The Man Who Came to Kill / Doc, Hands of Steel / L’uomo dalla pistola d’oro / Doc, manos de plata (Alfonso Balcázar, 1965)

[Mickey13]

Copied from the Spagvemberfest 2023 thread:

@Mickey13

Contrary to the popular opinion, I fail to sense much in the way of an American feel and I find the entirety of it to be unapologetically Italian in its overall disposition, style and atmosphere. Though the trajectory of the narrative oftentimes proves somewhat tortuous and might appear a tad disjointed at times, the story is effectively bound together by the gripping premise: in order to evade the law, the main hero assumes the identity of a dead man who unbeknown to him, was some kind of renowned gunfighter. In spite of being a common crook, the protagonist eventually ends up living up to the reputation of the deceased man also by reason of him beginning to identify with his newly adopted role. Some of the auxiliary plotlines unfold in bizarre directions, but this trait actually comes to work to film’s advantage in that it conduces to storyline’s unpredictability, which does not manifest in the way the work ends, but rather in the way it arrives at the tale’s conclusion.

Hence, the principal narrative strand relating to the protagonist ensures cohesion, whereas secondary motifs introduce novelty and vigor into the equation. Sancho puts on possibly his funniest and most spirited performance out of all his appearances in Italian oaters; in spite of the hilarity of his acting exploits here, his part is far removed from the comic relief character trope and it might be one of the most cruel depictions of a Mexican bandit he ever enacted. Lastly, Balzacar’s direction turns out surprisingly solid in that numerous scenes visually exhibit a certain cinematic depth, whereas action sequences display much energy and vim in the way they are staged and cut; the storytelling, barring a couple of unnecessary jitters, is entirely satisfactory and moves at a gratifyingly expeditious pace. All in all, far and away Balzacar’s finest contribution to the genre and one of the best Italian westerns to come out of Italy in 1965 in my humble estimation.