Lol. Like it’s an elusive gem that can’t be found. Kind of like John the Bastard.
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Update: Once Upon a Time… in the West
Rewatch.
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Spagvemberfest 2025
Day 29
The Valdez Horses (Sturges / 1973)
Watched the UK Indicator bluray release of this which includes a couple of interesting interviews with the writer and make up guy. Nobody has a good word to say for John Sturges. Apparently, an arsehole and waste of space who brought nothing to the film. It’s an Italian production for sure but feels very much an American western of the early 70s period rather than a Spaghetti. Nothing wrong with that. It is quite enjoyable and is a typical Bronson vehicle for the period.
6 Likes
‘THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY’ (1966)
I haven’t had much time to watch SWs this year, but the ‘Dollars Trilogy’ has been a must-see.
Yesterday, I viewed my favourite of the Trilogy, in the extended version…so very beautiful in every way imaginable.
It has lost none of the magic that captivated me when I first watched it on TV in 1976…sheer bliss from start to finish - no matter whether you watch the International, or extended cut. I love both versions.
8 Likes
This year I didn’t came here to tell you what I’ve been watching, shame on me, but I was in competition. I saw 18 films.
I’ve watched Zabalza’s films, rewatched some classics. Overall, it went well. I survived.
I wrote my reviews on my blog (Portuguese only), and they’re listed on my Letterboxd.
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Then, why he did not kill them all? 
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Spagvemberfest 2025
Day 30
Apaches (Kolditz / 1973)
I’m flying off on a week’s holiday early tomorrow morning so needed to get ahead and finish Spagvember this afternoon. My destination is Germany so it seemed fitting to finish the month with a eurowestern from Deutschland. And in this case the old East Germany. I’ve seen a few DEFA westerns over the years and I think this is one of the better ones. Gojko Mitic wrote as well as starred in this one and it has no surprises but is entertaining enough and doesn’t outstay its welcome. A good one to end on I think.
And so another Spagvember comes to a close for me. I will be scouring the shops and markets of Lubeck, Hamburg and Berlin over the next week to ensure I go home with at least some spaghetti western goodies I usually can’t get in the UK. And will finish the week with an overdue catch up with our illustious administrator in Berlin. See you soon, Seb.
4 Likes
Day 29: Kill, Django…Kill First! (1971) Directed by Sergio Garrone. Starring Giacomo Rossi Stuart, Aldo Sambrell, Silvio Bagolini, George Wang, Krista Nell, Diana Lorys and Isarco Ravaioli. Burton (Sambrell) (who is actually a wanted Mexican bandit named Manuel Santana) has been using a blackmailed Mexican outlaw named Lupe (pronounced “Loopy” in the English dubbed version I watched) Martinez (Wang) to kill anyone gold mining on the land he wants for himself. After a failed attempt by a couple of his goons to rob him while he is mining for gold, Johnny/Django (Stuart) becomes friends and business partners with squirrely, old gold miner Thomas Livingstone (Bagolini) and courts Molly (Nell), the lovely sister of the local doctor (Ravaioli). However, Johnny/Django’s budding gold enterprise with Thomas inevitably runs into conflict with Burton/Santana’s eyes for Molly and his plans to forcefully gain monopolistic ownership of all gold mining operations in the area.
Though not even close to the caliber and quality of Garrone’s ‘Django the Bastard,’ and the choice to have Wang play a sword/machete wielding Mexican when he could have cast Wang as a Chinese outlaw (there were sizeable numbers of Chinese in the old West); I thought Johnny’s/Django’s friendship with the loveable drunk Thomas endearing. And maybe it was just me, but Isarco Ravaioli (who played Molly’s brother and town physician, Doc) bore a striking resemblance and mannerisms with actor/comedian, Charles Grodin. I like how Kill Django featured a collective backlash against Burton’s/Santana’s oppressive control over local gold miners. SW’s sometimes get stuck in the cinematic trope that only the protagonist is needed to take on powerful villains. It was refreshing to see a revolt. Rating: 2.5/5.
6 Likes
My Spagvemberfest has been poor as I’ve only managed to watch four films:
Pray to God and Dig Your Grave
Gunman of 100 Crosses
God Will Forgive My Pistol
The Tramplers
I’d say out of these spaghs, Gunman of 100 Crosses and The Tramplers were the better films.
