very slight spaghetti western. not boring and certainly not the worst. like Richard Harrison in spaghetti westerns, as others have said itās easy to work out who the villain is. i saw it on the dead or alive dvd set. is this film cut because it does seem to jump a few times and the short running time of 74 mins, on IMDB it says running time is 90 minutes, or this another mistake from IMDB?
for me itās harrison bestā¦
According to Anica data original running time is 96m 50s
Lo chiamavano King - naz.: Italia - regĆa: Don Reynolds (Giancarlo Romitelli) - v.c. n. 58231 del 07.05.71 - m. 2650 - ppp: 18/05/71
itās 74 minutes and no 90
i count the minutes with my clockā¦ 
i donāt know if the version i saw was cut :o ???
A film that begins with an action scene, then a bit with horse riding, then another action scene, then some more ridingā¦rinse and repeat for 74 minutes and you have HIS NAME WAS KING.
Kinski is in it for about 5 minutes and gives a more wooden performance than Harrison.
Frenetic gunplay is on display here as the firefights are edited very nicely (check the scene with Boido) and the aforementioned soundtrack is fantastic. Other than those two highlights the film is a dud.
Awful spag imo, one of the worst.
i really like it
4 stars from me no douptā¦ ;D
I just watched this, thought it was okay, the first half is okay, but it really falls apart towards the end when Harrison goes to Mexico. Still I wonder why is Klaus Kinski the villain? Is it just because he is Klaus Kinski? Did I miss something or is it never really explained?
The last Spaghetti Western I watched was His Name Was King (1971). It is utterly, desperately mediocre, a stolid film that has a few directorial nice touches here and there but is really only for Richard Harrison and Klause Kinski (who can barely hide his boredom and phones in his role) completists. The music, on the other hand, is superb and one of the best scores I have heard for a Spaghetti Western. If only it had been used in a better filmā¦
At least it was used in Red Dead Revolver video game.
Just finished this. Took me 3 nights to watch a 74 minute movie!
Iāve had the theme tune in my head for a few weeks now then realised I had a copy of the movie on the Westerns Unchained bluray.
All I can say is that itās a good job I liked the music.
Nothing says action like a long shot of a man riding his horse across the screen that actually lasts as long as the theme tune lol ;D
If thereās 20 minutes missing thatāll explain why the movie seems a bit disjointed but I canāt see how anything missing would actually add to the flick - does anyone know whatās been snipped?
4/10 and thatās because of the cast and the music.
Coolest bit - the theme song. Itās still groovy 8)
[quote=āJonathanCorbett, post:23, topic:1724ā]According to Anica data original running time is 96m 50s
Lo chiamavano King - naz.: Italia - regĆa: Don Reynolds (Giancarlo Romitelli) - v.c. n. 58231 del 07.05.71 - m. 2650 - ppp: 18/05/71[/quote]
Only v.c. number 58231 is right: the certificate date is 14.05.71 (the original rating is T, all ages admitted), declared film length was 2350 and not 2650 and the verified film length is m.2340, equivalent to 85 minutes.
So about 9 minutes are missing from the 73m34s 25fps version.
Not sure why the database lists the running time for the Wild East disc as 86:54 minutes. The exact running time (including the black screen at the end) is 76:54 minutes. Anyway, I watched this for the first time today. Itās not a very good spaghetti but at least it entertained me. The stock footage from Vengeance was amusing. I think it would have been less out of place if they had only used shots from the distance. One moment he only has a moustache and in the next clip (taken from Vengeance), he has a beard, too. 
With more character development and better direction, I think this could have been a good one. Iāll certainly watch it again. The advantage of it being short (at least the Wild East version) is that it doesnāt last long enough for me to get bored. Itās straight into the action and like most people here, I love the theme song. By the way, did anybody else notice the weird music at 64:07 minutes on the Wild East DVD? I wonder what happened there!
Watched this last night.
First twenty minutes or so run smooth, our wagon full of smugglers is stopped twice, only to escape both times. The second time a gunfight breaks out, and the rest of the filmās plot seems recycled and predictable. The film suffers from a short running time, where I would like to have seen more of Kinski on screen as the main villian. We donāt see him much until the end. On the other hand, we see the Benson Brothers who have no respect for anyone, even the women they assualt. While they play their roles just fine, the absence of Kinski seems to throw the whole film off target. It seems heās like a minor character, yet as a minor character, he is also the smuggling leader. Had he been a major character, I would have enjoyed this a lot more. Richard Harrison is the bounty killer named King, and he does his part, but isnāt truly memorable in anyway. Kinski and Harrison fans would like this film, but I woudnāt put it amongst either actors best. I think with a longger running time, more of Kinski on screen, and fixing some of the sloppy action sequences, and you have a classic. For what it is, it is enjoyable.
Iāve watched it three times in the last few months. I like it more each time I watch it. It might not stand out as one of the greats but I think itās incredibly entertaining.
Just watched this one again. Itās definitely one of my guilty pleasures when it comes to spaghettis. It might be my second favourite Harrison western after Vengeance. Itās a pity the film didnāt have a bigger budget. It had so much potential.
Much potential, especially since Kinskiās character could have been really evil.
Liked it, though YouTube took-down the ānewā, widescreen, the supposedly 90-minute video I was watching (Iād paused it at the 47-minute mark for a couple days). When I went back I had to click the 74-minute, narrow-screen versionā¦ which was the only version showing, in order to finish watching it.
Maybe thereās a copyright-infringement involving the 90-minute version.
Anyhow, I gave the film a 5-out-of-10 basically because Marleyās relationship with the US Cavalry wasnāt explained very well. And the Benson Brothers couldāve been a little more gritty and dimensional.
I got His Name Was King on the Wild East-dvd (together with The Petiless Three/Gunfight At High Noon) and I found it a little better than my low expectations indicated. Bacalovs fine music is a mood enhancer. Maybe the story was a bit thin but I will anyhow take a future second view. I will for now rate it 6 of 10, so it is not in my Top 20.
IMDb locations now lack both Desert of Tabernas and Manzanares el Real.