Spagvemberfest 2023 - or the crows will drink our beers

[Companero_M (Martin)]

23: John il bastardo (1967), directed by Armando Crispino

Released on November 16, 1967, two weeks after Giuseppe Colizzi’s Dio perdona … io no! and one week before Sergio Sollima’s Faccia a faccia, John il bastardo transposes the legend of Don Juan to the Wild West and offers a unique interpretation of this oft-depicted character. Following the intellectual fashion of the 1960s, Crispino invests his Don Juan with an oedipal dilemma. John Donald, also called John the bastard, doesn’t know who fathered him, because his mother withheld that particular information from him, out of fear he might, once grown up, kill his begetter.

Crispino’s Western version of the Don Juan legend is told from the perspective of a dying man, Morenillo, John Donald’s factotum. Consequently, the entire film can be seen as a death hallucination, a surrealist reimagining of the life of a driven, haunted man whose bizarre existence comes to a bizarre end: he is crushed by a stone statue. The movie’s final images show John and Morenillo riding upwards in a tilted camera angle—on their way into myth.

With an excellent cast—including Martine Beswick, English actor John Richardson (Beswick’s husband at the time) in the title role, Glauco Onorato (Bud Spencer’s Italian voice) as Morenillo, Claudio Camaso (Gian Maria Volonté’s brother) and American expat Gordon Mitchell—John il bastardo is one of those Spaghetti Westerns whose unsympathetic, morally ambiguous protagonists undermine all possible audience identification and thus create an amoral space that subverts the conventions of Hollywood-style narrative cinema. Perhaps that’s why John the B. is still waiting for a DVD or Blu-ray release.

The oldest digital version I have has English audio and Portuguese subtitles, wrong aspect ratio. A newer version has English and Spanish audio, correct aspect ratio. The running time of both is about 100 minutes, and both are from the same source (Spanish television, I guess). Maybe one day a DVD/BD label will pick up this strange and intriguing film; it’s waiting in the archives on the Titanus website.

Next up is Fedra West (1968), directed by Joaquín Luis Romero Marchent.

[TheyCallMeGoldMod]

Day 9: The Belle Starr Story

Thoughts:
Fascinating. She was a tormented killer, he was a slimeball syndicate boss. Robert Woods got jealous of Elsa Martinelli getting more closeups than him, Belle Starr’s BFF kills him. Cool waterfalls. Jewel heist. Bruno Corazzari is a one scene wonder as a sadistic Pinkerton torture technician. Lots of cigar smoke. Shame about the soundtrack though (it’s not good). Interesting movie.

[LankyFellow]

Can’t do that many like the most , but now its L’ultimo killer
Always a pleasure to see Anthony Ghidra on the screen and unfortunately he did only a fistful .
Here is the last killer , who would like to invite the old man with the harmonica , which walk through the streets of his hometown . Probably its himself and plays a sad but fine melody .
The flic is a good one - Ultimo killer, L' - The Spaghetti Western Database

[cuchillosancheez (Roland)]

Day 8: Corri Uomo Corri

Another rewatch, and while my rating still stands at a solid 8/10, I am even more impressed by this film than before. I like the humor in this one, which for the most part remains subtle instead of becoming slapstick. Great film with probably Milian´s best performance.

[Mickey13]

Una colt in pugno al diavolo (1967) - Director: Sergio Bergonzelli - 5/10.

Considering the abundance of original ideas and some unexpected sophistication found in the storyline, the film should have become a minor classic or some kind of hidden gem, but Bergonzelli’s coarse, by-the-numbers craftsmanship simply fails to measure up to the ambitiously defined goals and thereby, the movie mostly falls through the cracks in virtue of the merely standard rendition. This is not to say that Bergonzelli totally fumbles the execution because the handling of the material turns out fine for the most part; both the pacing and the focus are taut all right, with that being said, one cannot shake off the impression that more could have been done with such a robust premise and such an amply elaborated tale. The story in general does not differ from other outings in some spectacular fashion, yet some of the details prove surprisingly unorthodox.

