Since my childhood I am into Bud Spencer & Terence Hill and I have seen all their movies many, many times since then. So, there is always a lot of nostalgia when watching bringing back a lot of memories from the 80`s.
In nowadays I definitely prefer their serious stuff like the brilliant Colizzi Trilogy.
UN GENIO, DUE COMPARI, UN POLLO has never been one of my favourites for several reasons. Most important fact maybe is that in Germany it was marketed as NOBODY IST DER GRÖSSTE, so as a direct sequel to IL MIO NOME È NESSUNO. That for sure never worked and was rather disappointing not only for me. I only learned much later that this was a marketing “trick” when I began to read my first books about Spaghetti Western.
Also the story in total is not that exciting or satisfying as total work. There are many brilliant single scenes but also much boredom inbetween.
But the cast with Terence Hill, Klaus Kinski, Raimund Harmstorf and many others for sure is worth giving it a try again.
At last christmas I got the German Super 8 reels as present and now it was the right time for watching
For sure together with buddies Spencer & Hill:
It is on 3 reels of about 120m each. In total this is about 53 minutes, so only more or less 50% material of the Original cinema version.
It was released in 1979 so that was the first home cinema edition.
Reels 1 and 3 of my copy have good color and good sound. Sharpness is so and so. Reel 2 was copied on other material and is red/brown but with good sound and good sharpness. Image is Widescreen 1,66:1 what is accetable.
In this short version really entertaining and a nice collectors item btw
For more Super 8 information and screenshots I recommend this website:
Super 8mm lovely! Thanks for the info, Grinder … even the worst movie on actual cine film is more than tolerable .
A few nights past I ran an 18 minute cut down version of ‘Shalako’ … this one didn’t try to compress the whole story - It begins with Honor Blackman’s peril, witnessed by Stephen Boyd, then goes on to show a shoot 'em up with the Apaches attacking and finally Sean Connery and Woody Strode fighting with lances.
It was a standard pan scan version and the print seemed a little dark, but it still brings out the childlike fascination in me when I see projected film.
PS: Not counting ‘Shalako’ as one the 30 in this year’s fest - I’d gladly watch ’ Shoot the Living and Pray for the Dead’ on Super 8mm, and I fecking hate that film !
That’s interesting, as I’d never heard that one before … only known by that name on VHS release by Techno Film, who also released a full length English language version under it’s original name.
Day 6: Requiem for a Gringo (a.k.a. Duel in the Eclipse) (1968) D: Jose Luis Merino/Eugenio Merino. Starring Lang Jeffries, Fernando Sancho, Marisa Paredes, and Femi Benussi. Gringo (Jeffries) returns to his family’s hacienda after fighting in a war (Mexican Revolution?). He’s wearing a leopard print poncho, so we know he’s pretty confident in himself as a person. Gringo soon begins to lay waste to Carranza’s (Sancho) annoyingly cocky banditos over payback for a past wrong they committed against him. I really liked this one! Revenge movies (especially Eurowesterns) can be handled rather poorly if not made a certain way. If not done right, I’ve been left feeling unsatisfied with the vengeance being meted out. In Gringo, I thought the director competently left me feeling like justice had been carried out against Carranza’s despicable goons. I don’t know much about Jeffries, but I thought he did a great job in bringing out Gringo’s mysterious and sinister nature. As a humorous aside, a minor character at a local tavern/inn, named Lupe, sounds like she’s being called “Loopy” by the dubbed in voice of the tavern keeper. Rating: 4/5.
I do not quite understand why this is not more popular, as it happens to be a pretty good one. I do not mean to say that it is some sort of masterpiece, since it is indubitably a minor entry and does not feature much action, nevertheless, it outshines numerous other works of the sort in virtue of some curious writing choices and decidedly constitutes one of the more solid latter-period examples, especially as far as comedic outings are concerned. Firstly, though it recounts the same old story of the domineering landlord terrorizing necessitous farmers, the central duo does not really side with the poor and consistently sticks to their own interests in a genuinely callous manner which confers quite a bit of sardonicism and provides a welcome acerbic counterpoint; there is no attempt at even whitewashing their thoroughgoing self-interestedness and the film culminates in the arrantly cynical finale.
Secondly, Steffen must have learned a bit of acting by 1973 because he turns in one of his best performances here in that he appears quite relaxed as opposed to being so tense as though he was on the brink of having a stroke; there is great chemistry between him and Camardiel who likewise puts on a wonderful show and proves himself as an excellent comedian and as a splendid performer in general. Thirdly, Demicheli seems to have been one of the very few directors in the genre who had a truly good taste for comedy, resolutely opting for corny situational humor instead of hardcore slapstick; the film prodigiously benefits from the low-key, laid-back approach and combined with the balanced pacing and Demicheli’s firm grasp on the narrative, the flick turns out surprisingly engaging and superior to most other comedic efforts from the same period in spite of the forlorn appearance of its exteriors, the cheapjack interiors and the low production values all around.
Thank you for sharing this! I’ve developed a spinoff interest in proto-Eurowesterns. Just to see some of the key enjoyable elements of the genre in their germination period.
All three of Giuseppe Colizzi’s spaghetti westerns are an exercise in style. This one forgoes the sweeping wide shots of the Spanish desert from the previous “Cat and Hutch” films in favor of tighter angles and more closeups. Main fault is that the story is hard to find coherent for much of the early film, although it does improve as it goes on.
