THE RELENTLESS FOUR (1965), starring āBatmanāā¦ in a pink shirt.
Well, I did actually get to sit down and watch the film, on āMovies4Menā, this afternoon; albeit, with an āintermissionā half-way through, because prune-brained ācold-callersā rang my door-bell!
As an early example of āSpaghettiā, I actually enjoyed it, and can agree with practically all the comments that have already been made on the topic. Like Phil H, I donāt mind both the early āAmericanisedā examples, and, also, the later down-right dirty ones, that weāve all come to love.
Because I love the āSpaghettiā genre, Iāve always found it necessary to concentrate not only on the ādirty, traditional gemsā, but also the Italian/Spanish/German, early Genesis at adopting what was, in essence, an āAmerican Institutionā.
For the film companies, this was a learning curve, and one which they were tentatively still exploring.
The process of viewing the early āattemptsā, and then comparing them to the later ones, is a process that Iād compare to watching a new-born baby grown into adolescence, and then adult-hood.
As for āThe Relentless Fourāā¦I was surprised that there were NO screen credits, of any kind - either at the beginning of the film, or, at the end. Also, there was no opening theme.
It was a great shame that Adam West did not dub his own voice; but, then again, neither did James Coburn, in āA Reason To Live, A Reason To Dieā.
It was also strange to see the ātownā action situated at āMini Hollywoodā, in Almeria (Southern Spain); and yet, all the other scenes were filmed in Northern Spain. However, this is something that we have come to accept, as āSpagā fans.
It didnāt bother me that Adam West was starring as the leadā¦I didnāt, surprisingly, associate him with āBatmanā. After all, he didnāt even begin to play the role of the āCaped Crusaderā until a year after this film.
As for Adam Westās attire in āRelentless Fourāā¦a white hat, and pink shirtā¦make of that as you will. I believe that someone, somewhere, made a comment that it could be a nod to homosexualityā¦
Personally, Iād say that West was wearing the eye-catching pink shirt, and white hat, because it was important (for the plot), that his character āstand-outā from the crowd. Bear in mind, that during the film, he is knocked unconscious, a man is murdered, and the real killer has purposely worn the same pink shirt and white hat, so as to implicate Adam West in the murderā¦a āframe-upāā¦
However, thatās just my take on it.
All in all, āThe Relentless Fourā is an enjoyable āearlyā Spaghetti.
Taste of Killing is on today, as well. I think that The Relentless Four was released on video in the UK as The Bad Bunch. I could be mistaken.