

I really appreciate your posting the Gemma clip because I want to forward it to Joey. He will love it! I have often told him about Giuliano Gemma’s gun handling ability; but, outside of loaning him copies of A PISTOL FOR RINGO, THE RETURN OF RINGO, and ARIZONA COLT, I have never had the chance to show him Gemma really doing his stuff!

There is no doubt that Gemma was the king of colt handling in the Italian Western world.

Obrigado novamente!

68

Just watch it. Impressive!!!
Fast hands he got, no wonder why they hire him to teach Brolin.

69

I just watched A PISTOL FOR RINGO again, thanks to Chris Casey for the Koch disc, the transfer pisses all over the one i have in the Japanese box set.

70

Like the way you put that :wink: , and you are correct of course.

71

… so (the) Koch pissed on SPO. Very fitting, althoug a piss-soaked Macaroni set doesn’t sound like a good thing.

But yes, most of these new Koch Media titles certainly makes it worth double-dipping.

72

One of the very first hit Spaghetti Westerns, directed by a co-scripter of A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS. The very likeable and attractive Giuliano Gemma stars as Ringo (“Angel Face”, as he is nicknamed), a milk-drinking pretty-boy that also happens to be a ruthless mercenary.

Gemma is sprung from prison to help the sherriff capture a band of bandits holed up, with hostages, at a nearby ranch. Much time is spent on the setup and planning of various raids by each side, and on the drama between two women (one hostage, one bandit) and the men that fancy them. Ringo eventually connives and conspires his way through the story and eventually produces the desired result, netting himself a nice payday in the process.

I liked the great contradiction of the Ringo character: so nice and handsome, polite, well-dressed… yet also a deadly pistol shot, a wisecracking sarcastic SOB, a cutthroat negotiator. Gemma is gifted at bringing the laconic, edgy charm this character needs to come alive. He is great at acting with his body, whether in dramatic scenes that show his cockiness, or the slam-bang stunts that require his full athleticism.

As for Sancho, the head bandit, played by Fernando Sancho, I don’t get it. Sancho (the actor) is renowned for his great charisma and charm as a thug in dozens of Western features, but he has never won me over. Yes, he is usually poorly dubbed in a cartoonish voice, he can’t help that; it’s his wildly flailing reactions to every punch, every gunshot… he strikes me as a big, floppy, rowdy buffoon that is incapable of any dramatic subtlety. Sancho (the character) here shows himself to be undisciplined, hot-tempered, dumb, not at all like the ringleader of a successful gang. A poor performance by (in my opinion) a poor actor.

The picture features fine widescreen photography, and also a nice score (with dramtic stings at appropriate moments) by the great Ennio Morricone. The color schemes of the sets and costumes are, however, a little gaudy and stagy, not the usually grime-and-grease look one associates from this genre; it makes the film feel a little more “Hollywood” than other Italo-westerns.

This is, overall, a good early-cycle Spaghetti. A little slow and stagy, maybe, but enjoyable. Gemma’s performance is the best thing about the pic. 6/10 stars.

73

Fernando Sancho is the mascot of SWs, not necessarily an actor.
Mostly he hams it up, but he has done this so often that we fans began to develop a tenderly fondness towards him and his way of acting.

74

Sancho is the best mexican Chief ever!!! :wink: ;D

75

Lately I checked the number of Sancho’s Spaghettiwesterns: 52 appearances from 1963 until 1975 - this seems to be an unbeatable record…

And of course he ist the best role actor for a wily mexican bandit - beside Eli as Tuco in GBU!

76

Watched one of the most famous SW that I didn’t have seen yet, one of the several, had the Portuguese DVD edition for several years but only now decided to take a look at it.

Friends older than me and that care about these western film issues, all knew Gemma and Ringo, from the cinema, I’m more of the Trinitá generation, so closing this gap was real a need.

I must say I liked very much it’s a great SW, not only full of charismatic actors in the genre, but Tessari although not with the same eye as Leone, was a good storyteller not strange to the fact of having many writing credits to its own.

First I liked the situation by itself, a hostage taking circumstance was not a normal situation in a SW at least as my memory goes, then Gemma ads to his cynical character a more natural down to earth side, much different from the more ethereal and somehow distant Clint’s Man with no name characters and others alike. Also noticeable is the importance given to the female characters and their protagonist in the story. There’s also some blasphemy, even in the most hardened SW I never heard something like all that Jesus needed was a Colt, and like most great SW this one very cleverly uses the classical western influences to his own advantage hats off to Tessari for that. The film is not that violent and in a satisfactory isolates the most violent situations like the one where the peons are killed in a discriminatory way, almost like if they were of no importance, much diverse from Django for instance, in the scene where Pedro tries to rape Ruby in the barn and its save by the Mexican kid other director would have made it with the kid stuck the fork in the bad guy until he died or something.
Also a plus was in the final showdown Ringo fighting with what I think it’s a Jesus figure (or at leas a saint) on his side, so we can say that Ringo had Jesus by his side, very eloquent, also great and very powerful and moving at the same time were Sancho last words.
Fernando Sancho hairstyle was most certainly an inspiration for Javier Barden look in No country for old man.

In the overall this one it’s a great SW among the best just after the Leone and the Corbucci’s and maybe better than some of Sollima’s (better than Run Man Run).

I saw it in an interrupt way for several days at the cinema office, won’t make the same mistake with the sequel, I’ll watch at cinema home where only my little girl (and the big one) can interrupt me. Also my Top 20 is making one year so time to make a few changes.

Needless to say what a great score

4.5 stars

….DOLORES…

77

I finally got around to watch the first Ringo movie and I liked it way more than I expected. The script is very good, with an unusual care in dialogues and character development for a SW. The humor was also very well integrated with the more violent stuff like the bandits executing the peons. Gemma was great and I think the ending with him using the bell to deviate the bullet was just typical over the top SW fare. There are plenty of more ridiculous things in other spaghettis. It entered my top 20 for sure, now I need to watch the sequel.

78

Well, it’s not strictly a sequel. The storyline and characters have no connection. Just the title. But if you liked the first you should enjoy the second. I actually prefer it although others here disagree.

79

[quote=“Phil H, post:78, topic:938”]I actually prefer it although others here disagree.[/quote]I think majority prefers Return.

80

Yeah, I know about the sequel not having anything to do with the first one besides the name but I’ve also read much more favorable comments about that one so I’m really looking forward to checking it out.