DAY 6
I drew no.26 today, which means that my draw at sundown has brought me a Duel in the Eclipse: the delightfully bonkers Requiem For Gringo (Merino, 1968), featuring a host of boss-level baddies, a Tarantino-style fractured narrative, an eclipse, and a bloke in a leopard-print shawl. Grrrrrrrrrrowl!
Day 4 - Dead men don’t make shadows
Day 5 - And God said to Cain
Day 6 - Boot Hill
Spagvember Fest Day 6
El Desperado
https://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Desperado,_El
First time watch. I have to disagree a little with @Max as I thought this was honestly an enjoyable little SW. It dragged a little in the middle, but overall I would give the film a B+. It definitely doesn’t add anything new to the genre as our @Admin said in his Blu Ray review, but Franco Rossetti tells his tale very well and uses the tropes we’ve come to love about the genre to great effect.
Andrea Giordana does a pretty good job as the title character. He’s no Franco Nero, Gianni Garko, or Giuliano Gemma, but he has a presence similar to John Garfield: that of the loner who feels like a stranger everywhere he goes and can’t seem to settle. I found it very refreshing to see Piero Lulli playing a good guy for a change, so often he played jerks and scumbags so seeing him play a loving father was a treat.
Herr Bruckner does another fine job with his company’s release of this film, the image quality is fantastic, and the audio is pretty good for its age.
Day 7
Deguejo (1965)
Degueyo - The Spaghetti Western Database (spaghetti-western.net)
A spaghetti western that really doesn’t get the attention it deserves as it has an interesting but simple story with lots of action. It has elements of old school westerns, the more violent spaghettis, and just a little The Magnificent Seven blended in for good measure. Nothing in this film is life changing by any means, but it is a whole lot of fun.
DAY 7:
Il suo nome era Pot (1971) - Directors: Demofilo Fidani, Lucio Giachin - 4/10
The soundtrack from John the Bastard suits the film just fine and generally speaking, the flick is pretty enjoyable though it kinda slows down towards the end and requires some fast-forwarding for an optimal experience. I’m not sure how much of it was actually directed by Fidani; while it was definitely filmed at the Cave Studios and has the same cheap look as other Fidani productions, at the same time it displays a slightly different look from a regular Fidani entry, feels slightly more conventional both visually and narratively and utilizes its recycled score to good effect instead of shoehorning it in where it saliently doesn’t belong.
That is evidently not to say it is some grand work of art, as it most certainly is not and includes plenty of habitual Fidani attractions such as bar brawls and the likes, nevertheless, the entirety of it appears slightly more consistent and cohesive in its overall flow and buildup, plus it features one tasteful fistfight in the sandpit puddle. I dunno, perhaps it was one of those times Fidani had a stroke of inspiration (or just a regular stroke and somebody took over from him). At any rate, the motion picture winds up being prepossessing enough in spite of its baseborn origins.
O tutto o niente (1968) - Director: Guido Zurli - 6/10
George Ardisson’s best western far and away and one of those hidden, cheap gems one feels lucky to excavate from the vault of cinematic history. Albeit nothing inordinately grand, film’s graceful simplicity combined with its cheapness informs the viewing with the mellow atmosphere characteristic of those lesser-known but none the less entertaining outings whose compromises as well as frugal pragmatism shaped them in some distinctive, charming ways.
It is superior to multiple more renowned entries not only by virtue of the aforementioned constituents, but also by reason of its leisurely pacing which imparts some extra character. Additionally, Ardisson turns in probably his most charismatic performance yet in that he does not appear to be reprising this or that role, pretending to be this or that spaghetti A-lister, but rather finds his own voice and produces a genuinely convincing persona in the course of film’s developments. Throw in some solid directing courtesy of Zurli as well as some decent photography and you obtain the highly enjoyable mid-tier entry which is a lot better than what its obscurity would betoken.
Day 7: Il Mercenario
Had much fun with Quien Sabe? yesterday, so decided to continue with another Zapata. New technologies, explosions, many shoot-outs and great humour (can just speak about german synchronisation here). Again I was well entertained.
I still need to see this one myself, looks like a fun time indeed.
#6 Petroni: Tepepa
-Classic. Re-watched Koch’s bluray which is really good quality release, I only wish it had a complete english subtitles -or at least during Welles’ parts, he mumbles his dialogue so low I can’t hear shit. 8/10
Day 7
My first rewatch of one of my favourites. Haven’t seen this one since I first saw it when the Vengeance Trails box set was released, where I graciously placed it all the way up at number 6 on my ranking list. I was worried I wasn’t gonna enjoy it as much on a rewatch but nope, this film is bloody excellent. One of the best non-Leone spags imo.
