[quote=āION BRITTON, post:35, topic:344ā]I watched it once more a few weeks ago and unfortunately it got worse on this second viewing of mine. Lots of boring scenes that have nothing to offer. Donāt know, Iām a great fan of Garko, but there were lots of moments where I didnāt like him in this movie. I thought he was really overacting at some points.
I generally never expect Steffen to elevate a movie and he was only slightly better than his typical average and wooden perfomances. On the other hand, it was a great pleasure seeing S.Rupp in one more SW as I loved his role is FoD. The score is simply fantastic, Lacerenza is surely one of unsung composers of the genre.[/quote]
I re-watched the movie recently for my VHS-DVD comparison and must say I almost entirely agree with ION BRITTON on this one.
I just viewed it and I liked it even more than the first time! It is as a true spaghetti western. Not a top of the pops SW, but it has everything a SW is about.
It has a nice dark atmosphere. Garko with a magnificent performance. I like him in these serious roles much better than in the Holy Ghost or Sartana movies.
Steffen with his own performance. Very average. With the same facial expressions.
There are some disturbing fist fights. This is common in many Cardone films. But these are not as bad as by Castellari or Barboni.
I watched this on my Spaghetti Western Bible Vol. 2 set. The print is a really bad VHS rip unfortunately and scenes were often filled with messy distortions (including one that lasts 2 minutes where you canāt see anything but grey/black distortions). So, I didnāt really get a proper experience of seeing this but what I did see was pretty good. I like the 4 ārealā Sartana movies a lot more. It was interesting to see Garko in such a different role though.
Manuela is played by Daniela Igliozzi and Mary is Angelica Ott, not vice versa (exactly the same in Dio non paga il sabato/Kill the Wickeds, where Shelley is played by Maria Silva while dark-haired Igliozzi plays the widow Judy).
Foster is played by Gianni Solaro, while Gino Marturano is the bounty killer.
Olga Solbelli, credited in the database as āMother Mary Listonā, plays the imploring woman.
In the original version the character played by Chris Howland is called Williams.
Bit part for Riccardo Pizzuti (uncredited) in the saloon scene.
Thanks Jonathon for the updates.
Your knowledge of this genre would be invaluable to the DB. If you would like to edit the DB, just PM Sebastion to get set up. Heās not much in the forum but heās still around.
If youāre not comfortable with editing, please keep posting corrections and additions and Iāll try to intercept them for the DB (or PM me as I donāt get to check the forum as often as Iād like).
I wanted to give this film another chance but it didnāt change my opinion. I think itās mostly unpleasant and boring film with some stupid ideas and many, many overlong fistfights. Steffen and Garko are good, though Garko chews the scenery a bit at times. Heās good as a villain but I prefer him as a hero. Biggest problem in the film is that itās trying so hard to be dark and serious western with epic feel, melancholic soundtrack and twisted family ties worthy of greek tragedy but I canāt just take it seriously. Thereās so many stupid and absurd ideas in the film which destroys the mood like the dynamite throwing mute Jerry (who apparently is mexican) and aztec temple which makes me wonder where the film is supposed to be located. And thereās the fistfightsā¦
At least thereās some good, strong female roles in the film.
This one is a mixed bag for me. I agree with Bill to the point, the movie tries to evoke an epic appeal but remains undecided between twisted family drama and western-gunplay. IMO this uneven impression derives from some unanswered questions:
Why does the old lady prefer the crazy nut Sartana over her elder more reasonable son, Jonny?
Why has Sartana developed to a kind of brutally insane warlord, terrorizing the people in the area, apart from making money?
What has happened to the mother and her family prior to the actual tragedy and why is she now a respected but feared widow in the local community?
I wonder what the missing 13 minutes of the version I watched could contribute to answer these questions. Undoubtedly, this movie deserves a decent release.
Pretty much agree with those who said this one is so-so.
The only really good moment being when the matriarch goes out and stops her son, Sartana, from massacring the townsfolk and gets shot in the process then goes home and dies. Quite an Italian moment I think, Italian in that they seem to have a tradition of strong mother figures dressed in black. Also liked the bit where she dies and the doors to her home fly open and the wind and dust fly in.
Still my favourite Steffen film is Django Il Bastardo. ;D
My guess would be the women being shot in the back and especially the mother and child getting trampled by a horseā¦
I share the majority opinion on this one. But Garko was great, and touches like the Aztec temple were wonderfulā¦very surreal, very alternate history. The whole brother vs brother thing gave it a mythological feel that pushed it over the Hump of Mediocrity for me. The music worked too, and they way Garko was constantly being shot from below to show thw whites of his eyesā¦so crazy stylized. āJohnnyā¦Johnnyā¦JOHNNY! JOHNNY! JOHNNY!ā
In the original VM18 version released in December 1966 - cut in 4 points one month later to obtain a VM14 rating - this sequence was longer: before Sartanaās line āNext time Iāll kill himā Carla CalĆ² battered Garkoās face with a riding whip.
Is the scene restored in the recently released DVDs?
I rewatched Mille Dollari sul Nero with the expectation to like it a bit more, but on the contrary this film got worse.
Cardone is a real below average director who hasnāt any feel for a western or any feel for rhythm at all. Oh he tries hard in this one, but he only succeeds in a few scenes when he tries some unusual camera angles or wants to ācomposeā arty looking images. Even the editing isnāt done well. Mostly it all looks flat and cheap, and when Cardone tries too hard to heighten visually the beeeg drama aspects it often only looks exaggerated. And the big drama is too simply developed anyway, it tries to create some tragedy, but with cardboard characters and generally weak acting the result is more boring than entertaining. And of course all the big action scenes suck, and the small scale ones are suffering from jolty editing.
Steffenās small hat acting shows again his limitations, and Garko, in his first SW role, is overdoing his part, and not always to good effort.
I reviewed SETTE DOLLARI SUL ROSSO, a Cardone movie as well (but he was supervised by Siciliano and I noticed that some think Siciliano did more than looking over Cardoneās shoulder). (Still working on the review)
Anyway, similar feelings (although I like the movie in the end): lack of rhythm, some good scenes, some bad ones. I havenāt seen Mille Dollari sul Nero yet, or at least not in recent times (I might have seen it in the Seventies, but iām not sure). What finally works in SETTE DOLLARI, is the melodrama and the family theme, it saves the movie. The confrontation of Steffen with his son is brief and poweful, not dwelled upon. Maybe the melodrama in MILLE DOLLARI doesnāt work, I donāt know.
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