The Ruthless Four / Ognuno per sé (Giorgio Capitani, 1968)

OK, I have copied the entire entry from the Dizzionario and post it below for an italian speaker to translate for us.
I apologise in advance for a lack of accents (I just can’t figure out how to get them in my text) and for any other glaring errors in transposing. Hopefully this will help add more info to this thread.
Warning: It is a long entry!!

Ognuno Per Se, 1967 (uscito nel 1968)

Il miglior film di Giorgio Capitani, specializzato in commedie leggere e poi in lunghe serie televisive di successo, e ottimo western barocco completamente construito da Di Leo in sceneggiatura sulla falsariga di film come Il Tesoro della Sierra Madre. In un primo tempo il regista doveva essere Lucio Fulci e infatti l’atmosfera e simile a Tempo di Massacro, scritto da Di Leo per Fulci. Sembra che Pugliese ed Ercoli non si fossero messi d’accordo con il regista per questioni economiche e di tempi. Cosi si chiamo Capitani, contro la volonta di Di Leo. Al centro della storia, vagamente ripresa da quella del Tesoro Della Sierra Madre di John Huston (e dal romanzo di B. Traven), c’e un carico d’oro che il vecchio Van Heflin, qui ancora bravissimo, ha trovato con le sue mani. Per portarlo in citta si fa aiutare dal figlioccio George Hilton, perfetto in ruolo di debole un po’ gay, e dal suo luciferino amico Klaus Kinski, in una delle sue prove western migliori in assoluto. A loro aggiungiamo il vecchio amico Gilbert Roland, dandy con il perenne sorriso e il baffetto. Questo cast perfetto e altamente funzionante per merito di Capitani, dara vita a una lotta psicologica che alla fine portera alla distruzione di ogni rapport e a una serie di duelli mortali.

Di Leo lo ricordava come uno dei suoi migliori copioni western: <<Giorgio Capitani, per quanto fosse incapace di fare il western, aveva tra le mani una sceneggiatura talmente bella…E li incominciai a ficcare elementi di psicanalisi, odio tra fratelli… insomma cercai di imbottirlo un po’ culturalmente>> (<>). Nelle intenzioni di Di Leo si sarebbe dovuto chiamare Ognuno Per Se (e Dio per Nessuno). Anche se non sappiamo come Di Leo lo avrebbe diretto, va ditto che la regia di Capitani era notevole, e lui stesso lo ricorda come il suo film preferito. Secondo Augusto Caminito, che scrisse il film con Di Leo e non rammenta Fulci come il primo regista indicato dalla produzione, fu invece Capitani a essere scelto da Ercoli e Pugliese all’inizio del progetto. <<Il film venne scritto per lui, ricordo che incombeva su di noi durante la stesura della sceneggiatura.>> Di Leo era insofferente verso tutti i registi dei film che scriveva, <<in fondo li disprezzava tutti. Ma aveva le sue idée e quando non condivideva quelle degli altri, rimaneva zitto.>> (Caminito)

Anche George Hilton ne parla ancora con grande piacere, anche perche ha potuto lavorare con Van Heflin, un attore che gli ha insegnato moltissimo. <<Peccato che nel montaggio hanno tagliato una sequenza molto drammatica in cui lui (Kinski) mi bruciava il braccio con una sigaretta. Fu censurata.>> (<>). Sergio D’Offizi, direttore della fotografia, ricorda che entro nel film grazie e Ercoli e Pugliese, coi quail aveva fatto un paio di western con Giuliano Gemma. <<Con Giorgio Capitani ci siamo trovati abbastanza bene, tecnicamente sapeva quell ache voleva. Avevafatto l’aiuto per molti anni. Non era uno inventato. Stavamo sulla stessa lunghezza d’onda. Il cast era stupendo. Van Heflin, Gilbert Roland, Klaus Kinski, degno di un film di serie A. Va ditto che Van Heflin con Giorgio non si prendevano tanto. Era anche un grosso bevitore e, quando non stave tanto in se, poteva creare problem. Ebbi delle buone critiche, una anche sul “Messaggero”, dove parlavano della mia fotografia.>>

Marcelo Crescenzi, aiuto regista, ricorda bene la lavorazione in Almeria e tutto il cast. <<Van Heflin bastava che stave a posto con la parrucchetta e che aveva il bicchiere di bourbon sempre pieno, ma non ha mai dato problem. Gilbert Roland era un simpaticone, pazzo per il peperoncino. Si era fatto portare la sua vecchia Rolls near con autista cino-americano per farsi accompagnare da lui sui set. Kinski non era ancora come lo abbiamo visto dopo, quseto era uno dei suoi primi film italiani. Ma una note lo hanno arrestato visto che si era messo in mezzo alla camionale con un candelabro acceso in mano.>>

Notevolissimi anche Rick Boyd e Sergio Doria come i due corvi. Faranno una pessima fine. Sarah Ross e in realta l’attrice dell’Est Sonia Romanoff. In un numero dell’<> del 1967 si fa chiamare Sonja Ross e si esibisce in una foto un po’ ose. Spettacolare la musica da grand guignol di Carlo Rustichelli. Esterni in Almeria, Guadix, Granada e Sierra Nevada. Ottima la critica attuale. Carlos Aguilar lo ritiene <<uno dei piu originali e interessanti western europei, construito a partire dale relazioni, veramente ben scritte, che si instaurano tra i protagonisti>>.