Firstly, the dealings between Bob Henry and George Wang are intriguing in that there seems to exist a kind of love-hate relationship between them which underlies the interpersonal dynamics throughout and eventually paves the way for the unusual resolution. Secondly, though the individual plotlines comprising the entire storyline might not be so uncommon in and of themselves, the way the whole narrative is ultimately coalesced and assembled feels sturdy and does not come off as formulaic. Bob Henry’s mordant acting style accords well with the mercantile disposition of his character; George Wang’s interpretation of the role might not introduce much novelty into the equation, but at the same time, his performance turns out quite satisfactory and eschews some of the more over-the-top tendencies of the Sanchoeqsue bandido archetype. Taking into account the plentiful upsides, the motion picture is certainly worth a look, though it should have turned out much better in the end.

[Bill_san_Antonio]

8. Vari: Shoot The Living and Pray for The Dead
   -Great film, one of Kinski’s best spaghs. 8/10

[Grinder]

Grinders no.9: …Ok this day was full of crap and so I decided to finish it the same… ladies and gentleman here is the lowpoint of my Spagvember 2023:

SETTE MONACHE A KANSAS CITY

Sette monache a Kansas City - The Spaghetti Western Database (spaghetti-western.net)

This is my second watch after the German Premiere on TV in 2005 and description still ist short and easy:
Crap. Unfunnny comedy. Only for completists.

For those who are brave:

Nonnen, Gold und Gin | RS | ITALOWESTERN | Cowboys | Wilder Westen

I promise to increase level again with next ones

[Mickey13]

@Grinder

I promise to increase level again with next ones

No need to promise, there is no conceivable way you could venture lower in terms of quality.

[Gingerbread80]

Day 9: Ramon the Mexican (1966) D-Maurizio Pradeaux. Starring Robert Hundar, Jean Louis, and Wilma Lindamar. Hundar plays Ramon, the leader of a powerful Mexican clan that has been vying for control over the local western town with the Baxter family. The movie’s drama starts when Esmerelda (Lindamar) is almost raped by one of Ramon’s brothers, and is killed by the brother of Slim Baxter (Louis). Slim is Esmerelda’s boyfriend, and rival to Ramon. Ramon and his men kill Slim’s father out of revenge. The rest of the story involves eye for an eye violence between both Ramon and Slim. I couldn’t help wondering if the writer’(s)’ choice to use names like ‘Ramon’ and ‘the Baxters’ wasn’t influenced by names of characters in A Fistful of Dollars, like ‘Ramon Rojo’ and the Baxter family, rivals of the Rojos. Ramon the Mexican had humorous moments in it. Like the white-suited businessman who gets stuck in town, and becomes witness to arguments and gun battles after he complains to a bar-keep that the town looks like it will be boring. I can’t help but laugh when I see Mexican men in these movies dressed up like they’re in a mariachi band. Ramon’s brother is wearing such an outfit when he attempts to have his way with Esmerelda at the movie’s beginning. Rating: 2/5.

[JohnnyCashFan66]

Day 9 - A Man Called Sledge
7/10

And I finished Howard Hughes’ book on everyone’s favorite subgenre! While reading about the 34 films reviewed in the book, Sledge was the only one I hadn’t watched yet. Now I fixed that.

I love westerns–American, Italian, books, video games, movies . . . but I avoided this one because I generally feel like Italian westerns that try hard to be American westerns aren’t so good. But this one was fine and fun. I think if you like “El Condor” or “A Reason to Live, A Reason to Die” you’ll know what I mean when I say it is definitely spaghetti, but also has a heavier American influence.

James Garner’s most-watched western in my house is the TV miniseries “Streets of Laredo”, based on the Larry McMurtry book. He’s a good actor, though a little on the friendly side here, while playing a decidedly unfriendly guy. If you want a simple heist / action film, check it out!

[JohnBaxter]

Last night i watched another Valerii film i’ve been wanting to see for a while, namely Il Prezzo di Potere - The Price of Power. Subsequently, i have now seen all of his westerns and may conclude that his best film is also his most famous, Day of Anger (not counting My Name is Nobody, but that wouldn’t have been a better film if the scenes directed by Leone were to be subtracted from the evaluation). I also think the inconsistency of his films (they’re never outright bad) may be an example of how people sometimes tend to blame or credit the director as though he was the only one involved who could influence the outcome. Taste of Killing, for instance, was a rather weak run-of-the-mill bounty killer story with less than excellent acting performances (it’s been a while since i watched it, so my memory might be slightly distorted) but i still think he did a solid job as director on it.