8 Likes
No. 27 TAKE A HARD RIDE
Certainly not an intelligent movie but an entertaining one. I like the mixture of Western and Blaxploitation and Jim Brown and Fred Williamson perform really ultra cool. LvC is not in best shape. No comparison to his performances only few years ago. Jerry Goldsmiths music gives you the feeling of an US Western but the landscapes are Europe Islands…crazy stuff.
7/10
No.28 E IL TERZO GIORNO ARRIVO IL CORVO
OK, I like Fidani but I surrender watching Crea. This is absolutely nothing.
1/10 ( 1 point for the recycled Score of JONNY YUMA)
6 Likes
Challenge of the McKenna
(La sfida dei Mackenna)
Leon Klimovsky, 1970
From one - officially - Klimovsky-directed drama to another. I figured some kind of continuity between the movie choices would be suitable. Like the previous film, it has the feel of a melodrama rather than a western and is often viewed fondly by genre fans who’ve sought it out. However, stopping this film after the opening sequence would lead you to the conclusion that the similarities end there, for the first things i saw immediately after turning the film on was a clumsily filmed scene with questionable acting. It made me think there was perhaps a reason why 20 of its 33 Letterboxd voters gave it a ranking worse than three stars out of five in spite of its fanbase championers.
Luckily, things get better after that, when the imaginative dialogue and character portraits kick in after 15-20 minutes. Diego’s daughter remains a bit of a problem in the acting department, however, as the scenes which involve her are quite prone to acting which brings to mind so-so amateurish historical drama productions. The same is partially true about the sheriff. Again, i think the poor dubbing at the very least does absolutely nothing to improve this. If i find the Italian audio sometime this might not even be as big a problem.
Several people have noted that the age gap between Jones and Maggie bugs them, but it wasn’t a big deal for me. Ireland’s character is probably supposed to be a bit below his actual age, and Incontrera about her actual age or a bit older ( after all, it’s implied Diego’s adult children were not too old during his brief relationship with Maggie ). It’s not entirely impossible to narrow their age gap to a decade or thereabouts, a not too controversial age gap by contemporary standards. Their interaction - which is not synonymous to their love scenes - provides something of the well needed common thread of what is honestly a slightly thin plot, as much of the movie is seen from Jones’ observation of the dysfunctional family which he gets involved with against his will, and it’s that quiet and reflective mood which in the end makes the entirety work.
Maggie is perhaps the most dynamic character in the film, being a strong female character in something of a commanding role (she IS the boss…), not clearly a noble person (…of a brothel) but far from the “despicable independent but unfortunately morally decadent female” - which, particularly in older media, is an all-too-common portrait of women in her kind of position - and certainly has a good heart deep down. While the passionate kissing scenes aren’t really anything the world would have suffered from missing, her relationship with Jones reflects the mutual alienation we can safely assume these two odd types feel towards the world. Wood’s character fail to live up to the portrayal i’m certain a good genre actor like him could have pulled off, mostly staying a somewhat superficial dogged henchman to his father - played competently enough but also somewhat underdeveloped by Carmadiel - but he does a fair job with the part he was given.
This was a bit of a tricky review to write because i’m still not entirely sure what to think of it. Nevertheless, my feelings about it became increasingly positive as it went on, and finished good despite the somewhat rushed conclusion. Apart from some overacting issues (mostly early on) and melodramatic pitfalls of the plot which linger with me, if anything, a film which tries something else than mindless action and makes a shot at nuanced characters with more than insignificant success while doing a good job at passing the time does per definition deserve a rating above the crowd. (Not placing it in the genre’s upper tier after my previous comment on Death Knows no Time might then seem a slight, slight bit inconsistent).
9 Likes
1971 - Dead Men Ride (Anda Muchacho Spara)
First time watch, and a really enjoyable one!
An inmate escapes from a chain gang and sets out an a journey of gunplay in a corrupt town where local elites run the peon prison camp–but is our protagonist in it for gold or revenge?
The music fits the atmosphere. It is a little melancholic, but as an afterthought, not as a major theme like in “Keoma.” Ultimately it was just well made. You can tell that little things like the lighting of indoor scenes received more care than your average spaghetti of the time period.
