The Plot is about two guslingers(Lex Barker and Pierrce Price) which have to fight at a Gunfight Event. Both don’t know that they’ll be opponents in that particular fight. They met each other, became friends and fight against a bunch of bandits.
Of course it’s interesting to see Pierre Brice and Lex Barker in unusual roles together. This time they aren’t Old Shatterhand and Winnetou. The movie looks closer to an US Western than the SW but it’s grittier than one of the Karl May Movies. The supporting cast with Aldo Sambrell, Marianne Koch, Wolfgang Lukschy we all knew from a Fistful of Dollars. Beside this cast it also offers some interesting scenes like the duel with a cheering crowd at the end. Maybe a bit too slow paced but for those who would like to see Lex Barker/Pierre Brice not in their usual roles worth a look.
I saw this one on Saturday. I quite liked it. It’s nice to see the two main Karl May stars in different roles.
One thing that really hit me was the end. I haven’t seen such a sick thing before. I mean, the duel in the end being a kind of feast for the townspeople. Ok, we know such duels from “The quick an the dead”, but there it is a dirty business. But in this flick the duel feast is something for the whole family. Women and children join in and want to see a real fight.
Interesting seeing the two stars of many a Winnetou film in different roles like already pointed out. Wonder if it was Pierrce Price’s own voice on the english dub. Had me hooked from the start this one, as been getting quite used to Barker in westerns recently. The puppet the kid plays with will stick in my head for a while. Do not know why, but just know it will.
Traditional style certainly but a pretty good one in my opinion and very enjoyable. Nice to see Brice without his Indian garb and a pity he didn’t do more like this I think. He suits the easy going cool gunfighter type character and he and Barker make a good team in this. Like Ennioo, this one kept me entertained from the start and I will have the puppet in my mind for a long time.
Watched this one recently, as i hadn’t never seen it before. Well i found it to be ok, nothing special for an early euro spag. The two leads Barker and Brice play two gunfighters who become fast friends and in the end as opponents in a fast draw contest. The script was good though, with many interesting characters and enough gun play to keep your interested. You could tell Barker and Brice liked working together, they have that chemistry and twinkle in their eyes like they wanted to hug and kiss each other :-* Good early one. 6/10
This was a good film and well put together, I think. Two pretty cool characters as the gunfighters. I agree with the comments above - Barker and Brice had a good screen presence and partnership.
I just watched the WE version and I thought it was a decent transfer (but I don’t have another to compare it to either).
It is true there is nothing too exciting about the story or its realisation but Barker and Price are ultracharismatic and their real life friendship seems to shine trough the screen. It just has a very human touch to it. It was also cool that Brices character is a Frenchman from New Orleans.The ending is actually thoughtful. It reminds you that people will push you to unnecessary fights just for their own good while they will sit in safety. When dying starts to concern them personally it suddenly is not so much fun. Such a theme will never get old.
I watched the German Pridex Blu Ray which had very nice picture quality. Thanks to whoever pointed out the English track on this which is present as an option on the main menu but not advertised on the disk cover. There are no subtitles. The film runs 93m8s not 90m - correction for database. This r/t is consistent with the Spanish and Italian film databases.
The German title ‘The Hell of Manitoba’ is rather incomprehensible unless the movie is supposed to be taking place in Canada. All the background signs and posters are in English, not German, and as this was the German print with the German titles I guess they never shot German alternatives. Interestingly, the main characters, Brice, Barker and Koch (and maybe some others) are all mouthing English too. I think it may have been Barker’s own voice, Brice’s character speaks English in a French accent (from New Orleans is the excuse) but I wasn’t sure if it was his voice - Barker and Brice’s English tracks usually dubbed in the Winnetou movies but maybe CCC had other ideas and were thinking more commercially. Its not Koch’s own voice though as I’ve heard that on the two Sanders movies, likely because she has a German accent and is not playing a German here.
Brice’s character is called ‘Reese’ in various sources and the Italian film database but I didn’t recall him being called anything in the movie. He never gives his name. At one point Brice writes something when signing a hotel register but we never see it and he slams the register shut when Victor Israel tries to look at it. Later, there is a reference to a gunfighter about whom everything is known (Barker’s character) and one about which nothing is known (Brice’s character).
I reckon Leone or his writers may have seen this because when Brice and Barker meet by a campfire, Brice asks for coffee and says that Barker makes ‘good coffee’ and then tells an anecdote about a former lover who made ‘good coffee’. There is a similar conversation about ‘good coffee’ in OUATITW and both Jill McBain and Brice’s character are from New Orleans. Can’t be co-incidental.
I liked this movie. Quite a bit different and you were never sure where it was going. Much better than the last 3-4 Winnetou movies but then it was made by CCC - Barker made 5 movies for CCC all within a year between Winnetou II and Winnetou III just something you can’t do anymore. The interaction between Brice and Barker was smouldering I thought. Almost that of lovers.
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