A Stranger in Town / Un dollaro tra i denti (Luigi Vanzi, 1967)

Is your TCM version widescreen ?

Yes, from what i’ve heard, it’s what Alpha Digital used on their DVD.

If you have it recorded from TCM, then it is Widescreen and actually better than the Alpha Digital release because Alpha Digital cropped the picture in an attempt to remove the TCM logo from the lower right corner!

Again, I ask, has anyone seen the Brazilian DVD for this film?

Thanks will keep my eyes open for a copy of this TCM version.

Check for a PM, amigo!

Thanks Chris :wink: .

MGM seriously needs to release this legitimately along with the other stranger films.

The Japanese disc is great. But only in Italian. >:(

Lots of A Stranger in Town screenshots here[url]http://www.spaghettiwesterndvds.com/movies/a-stranger-in-town-un-dollaro-tra-i-denti/screenshots/[/url] between three different releases. Yay.

Good image quality!

Stay away from the German DVD (Starmedia). The film is cut amateurish. Here are missing the most important scenes. One of the most useless DVD releases ever.

The film is terrific. So minimalist, with few words, great music, full of violence. When I first saw the movie, I was speechless (as in the film). :slight_smile:
He is shot with so little budget, but the result is unique.
Its atmosphere is dark and the stranger looks almost like a ghost. A man without feelings.
And the woman with your child. The only good people in an evil world.
Absolutely fascinating and entertaining.
Many people say this is a remake of a handful of dollars. I do not think. The story is probably similar, but the result is quite different.

Forgot how effective this one is and such a simple story and short running time. Many good scenes, but do like it when Anthony pretends to kiss the woman and then smashes her head on the floor. Viewed the fandub of the Japanese disc which is great quality and far better than the old bootleg disc.

There is a fandub and source is the Japanese DVD ? Cool! 8)
Has it English audio or English subtitles?

English audio yes.

Database comment:

A stranger wearing a poncho was not the only idea directly “borrowed” from A Fistful of Dollars, which led the critics to call A Stranger in Town the most impertinent of all derivatives of Leone’s groundbreaking SW. What critics often missed was that Tony Anthony’s impertinences absolutely had their own nasty charm, and he and director Luigi Vanzi were self-contained enough to bring in their own sense of taste to the archetypical story. Mean, violent, taciturn, unaffected and garnished with a great villain by Frank Wolff.

Again, excellent.

I’m writing about Tony and his movies, I’ll certainly borrow a little from your comments

I will tell you a little about the fascination that caused this film to me. A fascination that i experienced with never other SW.

I saw the movie the first time in 2006 on German television. It was midnight. It was a warm summer night in August ;D ;D ;D ;D .

I had low expectations, because the film had different reviewers. Some rated it as good, the others as bad. So i went completely without expectations to this story.

But only this beginning !!! This grand, diabolical music. It comes from only a few tones, but these are very impressive. You can see a rundown town, the wind goes through the streets, to some small wagons from a mining railroad. Then a lone rider comes. At first you only see the outlines, this are more dense. This tab casts shadows on the ground, which are captured very well with the camera.

And this Stranger does not have a poncho (like his role model Eastwood), but only an old, dirty blanket. He dismounts and opens a kind of barrier. This barrier is the gateway to hell. For what’s behind it is the hell on earth. He enters the area and ties his horse. He opens the holster from his gun belt. A wise perspective. He goes walks through narrow streets. A dead Mexican is located on the side of the road (another reminder of a Fistful of Dollars). The Stranger goes on. The streets are narrow, dark and depressing.

An absolutely oppressive atmosphere is created. There are no inhabitant to see. The town seems deserted. The Stranger looks through a window. We see a young beautiful woman with her baby. She seems like a counterpoint to this dark place. She remembers a little of Mary and Jesus (again in common with Leone’s film). But when the woman sees the Stranger, she closes frightened the curtains. Then the Stanger goes into a house. Also here is no man. He takes a bottle from the shelf. A man comes from behind and the Stranger kills him with the bottle. Until then, no word is said in the film. Minutes later, Wolff kills 20 or 30 Mexican soldiers. Without remorse. A priest is drowned … and, and, and then the figure Maruca (Gia Sandri). Completely crazy. She looks like a dominatrix. She prepares Cica, so Wolff can rape her.
To the ever-cool Anthony.

This film is terrific. He is unique. For this minimalist style, has been achieved in no more SW. He creates a unique, depressing and oppressive atmosphere. The city seems closed off from the outside world, with its own laws. It is ruled by the devil in the shape of a grandiose Frank Wolff. It is spoken little. And that’s good. The narrative rhythm is kept very quiet with a few exceptions. All factors that support this incredible atmosphere. The film is straightforward, purposeful, and incredibly screen presence.
There is no useless subplots that distract the viewer or bored.
The film was shot with very little budget, but it does not look at (some scenes were made on a garbage dump on the outskirts of Rome). There is a 85 minute fascination.

There is some criticism that the film would be a pure remake of the Leone film. Nonsense. Of course is taken on these terms. But the story is different. The implementation is another. And it is a pity that Vanzi has given only three films in this genre. Because his style is unique.

For example, Blindman. A film of the Stranger series is assigned. But even this has a very different style. The only familiar figure is the Stranger. But Blidman lack this minimalist presentation. The fantastic atmosphere. The straightness.

There may be better films in this genre. Sure. Also I find some of Leone and Corbucci films better. But I’ve not seen a movie that had me more fascinated. A fascination that I have never seen again. I am looking now for 4 years. And with every film I hope this feeling recover. But Nope. And despite some masterpieces as El Puro or DJANGO KILL IF YOU LIVE, SHOOT! All very good films. All masterpieces. But not the same fascination.
But I kept looking. But, I think this will remain for me the ultimate SW. Not the best, but the movie with the greatest affinity for my self.

Thanks Vanzi for this great work.

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Did you know, that they had filter tipped cigarettes in the west?

Maybe there was a health trend in the Spaghetti Western. ;D ;D ;D ;D

Stranger, great that you can have such an experience with a film.

Why it ain’t at the top of your top 20 if you like it that much?

Good question.
But it is not the best movie for me. THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY is certainly better than A STRANGER IN TOWN. But THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY gave me no such fascination.
The question is which movie is at the head of a top 20
The film is the personal opinion of the best, or the film that has more fascinated?
A Stranger in Town, when I first saw, I rated it 10 / 10. And it was at the top. But it is difficult to classify. In many aspects the films of Leone and Corbucci are better.

But maybe I do in two or three months a new list and A Stanger in Town is at the top. :wink:

In fact our top 20 list asks not for what one thinks are the best SWs, but instead for your personal top 20, the ones you love the most, the ones you had the most fun to watch, the ones you always like to rewatch.

It should be a subjective list. (Especially as there ain’t any objectivity)