I was jonesinā for some Chelo last night 
so I watched this again.
In this one she is a haughty, cigar smokinā bitch. When she sticks her tongue out at Luigi Pistilli she looks like a gargoyle. She has an incredibly elastic and expressive face. My favorite scene is, of course, when she lifts her dress, spreads her legs ( :-*), and flashes her bloomers at her cousin the priest.
Magda Konopcka (Sweet Mama from Blindman) is a Peyote eating shaman(ess).
Usually it is Benito Stefanelliās facial hair that calls attention to itself. In this one it is his absolutely ridiculous looking wig. I canāt remember a wig this silly looking since I saw Aldo Sambrell wearing one in Duel In The Eclipse.
Monica Miguel, who used a bullwhip to strip Marina Mulligan in delightful hack director Carlo Croccoloās Gunman of 100 Crosses, has a small part as the innkeepers wife. She later went on to star and direct on Spanish television.
Guglielmo Spoletini of LāAmerica A Roma plays the bandit leader in league with Luigi Pistilli. Really not one of his better roles. He does fine with the part as written but it is, IMO, the weakest major character in the film. The ending, in which he plays a crucial part, is kind of hard to believe. But I always love seeing him.
While I donāt think Luke Askew is great in this, I liked him better this time around. But it is easy to see why, after this, he did not get any āstarringā roles. This movie is, in essence, a tale of redemption. And he played the part believably to me. Guglielmo Spoletini says to him: āWhen I look at you I wonder what gringos were like when they were alive.ā In spirit with his degraded status throughout the film, Luke wears sandals for the entire film.
I really like this movie. Viva Petroni! 8)
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As I lay awake in the middle of the night I had two more thoughts about this movie.
1 This is a movie in which a kid plays a major part. And he was not annoying in the slightest. The fact that when first posting about this film I did not mention him at all speaks highly to how completely unobtrusive a character he was. Usually I am rooting for the death and dismemberment of child Spaghetti actors. My grandaddy used to say: āChildren should be seen and not heard.ā In terms of Spaghetti I would modify this to āChildren can be seen but should not be noticed.ā The young actor in this one succeeds in that admirably.
2 Luigi Pistili is a wonderful villian in this. He was such a versitile actor. He could play so many different types of roles. I loved him as Groggy in FFDM but he played such a great range of Spaghetti roles in his distinuished career. And WHAT a face.
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[quote=āRomaine Fielding, post:43, topic:488ā]āChildren should be seen and not heard.ā In terms of Spaghetti I would modify this to āChildren can be seen but should not be noticed.ā [/quote]Are you sure that was your grandaddy? I think I might have heard that someplace else.
A WC Fields my dad alsways resites goes āDo you like children Mr.Fields?ā āOnly if their properly cooked.ā (I donāt think he liked children.) Anthony Quinnās son drowned in WCās fountain too!
[quote=ākorano, post:44, topic:488ā]Are you sure that was your grandaddy? I think I might have heard that someplace else.
A WC Fields my dad alsways resites goes āDo you like children Mr.Fields?ā āOnly if their properly cooked.ā (I donāt think he liked children.) Anthony Quinnās son drowned in WCās fountain too![/quote]
Yeah, that was my grandaddy and he was talkinā about me! But he surely was not the first to say it.
Yikes, I didnāt know about Quinnās son. How strange. An accident I hopeā¦
Purely accident.
Quinn was at a party with his wife and infant child. While in conversation, Quinnās baby wondered across the street to WCās yard and drowned.
Very tragic and despite WCās dislike for children, the accident depressed him.
Another classic by W.C. :
Someone who hates dogs and little children canāt impossibly be a bad person.
Or was it women and little children?
[quote=āStanton, post:47, topic:488ā]Another classic by W.C. :
Someone who hates dogs and little children canāt impossibly be a bad person.
Or was it women and little children?[/quote]
You were right first time Stanton, Children and small dogs.
And while this is turning into a WC Fields appreciation thread, one of my favourite quotes of his was:
āMy first wife drove me to drinkā¦and I never had the decency to thank her.ā
[quote=āStanton, post:47, topic:488ā]Another classic by W.C. :
Someone who hates dogs and little children canāt impossibly be a bad person.
Or was it women and little children?[/quote]
But the sentence structure was a bit different :
Anybody who hates Children and small dogs canāt be all bad
The structure has since been used an infinite number of times:
Anybody who hates (X and X) canāt be all bad
Any film casting John Wayne as a Pope John XXIV canāt be all bad
etc.
