On the swedish videosleeve it says it´s “a western with a thriller plot” and that´s just right. Typical heist story where a gang of various gentlemen plans a complicated job against the most secure bank in the west, the one in Sun Valley. Every one of the seven gangmembers have their part to do, with precision timing, and the plan is pretty spectacular as it involves the blowing up of a couple of buildings to hide the explosion of the floor under the safe for it to fall down in a tunnel that´s been dug under the mainstreet. All goes well, and the gang hides out in a small cabin on a snowy mountainside, but one of the members turns greedy and plansto keep the gold all for himself…
I really enjoyed this one, very good story, not at all typical western, but the plottwist wouldn´t have worked if the story was placed in modern time. Big plus for Fernando Sancho in a brilliant role!
Go to mention the cool themesong about the dangers of the lust for gold, sung by Don Powell, if you want to check out what he looks like in a madman-spacesuit watch the mindfrying ESCAPE FROM GALAXY 3.
Although it’s fairly tepid and lacks originality (its heist-gone-wrong plot had been overworked by this stage), this is still a very watchable late entry. That’s mainly down to the ensemble acting, with good roles in particular for Piero Lulli and Fernando Sancho, who plays the unwitting hero with a surprising degree of restraint (and gets the benefit of a wonderful final shot, which is amusing without being irritating). He also earns the affections of Patty Shepard, despite trying to force himself on her at one early point! Only in a Euro-Western…
The build-up to the robbery is sluggish, but afterwards the pace picks up as the film leaves the confines of Sun Valley – which has boggy streets in the manner of contemporaneous American ‘realist’ Westerns like Dirty Little Billy – and heads for the hills, where the gang members begin to double-cross each other in the snow.
Just when I thought I’d not many nuggets left to find within my rhinestone studded dvdr cases, I found this and another bunch of unwatched spags ;D . This proved to be a goodie … too wordy in places - but as muddy a town as Django, and some real snow, and this sets the scene for (as mentioned) great roles for Piero Lulli and Fernando (as the reluctant hero). Enjoyable, and a different feel to many. I need to dig some more …
Surprised me this one, as thought was going to be a comedy going by the cover I have for this. Some nice scenery and like you say Rev…a different feel than some.
I liked this one a lot. I thought first that Mark Edwards is the hero or main character at first but was (pleasantly) surprised as Fernando Sancho turns out to be the (anti-)hero. One of his bigger and better roles and rest of the cast is good too. Snowy and muddy landscapes and Cipriani’s fine score create nice atmosphere. Melodrama between Charly Bravo and two sisters was fine addition to the story but unfortunately this subplot ends when they get out of the town. The ending was little bit stupid though but since it all happened to Sancho it’s easy to accept such a happy ending.
Yeah I was expecting a stupid comedy western when first seeing the title, but turned out to be very dark, tightly directed… similar to Taste of Death. Great role for Fernando Sancho, I was cheering for him… especially like the emotional scene with him and the girl in bed.
[quote=“Lindberg, post:11, topic:1666”]I didn’t like this one very much, it didn’t have what I’m looking for in a SW, even if the snow setting and Fernando Sancho was good
Uninteresting plot and very un-spaghettiesque music… boring movie to me
The finnish vhs is surprisingly sharp and clear picture quality, too bad about the film itself[/quote]
Well, yes, that pretty much nails it. Only that there isn’t much atmosphere neither in the mud nor in the snow scenes. And Sancho is… uhhh, it’s simply Sancho as usual, not more not less. Piero Lulli is weak.
The directing is remarkably unimaginative, as is the story. 4/10
A month ago, I saw this brilliant IW!
Fernando Sancho is awesome and this snow-white to please athmo real! After the accident coach is found, the film is always exciting!
At the end of Sancho is the unwilling hero, he would prefer all the money had! ;D
Watch this Movie, you like it!
After seeing it listed in a couple of lists in the 70s top-20 thread, I remembered I haven’t seen this one yet. So, I decided to give it a watch today. Entertaining stuff, but not something criminally underrated as it is implied in the film’s review in the database. The film is split in two parts, the robbery and the sharing of the loot. I’ll have to agree with Starblack’s remark, the heist build-up is sluggish and not as intense in the end as you’d expect. It gets a lot better in the mountains, the more thriller-ish half of the movie. I think it would have been better with fewer and more developed characters. Didn’t find it that bleak and dark as a whole and the score was at least inappropriate for the setting. The ending was not great, but I can live with it. It still was quite enjoyable despite those shortcomings. I give this 3 stars.
By the way, I have a US vhs tape of it and it’s coming in a cool big box with a drawing that brings ‘comedy’ to mind. Might post a picture of it later.
Like Ion, recent talk of this one made me stick it in the machine and give it a whirl (I’d been meaning to for some time anyway).
Like most above, I found it to be a pleasant ride. Not one of the best but certainly better than many. And, possibly more importantly, surprisingly good for a Spaghetti made in 1973 when so many were simply awful.
Sancho steals the show of course and was particularly effective as he is in a decidedly toned down mode. Liked his closing shot too.
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