Another comedy and another which wasn’t nearly so bad as I had feared. And not Franco & Ciccio as I had thought but Lando Buzzanca who went on to be one of Italy’s most popular comedy stars. It’s a spoof of For a few Dollars More obviously and the comedy is reasonably broad as you’d expect but no slapstick to speak of and, again, actually made me chuckle in places. Story by the Corbucci brothers too. Strange to think of Sergio being involved in this kind of film between Django and Navajo Joe.
The opening scene is great, but that’s like a tease to make you imagine the rest will maintain that style … it is very disappointing, I’ve only watched this once the whole way through.
The DVD interview with Hill is interesting, and he seems to be apologizing for the childish humour … yeah, it’s just not funny, and it’s kind of embarrassing to watch Patrick McGoohan suffer the indignity.
Yea it’s a mess, it’s all over the place, boring and doesn’t know if it wants to be a Trinity type comedy or something more serious. With the German dub it’s even worse, they tried to supercharge the humor with it… luckily the English dub remains on serious footing for the most part
‘Fort Yuma Gold’ had its moments. Gemma’s character being tied to the ground and his eyes being held open by his adversaries so that the noontime sun would burn his retinas and render him blind was creative Kind of reminded me of Cameron Mitchell losing his sight in Minnesota Clay (1964). I think I will double dip to catch up for yesterday and today. First, ‘Navajo Joe’ (1967) with Burt Reynolds, and then 'A Man Called Blade (aka Mannaja) (1977) with Sergio Martino.
Day 27. I started with a different one tonight but because I had this rule not to repeat main actor’s I abandoned after realizing that I already watched one of his before (Carl Möhner). So I went for this seventies weirdness. Hamlet and nudity will summarize it but I was not convinced, I must say.
I wanted to enjoy this so much more than I did. The politics, aesthetics and soundtrack are all great but there is something lacking in the story… or maybe it’s the characters? I don’t know.
It’s still a good one though
Well it wouldn’t be a proper Spagvemberfest without some pain and although I’m not masochistic enough to watch the same film for 30 days on the trot whilst battling COVID 19 I felt the need for some mild discomfort at least so put this little monster in the player.
It’s as bad as you’d expect from a one gag comedy team when that gag isn’t actually funny. The version I have has only Italian audio so I may have missed some clever snappy dialogue but somehow I doubt it as their schtick is very broad and visual and largely consists of a lot of buffoonery and face pulling. Despite the lack of English options the story is very easy to follow even when getting bored and wandering off occasionally which I did more than once. Anyway, this one is now ticked off so my completist fetish has been satisfied and I can store it away without feeling the need to ever visit it again. So that’s something right?
As money and gold were already a big issue in the first two installments of the Stranger tetralogy, it comes as no surprise that at the beginning of its third part, Lo straniero di silenzio, we find the eponymous yet nameless protagonist way up north in the Klondike region, where, among very few others, Scrooge McDuck made his fortune. The Stranger arrives there a bit early, in 1884, a good decade before the famous gold rush began in 1896. However, the first spoken word in the film isn’t “gold” but “Pussy” – the Stranger’s looking for his faithful mare.
German version, Der Schrecken von Kung Fu (“the horror of kung fu”); American version, The Silent Stranger. The film’s Klondike bears a striking resemblance to the Alps in northern Italy.
He soon finds her in front of a log cabin, where a trio of cutthroats are harassing a young Japanese man. After the Stranger has neutralized the three thugs, the lad hands him a scroll with the request to take it to the Land of the Rising Sun and deliver it to a man named Motori. Reward for doing this: 20,000 dollars. So instead of “Yukon ho!” it’s “Nihon ho!” for our hero, who, once in Japan, promptly stumbles into the plot of Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo. The twists and turns of the story are not always entirely comprehensible, but the whole thing is exhilarating, well filmed, and fun. In the end, the Stranger again fails to get rich – despite his hard shell he has such a soft heart.
In his essay “Bounty Hunters, Yakuzas and Rōnins: Intercultural Transformations between the Italian Western and the Japanese Swordfight Film in the 1960s,” Thomas Klein argues that “Lo straniero di silenzio […] can be seen as the first ‘real’ hybrid of Western and samurai film” (p. 160). In “Spaghetti Westerns and Asian Cinema: Perspectives on Global Cultural Flows,” Ivo Ritzer points out how problematic the representation of the Japanese characters in Vanzi’s film actually is. Ritzer writes that “[t]he Italian Westerns featuring Asian villains almost consistently apply racial stereotypes orientalistically discriminating against the ‘Asian’, in order to advance the Caucasian hero. […] Lo straniero di silenzio […] codif[ies] ‘White’ sovereignty at the expense of the ethnic Other” (p. 169).
Next: Finally! Anthony, Baldassarre and Baldi Get Mean.
My first Crea movie this one. This must be one of his better ones because I didn’t find it at all that bad. Somewhat confusing but entertaining enough.
Needing some love today so I’m going with seminal romcom A Fistful of Dollars (Leone, 1964) , starring Clint Eastwood as a whore who will do literally anything to Richard Gere in exchange for jewellery. Sexy!
This’ll probably my penultimate viewing of AFoD tonight seeing as I’ve been watching on alternate days. Obviously if my family’s situation worsens I won’t be bothering at all but it’s kind-of acting like a talisman for me at the moment. Like, if I’m still watching AFoD by the end of the evening then we’re still doing okay, you know?
So, with The Man Who Killed Billy The Kid I managed to accomplish my goal to watch all Peter Lee Lawrence’s westerns. Days Of Violence and Fury Of JK I’d seen these two about ten years ago so I should rewatch them - I only remember that they were kind of weak.
Una Bala Marcada (Arizona On Earth …) - 8/10
Arriva Sabata - 8/10
Four Bounty Killers From Trinity - 8/10
Garringo - 7/10
Death On High Mountain - 7/10
More Dollars For MacGregors - 7/10
Killer Adios - 6/10
Killer Caliber 32 - 6/10
Awkward Hands - 5/10
Una pistola per cento bare - 5/10
Fury Of Johnny Kid - 5/10
One By One - 4/10
The Man Who Killed Billy The Kid - 4/10
Sule Mani Cadavere! Sei Un Arresto… - 4/10
Days Of Violence - 4/10
Like I said it’s a guilty pleasure. I know that the film ain’t that good but I enjoy it so why not rate it like I want. Actually it’s 6/10 but Rita gives 2 extra points.
This years turkey contender, and it has to be one of the wackiest SW ever made. The print (English) from the old Danish VHS states “Dick Spitfire” as the director, of course Fidani is responsible for this crazy shit - who else? Long random shoot outs, saloon brawls, horse riding with a narrator talking, 70s psychadelic rock music and lots of other crazy shit had me entertained for 80 something minutes. Recommended for Fidani fans
Day 26 was a holiday and Day 27 was a last minute holiday with beginning decorations for the house for Christmas. Day 28 will be my last Day for this year’s Spagvember Fest Amigos, not that I’m burned out or anything, but I’m ready to celebrate Christmas, and this damned COVID has made me want some lightheartedness and merriment even more so.
I think this one will be how I end every Spagvember Fest as its set during Christmas and is the perfect end note to move into the season.
I managed to watch an entire set of films I hadn’t seen yet through the YouTube channels Films&Clips and Kult Movie, only going with my Arrow Blu Ray of the Ringo films and, save for 2 holidays and 2 days of trailer compilations, managed to watch something everyday. I think I held out pretty good this year.