Continuing the off-topic WC riff:
In My Little Chickadee WC is playing cards with a rube.
Rube: "Is this a game of chance?"
WC (in that unmistakable intonation): āNot the way I play it, noooā¦ā
;D ;D ;D
Watched this one this morning and really enjoyed it.
Slow paced for much of the film but in a very good way, Pistilli excellent as the police chief and Stefanelli in a truly memorable wig.
Askew was ok imo but I couldnāt help but feel another actor might have brought more to it. RFās favourite, Chelo Alonso, lit up the screen whenever she was on it but I would have liked to see a lot more of her. She was heavily underutilised here I think.
So a very enjoyable film all round. Not perfect and not Petroniās best (Tepepa still wins that prize for me) but first class nonetheless. I am undecided how I think it compares to Death Rides a Horse. I might need to rewatch DRaH again to have a fresh comparrison. All round good stuff though. Petroni never fails to entertain.
I liked Askew in this but I thought the script suffered from shortcomings. Average SW for me. For someone who was put into the movie only to serve as eye candy, Chelo sure has some charisma and presence on screen, even though I canāt get over those wierd eyebrows. She shouldāve gotten more leading roles. I donāt find her particularly attractive, but I was impressed with her.
[quote=āPhil H, post:51, topic:488ā]Watched this one this morning and really enjoyed it.
Slow paced for much of the film but in a very good way, Pistilli excellent as the police chief and Stefanelli in a truly memorable wig.
Askew was ok imo but I couldnāt help but feel another actor might have brought more to it. RFās favourite, Chelo Alonso, lit up the screen whenever she was on it but I would have liked to see a lot more of her. She was heavily underutilised here I think.
So a very enjoyable film all round. Not perfect and not Petroniās best (Tepepa still wins that prize for me) but first class nonetheless. I am undecided how I think it compares to Death Rides a Horse. I might need to rewatch DRaH again to have a fresh comparrison. All round good stuff though. Petroni never fails to entertain.[/quote]
I watched DRAH recently and, although I still consider it first rate, it dropped a little in my estimation since I first saw it a couple years ago. I love LVC. I liked JPL. But maybe it was not weird enough for me. Night of the Serpent is a good, solid Spaghetti and I like it a lot but, even with Chelo, it is probably not as good as DRAH. I agree Tepepa is the best of Petroniās.
I donāt know why she didnāt do more films. She married a producer and āretiredā. I know what you mean about her looks in this one. To me she looks a little āhardā but I think that was the intent considering the part she played. Interesting how we notice different things. I donāt even remember her having weird eyebrows in this one. Iāll have to check it out again!
She is very much my ātypeā but, of course, she will not be attractive to everyone. I love her looks in Run Man Run. But it is her FIRE as much as her looks that attract me. In another post somewhere I called her the Human Habanero. In the peplums she was in, she always had an obligatory dance scene. Whereas in the Spaghettis she seems to smolder (to me), in the peplum dances she ignites and her awesome sensuality manifests itself. 
Chelo definitely showed more presence than the usual eye candy girls that populate SWās.
I really liked this movie. I came into it with the right expectations and was not surpirsed but I really liked it. A new top 20 film for sure. I liked Askew who at sometimes, showed flashes of Clint Eastwood. I like the pace and the action. A very well made Spaghetti.
Well I was looking at the clock alot during the film, I wasnāt too fond of the soundtrack or the characters. I guess I had very high expectations with a few people raving about it and Petroni directing.
Indeed.
I loved the introduction and the music was very good but, like āDeath Rides a Horseā, there were several weak elements. āTepepaā is easily still my favorite too.
I like this one more and more every time I see it. A beautiful western. Love the sad guitar tunes andthe rest. Definetly makes me emotional. How Luke had everything then lost it all. And I really liked Luke Askew as the lead.
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i watched this last night (again thanks to stanton) and it was a really good print but the film was disapointing to me, very slow moving and no intresting characters and luke askew is not suited for a hero leading role. film did pick towards the end with more action but only average in my opinon.
Really? You didnāt find the combination of a respectable alcalde, a hospitable inkeeper, a most pious sacristan and a cigar smoking prostitute a very interesting set of characters?
I do agree, however, that Petroni could have fleshed them out a lot more. Iād probably put this one after Tepepa but above Death Rides a Horse.