Well, considering this one, i enjoyed it. It leaves you in the mood of a political thriller rather than a western, but watching it was still an injection both to revisit other western favorites of mine as well as discovering new ones (and that’s basically the reaction i wished to get by starting watching some SW:s again). Although most of the sets were borrowed from OUTATITW, that fails to ruin the fact that they look wonderful, and as others have pointed out, it certainly benefits from the vivid towns and mass scenes, even though they don’t look much like the authentic 19th century Dallas. The cast is great too, with hardly a weak performance. The best scene ought to be Willers and Jeffersons confrontations in the dark, which really provokes that good, excited “western” feeling within me. The rest of the film is, as stated, more thriller-like, but it’s interesting right trough and further elevated by Bacalov’s score.

The only really big issue i have with this film is the lack of a really big and interesting twist or critical plot moment. I’ts “merely” a tight and well-acted thriller in a western settingAs for the grade (my usual decision angst kicks in) I’ll give it a 7+/10 for now (which could be upgraded if the film continues to grow for me).

[makesthemovie]

Spagvember Fest 2023 Day 9

First time watch

Dove si Spara di Piu

https://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Dove_si_spara_di_più

**** 1/2 out of *****

I enjoyed this film immensely, a somewhat overlooked gem in my opinion. That’s it’s a loose interpretation of the immortal Bard Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet makes it even better. Instead of the Capulets and Montagues, we have the Campos and Mounters families battling it out, though the Campos family are clearly the aggressors, hating practically every Caucasian that lives in California.

Romeo and Juliet are played respectively by future husband and wife couple Peter Lee Lawrence (for some odd reason credited as Arthur Grant) and Cristina Calbo. Like Shakespeare’s immortal couple, the Thunderbolt hits Johnny and Giulietta the very moment they first meet, realizing almost immediately the hatred between their families is pointless. Ms. Calbo even recites a little of Juliet’s balcony soliloquy, imploring Lawrence’s Johnny to forget his family as she will hers.

The talented but highly erratic Peter Martell does an excellent job as the Western version of Tybalt - Prince of Cats, now Giulietta’s brother instead of her cousin. Like the Bard’s character, Rodrigo Campos has made it his near psychotic mission to ride California of his family’s enemies. He and Piero Lulli’s character Sheriff Cooper have this somewhat platonic thing going on after they both survive shooting each other point blank, an unnamed superstition binding them. Lulli is his usual best as the corrupt lawman.

Herr Bruckner and his company Explosive Media have done a fantastic job with this release, everything looking very vibrant, along with great audio tracks. The only disappointment for me is that the featurette Shakespeare in the West didn’t have English subtitles.

[LankyGringo (Brian)]

Day 10

Minnesota Clay - The Spaghetti Western Database (spaghetti-western.net)

Corbucci’s second attempt at a spaghetti western and the one where his promise really began to shine through. It was nice to finally see this one on Blu-ray - though it isn’t completely flawless, it looks very nice and is a huge step up from any release I’ve seen before.

The story is simple enough - a man escapes from prison where he is doing time for a crime he didn’t commit. He sets out to prove his innocence but his task is made more difficult by the fact that he is going blind.

It is interesting to see the happy ending tacked on at the end of this one, compete with subtitles. I have to say though that imho the sad ending is the only way to go. It really gives meaning and poignancy to the film. The happy ending, on the other hand, really doesn’t make much sense and takes away from the impact of the film as a whole.

All in all, a fun film to revisit and especially on Blu-ray.

[Wai_Yan_Aung (Straw Dog)]

2. Viva Maria! (1965)

Louis Malle wonderfully delirious romp is dared I say an absolute delight. I’ve heard some criticism about first half which is all about their routines, but with fabulous stage performances and the two stars you just can’t take your eyes off it was for me it was every bit involving experience and a very fun one. And Malle with his cinematographer Henri Decaë had visually some interesting stuffs going on where they dove into heavily stilled shots and mirror illusions, which they later traded for kinetic, free-flowing camera movement (I was particular floored by the third musical performance. It was stunning sequence). Once revolution start tho it never stops. Whether serious or comical there are lots of well put together huge action sequences, waves after waves came in here for enough entertainment value.

