I fancied getting my hands on Doc, Hands of Steel, not realising I had it already as the title as in our database.
Karl Mohner is better in this than in Gold Train - playing his part(s) well as the boozed-up gambler with a price on his head, who takes on another man’s identity to become sheriff of a town that is being terrorized by Mexican bandits - led magnificently by arch-bandito chief - Fernando Sancho.
That ‘price’ is wanting to be collected by suspicious bounty killer Slade - a cool and mean dude who takes on the role of Deputy to keep an eye on his sheriff/reward until his suspicions can be realised.
It starts slow, and I wasn’t initially enamoured by it’s pace and feel - but it grew on me. There was enough twisting to keep me entertained, despite it having that American western feel (but I’m no expert - what do others think of this?) - and although being a bit corny love-interest-wise and a potential to get a bit moralistic/happy-endingy, it kept me guessing as to how it might end… upbeat or nihalistic?
In feel - not as spaghetti as I like 'em usually - but more than ok this evening.
[size=8pt](I couldn’t find a thread for this linked to the database - or in a search)[/size]
The version I watched said at the end “Fan dubbed by Dillinger” - well done fellah - another film I was at last able to watch!
It is something between american and spaghetti western, but entertaining to watch.
The best thing about this movie is of course Fernando Sancho and his funny, hot-tempered character.
Watched this last night and must say that it was a mostly pleasant experience. As mentioned this is an American/Spaghetti mix but it comes out allright. Not too painful to watch
One thing I learned from this movie is that having a boiling pot of water thrown in your face isn’t really as painful as one might imagine. Actually it might have healing powers. Will have to try that one day.
I watched the dvd release from Thunder Island which apart from being in the wrong aspect ratio (1.33:1) quite obviously also is cut (is around 89 minutes). Have no idea how much but some scenes ends quite abrupt.
Nice theme tune.
Recommended.
By the way Fernando Sancho has a pig(let) throwing scene in this one. That man has an obvious issue with pigs. Or it may be the other way around.
What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger they say (garbage saying, lots of things doesn’t kill you but leave you crippled and scarred for life but hey who cares ) … The boiling water our ‘hero’ gets thrown in the face in this movie certainly doesn’t seem to hurt him one bit, I don’t even think he says “Ouch”.
That’s reminded me of scene from ‘Antes llega la meurte’ aka ‘Seven from Texas’ , which I found a little disturbing - Sancho’s character wins a pig at some type of county fair, and much is made ( for the purposes of comedy ) of him dragging the poor beast around, literally hog tied and smashing up the sheriff’s office in the process.
Wonder if it’s a recurring theme or signature in the Fernando Sancho oeuvre ? I suppose his character’s are usually brutalising people, so perhaps picking on a pig is just there for a bit of light relief … Spanish style
No idea actually, whether a pig - or mistreating one - has a certain symbolic meaning in Spain or any other Mediterranean country. I know ‘porca miseria’ is a curse in Italian an more in common references to pigs - in most languages - are hardly ever meant positively, but it’s a interesting point
I wasn’t being entirely serious about Sancho, though I do not approve of animal cruelty … it has to be accepted that it happened and still happens - But only cowards and half wits hurt animals for amusement.
PS: I was mixing up two different films which has many of the same cast - ’Gunfight at High Noon’ aka ’El sabor de la venganza’ (The Taste of Vengeance) 1964
I don’t think he or anybody else did it for fun in this or that movie, but linking a character to a pig (or another animal) could have a symbolic meaning
The scene I’m thinking of is definitely played for comedy, as in Sancho is obsessed with food and can’t wait to turn his prize into sausages ( Can’t remember the exact quote ) - But I do take your point about the symbolism.
Yep. The reason I mentioned at the time that Sancho might have an issue with pigs was that I had just seen him in another spaghetti western where he punched a pig repeatedly in the head. I just guess that he was somewhat of a douchebag.
My idea as well. Pigs, especially piglets are often thought to be funny animals. They make funny noises and walk in funny way, as if they were in a comedy capers movie
As a side note to your fine review, in which you mention Warlock as a possible influence on Spanish and Italian Western directors in general and on L’uomo dalla pistola d’oro in particular: In Italy, Edward Dmytryk’s “psychological Western” was released under the title Ultima notte a Warlock in April or, more likely, September 1959 (depending on the source). At that time (September), Sergio Leone, after having worked on the chariot race sequence for William Wyler’s Ben-Hur from April to the beginning of August, was ghostdirecting the peplum Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei, whose initial director, Leone’s mentor Mario Bonnard, had fallen ill. Years later, when he was interviewed by Christopher Frayling in 1982, Leone stated, “And Warlock I liked very much.” Leone’s fondness for Dmytryk’s Western was also emphasized by screenwriter Luciano Vincenzoni, who told Frayling in 1999, “Another one [of the movies Sergio liked and that he’d memorized] was Warlock with Henry Fonda, Richard Widmark, and Anthony Quinn. That was his favorite.”
Evidently, Leone’s fascination with Warlock lay less in the film’s “psychology” than its numerous ritualized gunfights: Deputy Sheriff Thomson (Walter Coy) versus Abe McQuown (Tom Drake), Clay Blaisedell (Henry Fonda) versus Curley Burne (DeForest Kelley), Clay Blaisedell versus Billy Gannon (Frank Gorshin), Johnny Gannon (Richard Widmark) versus Abe McQuown, Clay Blaisedell versus Tom Morgan (Anthony Quinn), Clay Blaisedell versus Johnny Gannon, each staged in a highly stylized manner.
Interestingly, Balcázar’s L’uomo dalla pistola d’oro (censura: November 18, 1965; release date: December 3, 1965) actually preceded the Italian publication of Ian Fleming’s identically titled James Bond novel in 1966. (By the way, I guess the date given on the film’s database page, November 7, 1966, is the Spanish release date.)
Thanks. I knew i had read somewhere about the popularaity of the movie among Italian western directors and Leone in particular, but couldn’t remember where and when. I thought first that the Italian title of Warlock was L’uomo dalle pistole d’oro, but that turned out not to be true. I mixed things up, it was - as said - th_e french_ title that had golden pistols in it
Ah, yes, the sources: for the biographical data concerning Leone, see Christopher Frayling, Sergio Leone: Something to Do with Death, London: Faber and Faber, 2000, p. 72; both quotations (Leone’s and Vincenzoni’s statements) are taken from Christopher Frayling, Sergio Leone: Once Upon a Time in Italy, London: Thames & Hudson, 2008 (2005), p. 86 and p. 141.
Do you think we should change the release date on the database page? If yes, the film will move from the 1966 to the 1965 category. Could someone confirm the Italian release date, December 3, 1965? Maybe @Carlos or @JonathanCorbett?
) … The boiling water our ‘hero’ gets thrown in the face in this movie certainly doesn’t seem to hurt him one bit, I don’t even think he says “Ouch”.
