18: El precio de un hombre (The Bounty Killer) (1966), directed by Eugenio Martín
The first foray into the Western genre by Spanish director Eugenio Martín, who died in January this year, remained his best (it’s not entirely clear who actually directed Réquiem para el gringo). There are several reasons why El precio de un hombre works so well: one of them is most likely Marvin H. Albert’s novel The Bounty Killer (1958), on which the movie is based (I assume so, as I have not read it). Albert’s books also provided the literary source for such well-known Westerns as The Law and Jake Wade (John Sturges, 1958) and Duel at Diablo (Ralph Nelson, 1966), and for the two neo-noir films about gumshoe Tony Rome (Gordon Douglas, 1967, 1968), starring Frank Sinatra.
Another reason is the strong cast Martín had the opportunity to work with: Cuban-born Tomás Milián but also English actor Richard Wyler (real name: Stapley), both in their first Western, and Halina Zalewska, who was of Polish origin, deliver atmospherically dense and rich performances. The supporting roles are excellently cast with, among others, Mario Brega, Manuel Zarzo, Tito García and José Canalejas. And yes, of course, Frank Braña also makes an appearance. The hapless gallows bird he plays doesn’t make it past the opening credits and only survives the first three minutes of El precio de un hombre. His character in Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo is given the same screen time: three minutes to die.
Operador Enzo Barboni keeps his camera moving with elegant agility and makes Wyler as cazarrecompensas, Milián as bandido and Zalewska as cantinera appear in best light and shadow. El precio de un hombre (The Bounty Killer) is “admirably cynical and distanced,” writes Alex Cox in his book 10,000 Ways to Die (p. 103 [2009], p. 113 [2019]), “a concise noir Western […] with a strong female lead.” And a great score by Stelvio Cipriani.
Next: Carlo Lizzani’s Requiescant (1967).