Spagvemberfest Day 6: 10.000 Blood Money (Guerrieri):
Film two in my foray into the Blood Money box set and it is sort of the companion piece to the other Garko/Camaso vehicle even though the two have of course nothing to do with each other aside from a shared production history and such. Another very good, violent and stylish western. However I do have to say that I found it hard following the story, that’s due to the bad pacing and a bit shoddy script that somewhat hurts the movie’s impact and quality slightly. It’s still entertaining and quite a movie. The BluRay is almost even better than the other.
**** out of *****. While not on the caliber of Sollima’s inaugural Western The Big Gundown, Run Man Run still has quite a bit of meaty material to enjoy. I felt the film moved a little slower than when I viewed it in my college days of long ago, but never once did I feel bored or that spots were unnecessary or filler.
Tomas Milian is always a pleasure to watch, and the character of Cuchillo suited him like a 2nd skin. One of my favorite moments is when Cuchillo wins the pot from the duel between Cassidy and Steve Wilkins and puts the peso he took back on the table. It shows that while Cuchillo is a thief, he’s not without some form of ethics, showing he’d never steal from someone he thought really had need of it.
Donal O’Brien did a wonderful job as Ex-Sheriff Cassidy, a man going through an internal crisis who eventually finds the answers and meaning he looked so long for.
John Ireland was a fantastic surprise as Gen. Santillana, he really had me believing he was a charismatic Mexican revolutionary, even with his hard to miss blue eyes. I wish more of his SW’s like Odio per Odio and Tutto per Tutto would get Blu Ray releases.
The Eureka! Blu Ray is fantastic looking, miles and miles above the Blue-Underground DVD. It always disappointed me that BU didn’t try to clean up the Italian audio track, but Eureka! made me super happy with bringing that track back to clear and crisp life along with finely translated English subs. I’ll still hang on to the DVD primarily for the interview with Sollima and Milian.
How can it be too harsh … Not a popular opinion I’m sure, but that’s what I’m seeing - He does the same thing in ‘Long Live Your Death’, opposite Eli Wallach.
For me, he’s a handsome leading man, hence his long career, but a horrible actor.
I know lots of people like him … not an issue for me at all - I’m just a bit picky these days …
There are films that I used to love which I can no longer stand, and ones that I didn’t get when I was younger which I now appreciate more - Tastes fluctuate over time, not necessarily for the better, but currently I have a low tolerance to slapstick style performances.
PS: I’m still interested in hearing others talk about their likes and dislikes, whether I’m a fan of a particular film or not … I’m sure there are some movies I enjoy that others will hate … I may even be watching some later this month.
Fulci: Silver Saddle
-I like this film even though I usually can’t stand these kind of westerns with kids. Theme song is good but repeated too often. I also like the Snake character, he had some funny scenes. 6/10
These spaghettis are largely films my father grew up with, but this is a western that was released when I was a year old. I can’t say why I warmed up to this one a little more on a second viewing. The first time I didn’t care for it. Maybe it is because everyone involved seemed genuine, wanting to make the kind of movie they love, with their hearts in the right place.
This a real amalgamation of things that Nero and Castellari must have loved. It borrows from so many disparate sources. Clearly it owes the most to Keoma, but also Dances with Wolves and Sam Peckinpah. While the theme song sounds like a blend of Roger Miller’s “Lucky Luke” and Francesco De Masi’s “Lone and Angry Man”, there is an operatic score that really sounds like it belongs to Amadeus (1984). Yup. We’re in strange territory.
Those Dirty Dogs is also known as Campa carogna… la taglia cresce, Los cuatro de Fort Apache and Charge! It’s late in the Italian Western genre, so it has the slapstick ingredients of other latter cowboy films. It also has a song, “The Wind in My Face,” that was written by star Stephen Boyd and composer Nico Fidenco. Boyd even sings it.
Captain Chadwell Williams (Boyd), Lieutenant Junger Kohl (Howard Ross) and Sergeant Washington Smith (Harry Baird) have been assigned to get back the hundreds of rifles that Angel Sanchez (Simón Andreu) has stolen. They’re joined by Korano (Gianni Garko), a bounty hunter who carries a pink umbrella and the Koran.
It’s a weird cocktail here because fight scenes have sound effects and slaps, while the film starts off with a brutal massacre by Angel and his gang. And Sanchez isn’t even the main villain. That’s the general, played by Alfredo Mayo. He’s not frightening at all, so we start to realize that this is a post-Trinity Italian Western. At least Garko is still kind of Sartana here, having a machine gun hidden inside his umbrella.
But hey — I’ll watch anything Helga Liné is in. And this also has Teresa Gimpera (The People Who Own the Dark) and Gabriella Giorgelli (the mother of Lou Ferrigno’s Hercules) are in the cast.
It has a pretty great tagline on the poster: “The preacher of death who calls himself a follower of Mohammed; The virile Mexican revolutionary to whom every married woman is his to take; The insane General who believes he is Napoleon, destined to conquer America … and Chadwell – the dirtiest of them all!” And you know, at least a hundred people get killed, so if you’re into the more violent side of the Italian West — along with some hijinks — you’ll find something to enjoy.