Frase di lancio: <>. Girato nel 1966 anche negli studi Balcazar.

Ognuno per sé, 1967 (released in 1968)

The best film by Giorgio Capitani, a director specialised in comedies and succesful, long-running tv series, and also a first-rate baroque western, scripted by Di Leo and modelled after films like The treasure of the Sierra Madre. Originally Lucio Fulci was chosen as director and indeed the astmoshere is a bit similar to Massacre time, written by Di Leo for Fulci. It seems Pugliese and Ercoli (the film’s producers) fell out with the director when both budget and shooting schedule were discussed. For that reason they appointed Capitani, against Di Leo’s wishes. A the centre of the story, vaguely reminiscent to the script of The treasure of the sierra madre and the novel by B. Traven, is a shipment of gold the old Van Heflin, still looking strong, has found. To bring it into town, he asks his adopted son Hilton, perfect in his role as a weakling who’s a little gay, for help, as well as his old develish friend Kinski, in one of his best western parts. The group is completed by an old friend, Gilbert Roland, a dandy with an eternal smile and a small moustache.
This perfect cast, functionally directed by Capitani, breathes life in a psychological battle that eventually destroys every personal relationship and leads to a series of deadly duels.

Di Leo remembers it as one of his best western scripts: “Giorgio Capitani, who had no feeling for the western genre, had in his hands a script that was so good … and started to bring in elements of psycho-analysis, hate between brothers … in other words tried to enrich it with cultural elements” (in Nocturno). According to Di Leo’s intentions, the title should have been Ognuno per sé (e Dio per nessuno) / Everybody for himself (and God for nobody). We don’t know how Di Leo would have directed his own script, but we must say Capitano did a fine job; he remembers it as his favourite film. According to Augusto Caminito, who co-wrote the film with Di Leo and who doesn’t remember Fulci as first choice for director, it was in fact Capitano who was chosen by Pugliese and Ercoli at the beginning of the project. “The film was written for him, I remember he was looking over our shoulders when we were writing the script” Di Leo was very impatient during every filmscript he wrote “In fact he disliked them all. But he had his own specific ideas, and when they didn’t match with those of others, he stayed immobile” (Caminito)

More to follow (later today or tomorrow)

Thanks Scherps. This is the stuff I can never get from this great book. I really must try and learn italian!

George Hilton still speaks of it positively too, not in the least because he was given the chance to work with Van Heflin, an actor who taught him quite a lot. “It’s a pity that during the editing phase they removed a very dramatic scene in which Kinski burnt my hand with a cigarette. It was censored”; Sergio D’Offizi, director of photography, recalls that he could take part in the project thanks to Ercoli and Pugliese, with whom he had previously made a pair of westerns with Giuliano Gemma. “I worked quite well with Giorgio Capitano, I knew what he wanted from a technical point of view. He had done assistent-direction jobs for quite some time; We were on the same wave-length. The cast was amazing. Van Heflin, Gilbert Roland, Klaus Kinski - worthy of a Major production. It’s clear that Van Heflin did not have too much contact with Giorgio. He was also a heavy drinker and when he couldn’t stay on his feet properly, he would cause problems. We had good reviews, one even in “Il Messaggero” (one of Italy’s most important papers) in which my photography was mentioned”

Marcelo Crescenzi, assistent-director, still has vivid memories of the work in Almeria and of the entire cast. All that was asked of Van Heflin was to be present with his toupet and his glass of bourbon always filled, but he never made problems. Gilbert Roland was a nice guy, he liked to make jokes with the pepper and salt set. He had brought his old Rolls, complete with his Chinese-American driver who drove him to the set. Kinkski was not like we have experienced him later, this was one of his first films in Italy. But someone notes he was caught when he entered a lorry with a burning candle-holder in his hand"

Remarkable were also Rick Boyd and Sergio Doria. They died in a nasty way. Sarah Ross is in reality the eastern-european actress Sonia Romanoff. In an issue of “Espresso” from 1967 she is called Sonja Ross and is seen on a photo that is a little spicey. Great also the gothic soundtrack by Carlo Rustichelli. The outdoor scenes were shot in Almeria, Guadix, Granada and the Sierra Nevada. Contemporary reviews were excellent. Carlo Aguilar calls it “One of the most original and interesting European westerns, with a series of superbly written relationships that give depth to the characters”

The film was accompanied by the slogan"A spectacular and compelling western well received by both critics and the public" Scenes were also shot in 1966 in the Balcazar studios.

