This is Corbucciâs hidden gem and is rarely mentioed alongside Django and the Great Silence. Minnestoa Clay, a brave but nearly blind gunfighter who returns to his home town to take get his life back together. Meanwhile the town is torn apart by two gangs, one is headed by Fox who is cjealos of Clay, and is responsbile for Clayâs imprisonment. Ortiz a mexican wants dislikes Fox.
Favorite scene is Clay dying in nancyâs arms, but not after getting his revenge on Fox. Clay is never fully able to tell Nancy who he really is.
Second favorite scene is where a man in the town says âMinnesota clay. the greatest gunfighter that ever lived.â Before Clay was sentenced to prison, law and order wasnât such a problem.
Third favorite scene âThanks Johnthan for all youâve done fo my daughter.â Johnthanâs role is small but effective. He is fed up with Fox.
Fourth favorite scene is a prime example of Corbucci doing great work behind the camera. The gunfight at the ranch, leading into the ranch being set on fire. This is how itâs done.
Fifth favorite scene The shooting of the snake, taking the doctor hostage, and escaping from the labor camp. This scene was remarkable, and had to influence dozens of others. Within the blink of an eye, we see Clay is no hero.
A dialogue, a life, Mother of Earth:
âRunning away isnât the answer.â
âMaybe I like to run. I been runninâ since I was a kid.â
âAnd why? What did you gain by runninâ?â
âFirst it was fun. Then it was compulsion. And now âŠâ
âAnd now itâs desperation.â
[quote=âUglyOne427, post:156, topic:454â] Johnny Oro is a fun watch
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Youâre right, It definitely exceeded my expectations. I can still see why people would call it shit, but for me itâs enjoyable shit as opposed to pure shit.
I donât remember any interview or article in which Corbucci or anybody else identifies one of the two endings as the original one. I have the idea that the happy ending was the original one, or at least the one Corbucci had in mind initially. He might have had second thoughts about it and removed it, in order to get an unhappy ending. I wonât say the unhappy doesnât work, but it feels a bit sudden, not quite right.
Maybe Corbucci wanted it that way from the start, could be. Itâs more corbucci-ish than the happy ending, but it just doensât look like the final scene of the movie to me (even of the camera moves back). The scene with the glasses does, but that doesnât mean itâs the ending Corbucci preferred.
2510 meters is the film length verified in October 1964 (the production declared 2550 m), consequently there is no doubt about it.
I broadly agree with scherpschutter, in addition the camera does not move back and on the âhappinessâ of the original ending it is also important to take account of what I explained on Replies 144 and 147. See also Reply 128.
I have the ending on the German DVD from a VHS copy. It is different than this one, as the image freezes after she cries âSomebody help meâ, and then a longer title sequence follows over the frozen image.
Whatever, it is still obvious that Clay is supposed to be dead. I also doubt that otherwise a shorter unhappy end version would have been released anywhere.
There seem to be more than two different endings, even the âunhappy endingâ exists in different versions. At least thatâs the idea I get from all this; question is of course: whoâs responsible for these different versions? At what time were they created exactly?
I read somewhere that Corbucci wanted to do Django, and somewhat abandoned Johnny Oro ( if you look at the ending, itâs nowhere near as enjoyable as the first half) and the rest of course is history.
The screenplay ( Done by Adriano Bolzoni and Franco Rossetti) is too the point, and Iâm rather depressed when I think of Johnny Oro, because I think of Corbucci would have stuck around, this film could easily beat out Django in every way, shape, and form.
Apart from the first scene I donât see much (or maybe anything) in Johnny Oro, which could rival the most parts of Django. For me it is a lesser film in any respect, and Minnesota Clay shows more of Corbucciâs potential.
And if it is true that Corbucci shot only 80 % of Johnny Oro, then we still donât know which parts that could be, as films are rarely shot chronological.
What exactly indicates that there are more than 2 endings? The unhappy ending on my disc only differs for the different end credits. Changing credit sequences was nothing uncommon, and does not change the film itself.