DAY 7
Drew no.6 today, and it’s a Fidani! Yes! For my money, it’s the best Fidani (the “best Fidani” being a relative term of course, but still): I’m strapping myself in for the magnificently titled Dead Men Don’t Make Shadows (Fidani, 1970), the Plan 9 From Outer Space of spaghetti westerns (I mean that in its best sense, btw; I bloody love Plan 9). I mean, the movie claims somewhat dubiously that dead men don’t make shadows, but it’s also known as The Stranger That Kneels Beside the Shadow of a Corpse, so now I don’t know what to think about cadavers and their light-impeding abilities (or lack thereof). And that’s before the movie’s even started!
Spagvemberfest 22 in effect! 
Im doing some little videos on Instagram to celebrate my favorites of the genre. Will try to watch as many as I can too.
I do have to say that I think that Simonetta Vitelli looks particularly fetching in this film. That, above all else, is what sticks out to me about this film. 
I got to meet her at the 2013 Almeria Western Film Festival … she’s aging rather well, I mean she looks exactly as she did in the 1970s - we didn’t have any in depth chat, due to language restrictions … so we just said ‘Ciao’ 
Day 7 - “The Fabulous Trinity” (1972) Ignacio F. Iquino
Crappy Spanish comedy western featuring who would become the three fat brothers in the sequel but also Richard Harrison in his final western role. To say it’s a low point of his western career would be an understatement. Decidedly not good at all.
Off-topic (apologies) but similar energy: I went to a Comic-Con in London where Caroline Munro was signing autographs. Her table was empty just as we were coming away from the immense queue for Robert “Kryten” Llewellyn, but I didn’t dare go over there because I’d had a crush on her when I was a wee’un which graduated to full-on fancying the f@ck out of her as I grew up, and she still looked good, and I was scared I was going to start acting like a clueless lovestruck cocksmacker in front of my wife. So I just gave her the lamest of coy, blushing “Lady Di” half-smiles and jogged on. 
On a similar topic, my wife and I were in Seattle, WA several years ago visiting my niece. The morning we flew back, she insisted on taking us to a restaurant she claimed had the best pancakes known to mankind and they were pretty damn tasty! As I sat there stuffing my face, in walked Nicoletta Machiavelli with a couple of friends but I didn’t have the nerve, or desire to be so rude, to approach her in that setting. She did catch me staring at her across the room like some deranged stalker at one point and, instead of having management remove me, she smiled at me. That was good enough.
Spagvember Fest Day 7
Sette Dollari sul Rosso
https://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Sette_dollari_sul_rosso
Rewatch. Love this SW, a nice mix of American and Italian tropes of the genre. Revenge has never looked better as Johnny Ashley searches for years to get the man that murdered his wife and stole his son to raise himself.
While I felt Alberto Cardone went overboard with character melodrama in Mille Dollari sul Nero, he mixes the action and character development nicely here, near perfect balance. I often wonder if he was a very dedicated Catholic as his Westerns always seem to have a quote from the Bible in them, which is a nice touch I have to say.
Anthony Steffen is quite impressive as Johnny Ashley here, he doesn’t do much facial expression wise, but you can feel the anger and sorrow within. Fernando Sancho is at his nastiest and meanest as El Chaca, even when he’s laughing there’s nothing amusing about him, which shows a very impressive bit of acting from Sancho.
The DVD from Koch Media is pretty solid, and while some small moments are a little blurry, this doesn’t affect the viewing experience as all the important parts look great. A shame the mini documentary on Francesco De Masi wasn’t subtitled in English like the film, but you can’t bet 1000 every time.
That’s very gentlemanly and proper, LG … though I’d say Nicoletta would almost be used to men’s awestruck stares by then - Even as a mature lady she still had a real magnetism, and was very down to earth and in no way Diva - esque or self important.
I had a nice chat with her, again in Almeria (2011) … she thought she was a rotten actress, and felt she was only hired because of her looks. I mentioned ‘Navajo Joe’, and she said Burt was ok, but quiet (there’s a surprise!) and she had enjoyed making the film because she loved the desert locations - she had no recollections of Burt Reynolds and Corbucci not getting along … so I think many of the stories about that production are just urban legend?
