Don’t Wait Django Shoot
This was one of the worst spaghies i’ve ever seen. I mean - the movie is comprised of multiple long scenes of people waiting for something to happen. But not in the kind of entertaining way as in OUTITW. And when finally that thing happens, every fucking one of the characters is moving veeery slowly. This is utter evil side of spaghetti western subgenre.
La più grande rapina del west (1967), aka The Greatest Robbery In The West, also known as A Prayer For Django, or Halleluja For Django.
directed by Maurizio Lucidi.
Well, this spaghie has nothing to do with Corbucci’s gunslinger, we can blame for that Germans as usual. No worries, one day all those ridiculous and misleading Django titles will be eradicated, at least that is what Bible says.
Anyway, i started to watch this SW expecting something along the line with Demofilo Fidani expertise (well, Hunt Powers is present), but soon changed my attitude, because this SW turned out to be quite entertaining effort. It’s more of a drama than action-packed venture (townsfolk held as hostages by bandits), but script is cleverly written and keeps your attention from start to the final bullet exchange between Hilton and Powers, which is surprisingly inventive (unfortunately, can’t say that about following bigger shootout with gang members, which is kinda disappointing). Even without any recognizable music theme, sparse shootouts and the genre usual town and pits locations, it is a very recommendable piece.
Well, i disagree, Stanton. Just look at the final scene. Long shot of bandits waiting for Django. Shot on Django riding to meet the bandits. Long shot of bandits waiting. Django riding. Bandits waiting. And finally when they meet everyone moves sooo slowly, that by now it is obvious, that Mulargia and his team had to stretch the movie like a spaghetti, because with that story told at normal speed they would have ended with a film much shorter. Like an hour shorter.
And El Puro was certainly not a coincidence, but there are imo other westerns that can prove it. (Like W Django.)
I prefer this one to W Django. I think it has a quite interesting structure.
I wrote this not unclever comment for the DB:
Fine little SW made with prudence and without pretentiousness. Starting with dynamic scenes of riders accompanied by a galloping rhythm and ending with a dynamical circle of action, Don’t Wait, Django… Shoot! is in between built around static shots of several groups of waiting people, which are located at 5 places (two ranches, a hideout, a town and a chamber above the town). What the groups (or parts of the groups) set in motion is a bag with 10.000 $, and absolutely logical for a SW, every movement leads inevitably to betrayal and/or death.
“Don’t Wait Django, Shoot!” … someone should have said that to the director. I’m not a fan of this one either … but if you are a fan of waiting and waiting and waiting, I can recommend ‘Brother Outlaw’ (1971) Also by director Edoardo Mulargia - I was actually mesmerised by how bad this was and did watch/wait until the end. Never again though
I’ve also attempted to watch ‘Arrived the Crow’, at least twice - couldn’t get past the first 20 minutes.
Fidani, (or Dick Spitfire as I prefer to call him) … his films are in a category all by themselves - Sometimes they’re unintentionally funny or just so completely inept that they keep you watching in disbelief.
I often wondered what was the feeling on set of these productions - did the makers believe they were doing something worthwhile, albeit with very small budgets, or they just didn’t give a shit, as it was a paying job.
A few years ago I had the opportunity to meet Fidani’s daughter, Simonetta … I just said hello, because I couldn’t recall the names of anything she’d appeared in that was worth commenting on … and I didn’t want to be rude.
Another western featuring mostly unintentional, but hilariously funny scenes is Fat Brothers From A Place Called Trinity. Crea and Fidanis films are well executed when compared to that.
I’ve read subsequently Scherp’s review in which is stated: “seems to divide the spaghetti western community in two groups: those who like the first half hour, but think the remainder of the movie is a bit of a let-down, and those who call the first thirty minutes boring, but think the movie picks up a little afterwards.”
Well, i got news for you, scherp, because i like it from start to finish. One of the best Steffen’s out there. Not sure if that story makes much sense, but it is surprisingly well directed with lot of fine ideas and superb cinematography.
Cool tricks with nitro.
One of the best town gunfights in the genre.
Youre Jinxed, Friend, Youve Met Sacramento
Wanted to watch this for a long time, because of Ty Hardin, well, i don’t know many details concerning his personal life, but as an actor, he is one of the coolest guys in the genre. But only if he has a beard! And, as you can see he got one in this film, luckily. No beard, no fun. I tell you something - if he didn’t get a proper beard here, it would completely ruin the movie.
I pretty much liked the movie, of course, neat score by Micalizzi helps, but even besides that, the movie is quite interesting and original by itself. I think, comedy and drama is well mixed together, no complaints here. And you don’t see a boxing match in these type of movies. Another great thing about this little spaghie are locations, the first scene in some kind passway system (dont really know how it is called), or finale in abandoned hacienda like structure and showdown between the trees - all just superb. My rating:
