$1,000 on the Black (1966)
"Mille dollari sul nero" (original title)

Twelve years ago Sartana framed his brother, Johnny for murder, and stole his girlfriend. Now the town's undisputed boss, and doted over by his possesive mother, Sartana seems safe - until,... See full summary »

Director:

Alberto Cardone

Writers:

Ernesto Gastaldi, Rolf Olsen,

Stars:

Anthony Steffen, Gianni Garko, Erika Blanc

Cast

Credited cast:
Anthony Steffen	...	Johnny Liston
Gianni Garko	...	Sartana Liston
Erika Blanc	...	Joselita
Franco Fantasia	...	Sheriff
Sieghardt Rupp	...	Ralph
Angelica Ott	...	Manuela Holt
Daniela Igliozzi	...	Mary
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ettore Arena
Fortunato Arena	...	Ciudadano
Salvatore Borghese	...	Mexican in bar
Dolores Calo
Carla Calò	...	Rhonda Liston (as Carol Brown)
Carlo D'Angelo	...	Judge Waldorf (as Charles Angel)
Mario Dionisi	...	Hombre de Sartana
Gilberto Galimberti

Storyline

Twelve years ago Sartana framed his brother, Johnny for murder, and stole his girlfriend. Now the town's undisputed boss, and doted over by his possesive mother, Sartana seems safe - until, his sentence served, Johnny rides back into town...

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Plot Keywords:

brother | old west | small western town | spaghetti western | gunfight | 

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Genres:

Western

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Details

Country:

Italy West Germany

Language:

Italian German

Release Date:

18 December 1966 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Blood at Sundown

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lisa-Film, Metheus Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

First appearance of the Sartana character.

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Connections

Referenced in If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death (1968)

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Soundtracks

"Necklace of Pearls"
Written by Michele Lacerenza (music) and at Gancarossa
Performed by Peter Boon

User Reviews

This brotherly love sure ain't mutual.

Johnny Liston has just finished his twelve-year term in prison and returns back to his hometown to find out his brother Sartana rules the nest and has married his woman. Knowing that his brother framed him, Johnny with the help of his old girlfriend's mute brother Jerry, goes about trying to restore the justice to the ramshackle towns.

The typical staples show up prominently in this surprisingly well-made and rather hard-boiled showcase of spaghetti western bravado. A bit of everything is chucked for good measure in this baroque and rather intense soap opera, which oddly enough has a bemusing amount of developments going on. As its always incident packed (some quite bizarre too), where the high stakes never really take a backseat. Its rough around the edges, but this only enhances that grand guignol splendour of grit, dirt and being soaked in sweat. Albert Cardiff's kinetically snappy and surefooted direction engineers some cracking visuals and paints a very atmospheric mood (like the cracking final confrontation that was meant to be). He makes sure it quickly moves on without bogging us down. Gino Santini, who gets many actively singular zooms and earthy framework shaping it, brightly photographs it. The bone dry and rocky surroundings gave it a real rough edge and Santini milks it accordingly. Michelle Lacarenza's crackerjack soundtrack with that harmonious awe could up the neurotic flair at anytime. Those three facets really gave this production its added bite and overall striking competence. The clunky story is more than a simple revenge formula (well like mentioned by other IMDb reviewers; also a Shakespearean tragedy element streams through it and that of the closeness of family that moulds the town). Flourishing throughout are hilariously campy dialogues and uneven performances. There's dry jokes and subtle humour there about in the script, but it's never over-used. A real mean vibe is chalked up here, as its violent (with its constantly bruising brawls), but not terribly explicit with little blood spilt. At times it can come off as unintentionally silly and Roberto Miali takes the brunt of it with his over-exaggerated performance of the mute, Jerry. Gianni Garko gracefully hams it up as the insane, viper-like villain, Sartana and does an excellent job of it too. Antonio De Teffè is a steady head as Johnny and the stunning Erika Blanc is perfectly cast as vengeful lady Joschita. Franco Fantasia and Carlo D'Angelo are equally good in their parts. Every main character has a complex situation eating away at them that gives them all a little more weight. The dubbing for them is just plain atrocious that I had wish I saw it in its original format.

A fun and real spirited low-budget spaghetti western that can be a stylish and often poetic treat for fans of the sub-genre.