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Un minuto per pregare, un instante per morire More at IMDbPro »

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A MINUTE TO PRAY, A SECOND TO DIE {Edited U.S. Version} (Franco Giraldi, 1967) ***, 15 July 2007

Author: MARIO GAUCI (marrod@melita.com) from Naxxar, Malta

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I found this to be an underrated, quietly compelling Spaghetti Western (also known as DEAD OR ALIVE). Despite modest credentials (apart from multi-purpose co-writer/producer Albert Band, the only notable crew member is composer Carlo Rustichelli), the film clearly benefits from the presence of its three American stars (newcomer Alex Cord is an ambiguous anti-hero, while veterans Arthur Kennedy and Robert Ryan lend a mythic quality to the proceedings) as well as the unusual plot (involving a crippled protagonist, an amnesty ruse covering a strategic clean-up of the town, and which has the law finally siding with the gunfighter against a horde of Mexican bandits).

There are several tough action scenes on hand – the film is capped by a terrific climax in which the star trio is besieged inside a blazing cabin – plus a couple of outrageous moments which are something of a Spaghetti Western trademark: from the middle of the street, Cord sees a hidden gunman at a window reflected in a whiskey bottle; a man who helps Cord escape is repeatedly immersed in a pool of oil by the villains. Nicoletta Machiavelli also makes a nice impression as a village girl with whom Cord lodges; the supporting cast, then, is peppered with familiar (if largely anonymous) faces – all of them essentially genre fixtures.

I wasn't aware of the fact that the English-dubbed version of the film on MGM/UA's R1 DVD was cut: I was fooled by the wrong running-time being listed on the back-cover; the film was only 99 minutes long and not 118 – apparently, Cord's character is killed in the longer Italian version!

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