Any Gun Can Play (1967) Vado... l'ammazzo e torno (original title)

Director:

Enzo G. Castellari

Writers:

Tito Carpi (screenplay)
Enzo G. Castellari (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

26 September 1967 (Italy)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Western

Tagline:

A million dollars is the prize ... but the game is deadly.

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Extreme Closeup | Bare Chested Male | Flintlock Rifle | Winchester Rifle | Stylized Violence

Cast

Edd Byrnes	...	Clayton - The Banker
George Hilton	...	The Stranger / Lo Straniero / Django / - un cacciatore di taglie
Gilbert Roland	...	Monetero - un celebre fuorilegge
Stefania Careddu	...	Marisol ('Guapa') (as Kareen O'Hara)
José Torres	...	Jose Huerta - the Colonel
Ivano Staccioli	...	Il capitano
Gérard Herter	...	Lawrence Blackman (Allied Insurance) (as Gerard Herter)
Ignazio Spalla	...	Pajondo / Bahunda (as Pedro Sanchez)
Adriana Giuffrè	...	Conchetta
Valentino Macchi	...	Charro Ruiz
Riccardo Pizzuti	...	Paco (the undertaker) (as Rick Piper)
Rodolfo Valadier	...	Pablo
Marco Mariani	...	Il sergente yankee
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Salvatore Borghese	...	Prison Guard (uncredited)
Rocco Lerro	...	Montero's Gang (uncredited)
Joaquín Parra	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Guglielmo Spoletini	...	Montero's Gang (uncredited)
José Yepes	...	Montero's Gang (uncredited)

Directed by
Enzo G. Castellari

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Tito Carpi		screenplay
Enzo G. Castellari		screenplay
Romolo Guerrieri		story
John Hart		dialogue
Sauro Scavolini		story
Giovanni Simonelli		screenplay

Produced by
Edmondo Amati	....	producer
Maurizio Amati	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Alessandro Alessandroni
Francesco De Masi

Cinematography by
Giovanni Bergamini

Film Editing by
Tatiana Casini Morigi		(as Tatiana Casini)

Production Design by
Alberto Boccianti

Set Decoration by
Claudio Cinini

Costume Design by
Maria Baroni
Dario Cecchi

Makeup Department
Anna Cristofani	....	hair stylist
Franco Di Girolamo	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Mario Mariani	....	production manager
Agostino Pane	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Maurizio Mancini	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Oscar De Arcangelis	....	sound recordist
Manlio Urbani	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
Eugenio Ascani	....	special effects

Stunts
Giorgio Ubaldi	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Oddone Bernardini	....	assistant camera (as Oddo Bernardini)
Salvatore Caruso	....	camera operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Antonio Randaccio	....	assistant wardrobe (as Tony Randaccio)

Editorial Department
Marcello Olasio	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Francesco De Masi	....	musical director
G. De Mutiis	....	composer: song "Stranger"

Other crew
Massimo Manasse	....	production secretary
Maria Luisa Merci	....	script girl
Giorgio Ubaldi	....	master of arms (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Fida Cinematografica
• RAF Vado L'Amazzo e Tamo

Distributors

• Astral Films (1968) (Canada) (theatrical) (as "Any Gun Can Play") (dubbed)
• Golden Eagle (1968) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Alpha (1969) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Fida Cinematografica (1967) (Italy) (theatrical)
• First Line Films (2003) (worldwide) (all media)
• RAF Industries (USA)
• Reel Media International (2005) (USA) (all media)
• Reel Media International (2007) (USA) (all media)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (????) (USA) (VHS)
• UAP Video GmbH (2005) (Germany) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"Vado... l'ammazzo e torno" - Italy (original title)
"Go Kill and Come Back" - International (English title) (literal title)

Runtime:

105 min | USA:98 min (DVD)

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Iceland:12 | UK:12 | Germany:16 (DVD rating) | West Germany:16 (nf) | Finland:K-16

Company:

Fida Cinematografica

Movie Connections:

References For a Few Dollars More (1965)

Any Gun is much fun

I watched this today after not having seen it since it was released in 1968. It was a lot of fun, but admittedly it is not the equal of the Sergio Leone works, or even those of Sergio Corbucci - although both are spoofed here.

In the opening scene we see a trio that has two resembling Eastwood and Van Cleef's characters in FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE and another who is clearly based on Franco Nero's Django. Clearly here Castellari is letting us know that he's going to have some fun at the expense of what had preceded him in the spaghetti western canon. George Hilton's bounty killer dispatches these three and we're informed that his next target is Monetero, played by veteran Gilbert Roland, then in his early 60s and still the epitome of machismo elegance. At this point he had been in the business for 40 years, and with the slightest of gestures, blows away his younger cast mates.

Monetero and his gang rob a gold shipment from a train loaded with the cavalry as well as Edd Byrnes playing a bank employee. Kookie, Kookie, lend me some money. His gang gets away with the loot, but the money gets away from Monetero. The bank man is after Monetero for the gold shipment, Hilton's character ("They call me the Stranger" - a nod to Tony Anthony's films?) is after him for the reward, and the rest of the film play out a series of crosses and double-crosses, all with a fair dose of humor.

The film even anticipates some of the later spaghetti westerns - particularly Gianfranco Parolini's "Sabata" films which also relied heavily on circus-styled gymnastics. Byrnes' character Clayton gets into some Faibanksian-styled gymnastics fights with both Hilton and later about six members of Monetero's gang, and then later both Byrnes and Hilton take on many of the same gang in a bathhouse.

None of this is to be taken any more seriously than Terence Hill's antics in MY NAME IS NOBODY, it's probably just that this early in the game, it wasn't obvious that it was a spoof as the sub-genre was barely around for four years. A scene where Hilton and an insurance man spot each other through binoculars tips its hat to a similar scene in FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE, and the overall tale of three men and the search for hidden gold is obviously based on THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY.

But the best homage comes at the end, a face-off among the three main characters that satirizes the similar scene in the latter film. Only the music fails to make the point here, whereas in other scenes the score is appropriate - as long as one keeps in mind that this is just an affectionate spoof, and on its own, it is an appealing film. The leads are more than capable - although the looping is often flat, and the production design quite attractive. Even at 105 minutes, the film moves quickly and never runs out of steam.