Excellent job Scherp.
Some really interesting information in there. And it seems like 66-67 production with 68 release makes sense now.
Giusti’s Dizionario is a valuable resource I think which is largely wasted on a non italian speaker like me.

After those translations, a review has finally been hatched:

http://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/The_Ruthless_Four_(Ognuno_per_sé)_Review

A great film this and well worthy of a decent DVD release.
First rate script and well directed. (Even if Di Leo didn’t like what Capitani did with it) Everyone involved is in top form for my money, including the premier league cast who all give stellar performances. As for the ‘is he gay or not’ angle of Hilton and Kinski…there is no question as far as I’m concerned. They’re both as camp as my Nan’s coffee.

Does anyone know if there is a wide screen english language version out there anywhere? The fullscreen version I have is fine but only hints at what a correct ratio print would offer.

It’s a good SW for me too, but not a great one.

Nicely directed, yes, but the story and characterizations lack a real depth.
Again it’s one of those films which don’t tell the typical SW story, but instead trying to do a more “dramatic” plot, without being able or interested to dig too deep into the characters, or without being able to make something new out of this worn-out plot.

And when then there is a not so necessary shootout (at the dectructed mission), and this shootout is presented in the excessive SW style, then the film also loses his stylistic coherence.

But Ognuno per se is more interesting than e.g. I crudeli or California which suffer basically from the same problems.

Somehow the mixture works nevertheless well enough for me to give it a 6/10.

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Found in Joe Hembus’ Western Lexikon:

The highly moralic fable of the (inner) isolation of the filthy rich Sam Cooper is pleasantly austere and functional told and wins by the whacked and taned mugs of the oldtimers Van Heflin and Gilbert Roland a dimension, which goes far beyond what screenplay and direction are able to accomplish.

Klingt wahrscheinlich besser im Original:

Die hochmoralische Fabel von der Vereinsamung des steinreichen Sam Cooper ist angenehm karg und sachlich erzählt und gewinnt durch die zerschlagenen und gegerbten Visagen der Oldtimer Van Heflin und Gilbert Roland eine Dimension, die weit über das hinausgeht, was Buch und Regie leisten können.

(Ich bewundere das, hier hat jedes einzelne Wort eine so große Bedeutung, es schwingt soviel ungesagtes mit, so das Hembus in der Lage ist, einen kompletten Film in einem Satz zu beschreiben.)

There is a nice fan dvd of this in 1.85 widescreen with english audio, and additional scenes have german audio with english subs.

taped this off movies for men and watched it last night. i thought it was very entertaining, engrossing film after a rather haphazard start. good performances from all four leads and what was it about klaus kinski, he was always very good in his SW films ( at least the ones i’ve seen) and has a longer role here than usual. 7/10 oh by the way it definitely says on the movies for men print of the film 1969.

How was the picture quality on the movies4men broadcast? Widescreen?

I’ve noticed that Movies4men have been showing quite a few rarish spags recently. Don’t Wait Django, Shoot was on last night too which I would have loved to see but I’m afraid I don’t have sky.

[quote=“Phil H, post:32, topic:858”]How was the picture quality on the movies4men broadcast? Widescreen?

I’ve noticed that Movies4men have been showing quite a few rarish spags recently. Don’t Wait Django, Shoot was on last night too which I would have loved to see but I’m afraid I don’t have sky.[/quote]Hi phil. it wasn’t bad but it could have been a lot better and it wasn’t wide screen.yes, they have shown some different ones recently and not always able to catch them but hopefully they will turn up again. the quality does varie though for example i saw " i want him dead" on there and film did not have any credits and they just showed stills from the film while the opening credit music played.

Thanks for that info.
Interesting that they have these titles though eh?

yes. i always keep an eye on what they are showing because they seem to be adding to their SW section, and they are not always the ones you would expect.

I really liked this one alot, and like man with a name mentioned it is an engrossing film.

screenshots

I feel like watching the film after those screenshots.

Different kind of spaghetti that reminds me of Montel Hellman’s enigmatic The Shooting. Very little action but these films have tension only few others have, regardless of genre. Films that consist mostly of waiting are something I really like, be it heist movies, surreal horror, westerns or something else. Knowing that something is going to happen but not sure exactly what and when…

4.5 stars out of 5 for The Ruthless Four. One of my top 20.

Is there a cut version of this one? Great film.

edit: I have a UK VHS of Mega Films, the running time is 96 min and there’s no scene with Kinski burning Hilton’s hand with the cigar. Were there any other scenes that were cut?