This is a very entertaining SW from Giovanni Fago and the prolific western and horror screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi. Fago had collaborated with Gastaldi before on Vengeance Is Mine (1967) and the next year would direct the Tomas Milian vehicle O Cagnaciero!, which points back to the influence on the SW of the Brazilian film Black God White Devil (1964).
A buddy film, the light slapstick of the first half of the film plays well as the rather effeminate gunfighter Johnny King (George Hilton) runs through a number of dangerous situations with a sarcastic grin, fighting off land speculators, sleeping with the sheriff's flame, participating in a barroom fight in drag, in a knock-down drag-out fight in a jail cell, escaping from jail and then concocting an absurd but successful plan to rob a bank. During all this he meets Meredith (played by Paolo Gozlino), a rough but incompetent bandit who meets with surprising success when matched with the clever King.
The comedy darkens, though, when King returns to town after the bank heist to find his former guardian Pastor Steve killed by the land speculators. Then ensues the plot for revenge, which involves absurd methods of murder and torture and a final gunfight reminiscent of the finale to Taste For Killing. King gives up ruffles for black (he had trained in seminary, he claimed at one point) and begins quoting passages from the Bible.
Gerard Hertar is his usual sinister best as the sharp shooting Ernest Ward. He would play a similar role in the riotous Adios Sabata (1970). In the world of the SW, wealthy landowners indulge in the Sadean pleasures of target practice at live targets, almost always human. Besides Adios Sabata and Full House For The Devil, you find similar scenes in Django and The Fighting Fist Of Shanghai Joe.
The film follows the usual SW plot of an arrogant character that takes on more than he can handle, is humbled (beaten, shot, burnt, hung, crucified) before he either changes certain elements of his character or learns the secret (the iron plate in Fistful Of Dollars) necessary to ultimately succeed. Ernesto Gastaldi isolated this basic storyline in most of his westerns and used to again in this film.
Top spaghetti western list http://imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=21849907
Average SWs http://imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=21849889
For fanatics only (bottom of the barrel) http://imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=21849890
A buddy film, the light slapstick of the first half of the film plays well as the rather effeminate gunfighter Johnny King (George Hilton) runs through a number of dangerous situations with a sarcastic grin, fighting off land speculators, sleeping with the sheriff's flame, participating in a barroom fight in drag, in a knock-down drag-out fight in a jail cell, escaping from jail and then concocting an absurd but successful plan to rob a bank. During all this he meets Meredith (played by Paolo Gozlino), a rough but incompetent bandit who meets with surprising success when matched with the clever King.
The comedy darkens, though, when King returns to town after the bank heist to find his former guardian Pastor Steve killed by the land speculators. Then ensues the plot for revenge, which involves absurd methods of murder and torture and a final gunfight reminiscent of the finale to Taste For Killing. King gives up ruffles for black (he had trained in seminary, he claimed at one point) and begins quoting passages from the Bible.
Gerard Hertar is his usual sinister best as the sharp shooting Ernest Ward. He would play a similar role in the riotous Adios Sabata (1970). In the world of the SW, wealthy landowners indulge in the Sadean pleasures of target practice at live targets, almost always human. Besides Adios Sabata and Full House For The Devil, you find similar scenes in Django and The Fighting Fist Of Shanghai Joe.
The film follows the usual SW plot of an arrogant character that takes on more than he can handle, is humbled (beaten, shot, burnt, hung, crucified) before he either changes certain elements of his character or learns the secret (the iron plate in Fistful Of Dollars) necessary to ultimately succeed. Ernesto Gastaldi isolated this basic storyline in most of his westerns and used to again in this film.
Top spaghetti western list http://imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=21849907
Average SWs http://imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=21849889
For fanatics only (bottom of the barrel) http://imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=21849890