Un dollaro bucato (1965)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Giorgio Ferroni

Writers:

Giorgio Ferroni (writer)
Giorgio Stegani (writer)

Release Date:

16 March 1966 (West Germany)

Genre:

Action | Romance | Western

Plot:

Giuliano Gemma plays a confederate soldier who returns from the war to fight one at home. Unbeknownst to him...

Plot Keywords:

Outlaw | Undercover | Sheriff | Evil Landowner | Gold

Cast

Giuliano Gemma	...	Gary O'Hara (as Montgomery Wood)
Ida Galli	...	Judy O'Hara (as Evelyn Stewart)
Pierre Cressoy	...	McCoy (as Peter Cross)
Giuseppe Addobbati	...	Donaldson (as John Mac Douglas)
Franco Fantasia	...	Sheriff Anderson (as Frank Farrel)
Tullio Altamura	...	Peter (as Tor Altmayer)
Massimo Righi	...	Brad (as Max Dean)
Andrea Scotti		(as Andrew Scott)
Nazzareno Zamperla	...	Phil O'Hara (as Nick Anderson)
Benito Stefanelli	...	James (as Benny Reeves)
Franco Lantieri	...	Slim (as Frank Liston)
Gino Marturano		(as John Martin)
Nello Pazzafini		(as Peter Surtess)
Bernard Farber		(as Benny Farber)
Luigi Tosi

Also Known As:

Blood for a Silver Dollar (USA)
Le dollar troué (France)
One Silver Dollar

Runtime:

Argentina:99 min | Germany:96 min | USA:98 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:16 | UK:U (cut)

Company:

Adriatica Film

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Red Dead Revolver (2004) (VG)

Entertaining Gemma Western

Although not as good as Gemma's best Italian Western Day of Anger (Giorni dell'ira, I (1967)), One Silver Dollar is still enjoyable. It's a relatively early euro oater, mimicing more closely than do later productions the conventions of the American originals, and displaying few or none of the gothic cynicism and elements of parody which invaded the genre as it became more established. Gemma plays O'Hara, a ex-confederate soldier whose return to peace time life is marred when he encounters a band of crooks intending to take over a town and buy up homesteaders. After accidentally shooting his own brother, O'Hara struggles to put an end to the criminal's schemes, as well as extracting his wife who has now fallen into clutches of the ruthless gang. Directed as ‘Calvin Jackson Padget', Ferroni's film is very effective, even if the plot is hardly original. Now and again the film suggests things to come, especially in the second half when the put upon O'Hara is by turn fooled, left for dead, beaten up, and even has his mouth filled with salt in order to make him talk – all casual cruelties startling in the context of an otherwise fairly genial ‘bad-guys-stealing-homesteaders-land' plot. Gemma is a lithe, physical hero, but a scene or two opening out his character, especially in the light of his brother's murder, would have been welcome. Hidden underneath the narrative is some discreet play with masculinity and honour: O'Hara has to make do with an emasculated six shooter, whose barrel has been sawn off by his yankee captors while the bonding between old Confederate comrades, and their ongoing humiliation, is another recurring theme. The main titles theme is one of those instantly memorable whistle mottos which are a hallmark of the genre, although on disc the sound is a bit thin and appears to be sourced from a mono master. The Australian produced DVD features the American dub in a slightly faded widescreen print. Its only through the trailer, also included, that one gets a sense of how effective the original language version would have been. Many recent Spaghetti releases include a subtitled version and this is certainly the most desirable package.