4/5
1967 - A Bullet for the General (Quien Sabe?)
Rewatch. 4.5 / 5. All I can say is that this is a classic for a reason, and it really deserves an updated HD transfer.
Can we dream of a time when the remaining 4 Blue Underground releases get updated and superior HD transfers? A box set with this film and “Companeros”, “Django Kill” and “Mannaja” would be a delight.
8 Likes
Which Bronson western do you like better? The Valdez Horses or Chato’s Land?
A Bullet for Sandoval 1969
Watched the Blu-ray from VCI. The presentation is acceptable at best. You know, typical VCI. This one is considered an underappreciated classic, and I can certainly see the appeal.
Gianni Ferrio composed something marvellous for this film. The music runs through this film like a river. The timing of every note is impeccable.
It’s filled with emptiness from start to finish. Warner (George Hilton) does not have much other than his vengeance. All the deaths in this movie are treated in a comical manner. The ending is not your typical showdown. Borgnine delivers fantastic performances when he makes the necessary move.
This one definitely needs an upgrade. Hope it gets the royal treatment from Arrow.
8 Likes
Friday - Il prezzo del potere
Cinema premiere in december 1969 and it was the last Gemma western of this kind for a long time .
Saturday - Amico , stammi lontano almeno un palmo
Ben and Charlie gave me a good time . Well i dont care , if the sun wont shine …
Today - California
And with this great twilight i’ll finish Spagvember 25
12 Likes
I know how you feel. Last year I started a new job and I think I only watched 10 movies total the entire month of November. It was frustrating since Spaghvemberfest is the closest thing I have to a holiday or religion I celebrate in my life. Hopefully next year will be better for you. I enjoyed The Tramplers as well 
4 Likes
Watched 28/29 November:
Savage Gringo aka Ringo del Nebraska (1966) - Wild East DVD
Cry Onion (1975) - DVD R of the 83m Pal version with an English track which included several scenes missing from the 79m version for which there is a comparison link. Then watched several of the missing scenes in Spanish on You Tube.
Ringo the Lone Rider (1968) - Koch DVD (which had English track but no English subtitles)
In neither of the Ringo films was Ringo called Ringo, at least not in the English versions.
I can see why some people think Cry Onion is the worst Italian western ever but I managed to watch almost all of it in one sitting so it was definitely better than a few others. Though I found it pretty bad. All those speeded-up chase scenes were like Benny Hill or The Goodies.
7 Likes
Day 30: Life is Tough, Eh Providence? (1972) Directed by Giulio Petroni. Starring Tomas Milian, Gregg Palmer, Janet Agren, Dieter Eppler, Stelio Candelli, Maurice Poli, and Giovanni Cisnfriglia (aka. Ken Wood). Bounty hunter Providence (Milian) and the Tuco to his Blondie, Hurricane Kid (Palmer) scheme against local authorities by Providence turning Hurricane in to a town’s sheriff and then later breaking the outlaw out of jail. Providence collects the bounty, and the bounty of his newly sprung partner in crime goes up by the time they reach the next town.
Their arrangement gets thrown into chaos when Hurricane Kid gets smart (well, smarter) and turns Providence in as the Hurricane Kid to a corrupt sheriff running a counterfeit money printing operation. The two schemers end up becoming friends and partners by the end of the movie as they take on the funny money operation and a band of former Confederate soldiers who haven’t accepted that they lost in the Civil War.
Having realized that this Spaghvemberfest has been completely void of the great Tomas Milian, I decided to end this year’s fest on an upbeat note with this funny, screwball comedy that refreshingly isn’t focused on parodying SW’s. Much of what makes it so funny is the slapstick between the brilliant yet eccentric Providence and his big, dumb sidekick, Hurricane Kid. I don’t think any other actor would have captured the quirky depth and physical humor of Providence the way that Tomas Milian did it. Life is Tough is not a great movie, but it delivers humor and broke the mold of the Trinity/Bambino dynamic of SW comedies. Rating: 3/5.
7 Likes
No. 29 I CRUDELI
Time for quick Super 8 screening. 19 minutes in black and white. Good cut, good summarize of the movie. Like an extended Trailer. Joseph Cotten fits perfect in such roles.
8/10
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I’ve seen this cut down version - it’s nicely edited for a Super 8
