Nothing to write home about. The performances left me cold for the most part. I found some of the dialogue good enough though.
Viewed the last couple of days
FORT VENGEANCE - Pretty dull one - canadian mounted police-themed westerns are not really my cup of tea.
THE KING AND FOUR QUEENS - Quite light-hearted even for the standards of 50s US westerns. Lost all interest at the 60 minute mark and turned it off. Disappointing effort from the man who gave us COLORADO TERRITORY and PURSUED,
Just finished SLOW WEST and I must say that I enjoyed it quite a bit. Director MacLean does a serious and convincing study of the old West and feels that 80 minutes are enough for this which is something I admire, contrary to certain well known directors who don’t know when to stop and stretch the shit out of their films.
DIABLO - On the first minute we see a house being burned to the ground. On the second one we learn that a man is after some mexicans who kidnapped his wife. It all goes by the numbers until the middle of the film when the director decides to change his all too linear story, but things don’t fit very well at all. Everything feels kinda rushed after the twist. Scott Eastwood’s performance did nothing for me. Good cinematography and outstanding scenery is what’s left to remember of this movie.
Reverend Colt, The Ugly Ones, and the first half of Four of the Apocalypse, which I will finish tonight.
Hugo Fregonese’s Old Shatterhand (1964), a trip down memory lane. The Winnetou movies were still very popular in Austria during the seventies and even the eighties when I grew up. Old Shatterhand, alternative title: Apache’s Last Battle, was Fregonese’s sole contribution to the Karl May film series. He did a good job, though I prefer his bleak Savage Pampas (1966) to the lurid romanticism the Winnetou films required.
My films for Easter, three films with not so good a reputation: Era Sam Wallach… lo chiamavano ‘così sia’, …E il terzo giorno arrivò il corvo and Mátalo! The second one is the worst SW I have seen. Admittedly, something happened in the middle of it with the arrival of the crow, even Nora Orlandi it seems woke up for a moment to give Berger some nice orchestration, but then everything went back to being a heap of shit. I didn’t like Mátalo a bit. So the best one for me was Sam Wallach; abysmal most of the time, but I liked the score, so some scenes with Woods and no talk, only music, were nice. Maybe it should have a silent movie release?
I saw Last of the Comanches on TV the other day, which was an enjoyable cavalry vs Indians western with plenty of action. I just finished watching Wild Rovers with William Holden and Ryan O’Neal, which I also found quite enjoyable.
I watched the Inter Ocean tape of Ballad of Death Valley last night. About 10 minutes in i realized id seen it before as part of the VideoAsia Sartana set. Its quite a good film i think thanks largely to the charisma of Berger. One of the better low budget ones ive seen.
Tonights viewing is One Silver Dollar follows by the 4front tape of Face to Face 
GOLD (2013) - A group of german immigrants travel through the canadian wilderness and try to reach Klondike to find gold. Of course things are not as easy as their guide told them they would be. This is a slow western with a cold, realistic approach, not devoid of action, that worked out pretty well. Thoroughly enjoyed this one.
Yeah, it is an interesting film from one of the directors of the “Berliner Schule”, which are standing for not commercial films with authentic characters.
Something else to recommend from the Berlin School of directors, stanton?
Here is the Wiki entry: Berlin School (filmmaking) - Wikipedia
But I think to call it a German New Wave is wrong, also I see the idea behind that.
Arslan’s previous film Im Schatten (In the Shadows) is also a strong genre film. Very strong imo. It was often compared with Melville, but is more realistic in the characterisations. And for being very genre related of course less Berlin school than Arslans previous films. Like the unspectacular but but precise and beautiful Der schöne Tag (The Beautiful Day).
The third and final part of Ford’s Cavalry Trilogy, RIO GRANDE
Ofen called the weakest of the three, but there’s a lot to admire, and a lot to see:
Klondike (Jones, 2014)
A three-part mini-series which aired a couple of years ago, Klondike was the first scripted show to be produced by The Discovery Channel. Set during the Klondike gold rush of the late 1890s and merging dramatic fiction with historical fact, Deadwood-style, Klondike is beautifully photographed but, whilst pleasantly engaging, isn’t going to blow anyone away anytime soon. Abbie Cornish is unlikely but easy on the eye, Richard Madden is more interesting here than he was as Robb Stark in Game of Thrones and Tim Roth is… well, Tim Roth, doing that “Tim Roth” thing of his. Certainly recommended, at least as a nice distraction for a few hours.
Harald Philipp’s Der Ölprinz (1965)
The Oil Prince / Rampage at Apache Wells
Unbridled silliness abounds in this sixth installment of the Winnetou film series. For instance, in one particularly successful scene, Kantor Aurelius Hampel (Heinz Erhardt), a naive, unworldly organist and composer, who wants to write an opera about Winnetou et al., enquires about the Apache chief’s voice type:
„Nur mal eine Frage im Vorbeireiten: Ist Winnetou Tenor?“
„Nee, Indianer. Wollen Sie ihn beleidigen?“ answers Old Wabble (Milan Srdoč), Old Surehand’s clumsy sidekick.
(Literal translation: “Just one question while riding by – is Winnetou a tenor?” – “Nah, an Indian. Are you trying to insult him?” Lame English-dubbed version: “You mind if I ask you – does Winnetou have a voice?” – “Of course, he talks a lot.”)
Made my hamster laugh so hard, he nearly fell off his horse.
This lame English-dubbed version is funnier than the German original, imo
Really? Are you referring to the movie in general or just to the scene I mentioned? Either way, maybe you’re right, and it’s just Heinz Erhardt’s voice and his peculiar way of speaking that made the German version more enjoyable for me. In Erhardt’s best performances, his dialogue amounts to almost Dadaistic nonsense.
No, I’m referring to the particular scene.
I have watched the movie, but quite a long time ago. I’m not even sure that my copy has English audio, some have (most of the time incomplete), some have only German audio
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Cattle Annie and Little Britches.
An outlaw gang led by Burt Lancaster meet up with a couple of young women who want to become outlaws. Different in the sense that the women add a different slant to a familar story. The results are entertaining for this viewer, and for once I liked the songs in a U.S western. The last western the great Lancaster starred in.