Being a precursor to Zapata Westerns Viva Maria! just like all that followed has full on revolutionary spirited and served as a criticism on ruling class and the Church. Delivering blow like that with slapstick comedy has left it with fair shares of drawbacks but I think Louis Malle managed to craft a mostly successful, winning movie with light political commentary in final product.

[Bill_san_Antonio]

9. Buchs: Bullet for Sandoval

• I think this is rather underrated film. It belongs to the bleakest films of the genre, film without any heroes. Great music too. 7/10

Sadly the bluray ain’t that good, the newly dubbed scene really jumped out with different voice for Hilton. Picture quality was so soft it made my eyes sore.

[Companero_M (Martin)]

22: Joaquín Luis Romero Marchent’s Fedra West (1968)

The last time I watched Fedra West was during Spagvemberfest 2018, and unfortunately I haven’t been able to find a better version of this movie since. There is still only the English-dubbed, scratchy one and the Spanish-dubbed one, which looks even worse (two screenshots can be seen in my old post). Both also seem to be too short. One can only speculate about the original running time of Fedra West, even the website of the Instituto de la Cinematografía y de las Artes Audiovisuales with its Catálogo de Cine Español is silent on the matter.

Fedra West’s plot is based on the ancient Greek myth of Phaedra, Theseus and Hippolytus, although in somewhat muddled form, laying emphasis on its oedipal implications (“Father, I want to kill you! Stepmother, I want to …”). In the myth’s original version (which has been subject to many mutations over the centuries), Phaedra, the second wife of Theseus, king of Athens, falls in love with Hippolytus, Theseus’s son from a former marriage. Hippolytus, appalled by his stepmother’s desire, rejects her, and Phaedra’s love turns into hate. She defames Hippolytus in a letter to her husband and commits suicide. Theseus banishes his son from Athens, summons a curse, and Hippolytus is dragged to death by his chariot horses.

All three main actors in Romero Marchent’s Phaedra adaptation deliver good performances, especially Brazilian actress Norma Bengell in the title role, but also Simón Andreu as Hippolytus (both in their first Western) and James Philbrook as Theseus, depicted as a tyrannical ranchero with a bad temper. Fedra West plays more like a 1950s melodrama than a Western, let alone a Spaghetti Western. According to Kevin Grant, it “is a sterile rendering of a tempestuous story” (p. 173). I appreciate the film for its careful technical execution, its somber atmosphere, its complete lack of irony, and its old-fashioned 1950s Hollywood style, which marked a return to his roots for director Romero Marchent after venturing a little deeper into Spaghetti Western territory with his previous western, La muerte cumple condena (1966).

In the thread dedicated to Fedra West, Phil_H and autephex had good things to say about the movie, Toscano and aldo commented favorably on it during Spagvemberfest 2021, and scherpschutter wrote an informative review.

Next: La taglia è tua … l’uomo l’ammazzo io (1969), directed by Edoardo Mulargia.

[aldo]

@Companero_M

There is still only the English-dubbed, scratchy one and the Spanish-dubbed one, which looks even worse

Darn! I’d hoped you had discovered a new print … That’s a shame, as this is rather a good movie (what there is of it to see on the crappy scratched print)

[Admin (Sebastian)]

Spagvemberfest Day 10: Matalo! (Canevari)
Leone on Mescalin. An acid western. Much has been said about the movie, good and bad. With its anachronisms, wannabe-artsiness and experimental style overall (not to mention the cruelty shown or alluded to in some scenes) the film manages to put most viewers off. It is not a great spaghetti western, but I do like it because it at least is different. And if you put yourself in a fictitious older self’s shoes, when you were a young person in the 60s, then this hippie rock and roll outlaw western must have been spot on for a bad boy/girl movie watcher. Biggest downside in my opinion is that it’s just confusing and hard to follow. BluRay again excellent, thus finishing my Blood Money box set.

[aldo]

@Bill_san_Antonio

Sadly the bluray ain’t that good, the newly dubbed scene really jumped out with different voice for Hilton.

Who makes these bonehead decisions !!! … Someone’s going to have to fix their errors and put the Spanish audio back in again.

[aldo]

@makesthemovie

Explosive Media have done a fantastic job with this release, everything looking very vibrant, along with great audio tracks.

Just wondered if the English audio on this release is an improvement on the Wild East DVD, which was noisy as f**k, made worse by a de-noise filter .