The Return of Ringo (1965)
"Il ritorno di Ringo" (original title)

Once again billed as Montgomery Wood, Giuliano Gemma plays a civil war soldier who returns to his family land to find his family decimated, his property taken over by a family of Mexican ... See full summary »

Director:

Duccio Tessari

Writers:

Duccio Tessari (story), Fernando Di Leo (story),

Stars:

Giuliano Gemma, Fernando Sancho, Lorella De Luca

Cast

Credited cast:
Giuliano Gemma	...	Capt. Montgomery Brown / 'Ringo' (as Montgomery Wood)
Fernando Sancho	...	Esteban Fuentes
Lorella De Luca	...	Helen Brown / Hally Fitzgerald (as Hally Hammond)
Nieves Navarro	...	Rosita
Antonio Casas	...	Sheriff Carson
Manuel Muñiz	...	Miosotis 'Morning Glory' (as Pajarito)
Mónica Sugranes	...	Elizabeth Brown
Víctor Bayo	...	Jeremiah Pitt - Tavernkeeper
Tunet Vila	...	Mimbreno Apache medicine man
Juan Torres	...	Mimbres bartender
Jose Halufi	...	Gravedigging bandit
George Martin	...	Paco Fuentes
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Fernando Di Leo
Frank Oliveras
Ricardo Valor	...	Cura

Storyline

Once again billed as Montgomery Wood, Giuliano Gemma plays a civil war soldier who returns to his family land to find his family decimated, his property taken over by a family of Mexican bandits and his fiancee about to marry the Mexican gangster behind all this. Bent on revenge, he goes undercover disguised as a Mexican and discovers he has a daughter!

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Plot Keywords:

mexican | civil war | return | sheriff | mexico | 

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Romance | Western

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Details

Country:

Italy Spain

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

8 December 1965 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Blood at Sundown

Filming Locations:

PC Balcazar Studios, Madrid, Spain

Box Office

Gross:

ESP 15,247,019 (Spain)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Balcázar Producciones Cinematográficas, Produzione Cinematografica Mediterranee, Rizzoli Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Spun-off from A Pistol for Ringo (1965)

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Soundtracks

"Il ritorno di Ringo"
Lyrics by Maurizio Attanasio
Music by Ennio Morricone
Performed by Maurizio Graf

User Reviews

Big Time Spaghetti Western

Duccio Tessari's RETURN OF RINGO is one of the great unseen spaghetti westerns churned out by the Italians after the unexpected success of Sergio Leone's first two "Dollars" films. A sprawling, high-powered epic tale about a Union soldier returning after the war to find his wife & home usurped by a local pistolero and his band of gunmen. Giuliano Gemma is excellent as always in the role of the suave, cool-headed hero who works up a ruse to pose as a peasant worker to infiltrate the household and fight from the inside to reclaim that which was his.

Ennio Morricone scored a magnificent musical pastiche of themes that is quite different from his usual Leone contributions. Non-fans of the genre will be pleased by the attention to detail in the lavish production, with a high profile supporting cast led by Fernando Sancho, sexy Nieves Navarro and Lorella De Luca as Gemma's former beloved. He looks odd during his scenes with his hair bleached blond and is unconvincing as a Mexican but Gemma really was one of the great Italian genre leads. His approach is somewhat different than Clint Eastwood, usually playing himself as a gentleman who simply happened to learn how to be an efficient killing machine under the stress of war.

There's some genuinely amusing and tightly choreographed gunplay in the ending showdown, and the screenplay by Tessari, Fernando di Leo and Alfonso Balcázar is surprisingly humanistic for this kind of fare. Highly recommended, look for it in North America on a VHS with the title BLOOD AT SUNDOWN.

7/10