Viva! Django (1971) W Django! (original title)

Director:

Edoardo Mulargia

Writers:

Nino Stresa (screenplay)
Nino Stresa (story)

Release Date:

29 September 1971 (Italy)

Genre:

Western

Plot:

Django is on the trail of some renegade outlaws who raped and killed his wife. En route, he rescues a horse thief from an impromptu hanging. He discovers the man knows who committed the murder. The men team up and head west for revenge. |

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Outlaw | Revenge | Arms Deal | 1910s

Cast

Anthony Steffen	...	Django
Stelio Candelli	...	Carranza
Glauco Onorato	...	The Sheriff
Chris Avram	...	Jeff (as Cris Avram)
Esmeralda Barros	...	Lola
Donato Castellaneta	...	Paco
Benito Stefanelli	...	Ibanez
Riccardo Pizzuti	...	Thompson
Simonetta Vitelli	...	Inez (as Simone Blondel)
Furio Meniconi	...	Il sceriffo
Alessandro Perrella
Paolo Figlia
Attilio Severini
Giovanni Cianfriglia	...	Jeff Henchman
Gilberto Galimberti
Remo Capitani
Lorenzo Piani
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Fortunato Arena	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Mario Dardanelli	...	John (uncredited)

Directed by
Edoardo Mulargia		(as Edward G. Muller)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Nino Stresa		screenplay
Nino Stresa		story

Produced by
Salvator A. Crocella	....	producer
Pino De Martino	....	producer

Original Music by
Piero Umiliani

Cinematography by
Marcello Masciocchi

Film Editing by
Cesare Bianchini

Production Design by
Giorgio Postiglione

Costume Design by
Giorgio Postiglione

Makeup Department
Carlo Renzini	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Bruno Evangelisti	....	production manager

Special Effects by
Vitantonio Ricci	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Giovanni Canfarelli Modica	....	assistant camera (as Gianni Modica)
Vincent Celli	....	chief electrician (as Vincenzo Celli)
Eraldo Martella	....	key grip
Ruggero Rinaldi	....	key grip
Antonio Schiavo Lena	....	camera operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Sara Santarelli	....	dress maker

Editorial Department
Mario Giacco	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Sergio Sagnotti	....	master-at-arms
Franco Tupini	....	production secretary
Patrizia Zulini	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• 14 Luglio Cinematografica

Distributors

• Starmedia Home Entertainment (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Sinister Cinema (2009) (USA) (VHS)
• Sinister Cinema (2009) (USA) (video) (DVD-R)
• Dagored Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Timeless Media Group (2012) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"W Django!" - Italy (original title)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | Norway:(Banned) (1972-2003) (cinema release) | France:U

Company:

14 Luglio Cinematografica

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Spaghetti West (2005) (V)

Spaghetti Western fans should enjoy this.

One of a number of cheaply made Italian Westerns designed to cash in on the Django brand name, "W Django!" a.k.a. "A Man Called Django", doesn't compare of course to the original Franco Nero film but is still very acceptable non-think entertainment that keeps you watching for an hour and a half. In this story the cunning bounty hunter is actually married, but the poor woman lasts barely a minute and a half; she's assaulted and gunned down by bandits. A year later Django (Anthony Steffen) comes to a small town and learns that a thief about to be hanged, Carranza (Stelio Candelli) can identify the members of that gang, so he saves his life. The two men are then united as Carranza points out one lowlife at a time while bodies regularly get pumped full of bullets and a shipment of guns plays into the plot. Don't look for too much story here, but you can expect a fair amount of style, courtesy of director Edoardo Mulargia, and the violence is pretty constant; the body count in this thing is impressive. You can also expect a LOT of comedy in this thing, thanks to writer Nino Stresa. Candelli in particular is an absolute hoot. The acting is competent all the way down the line; horror fans may recognize Chris Avram from Mario Bavas' "A Bay of Blood", cast here as the outlaw Jeff. Esmeralda Barros adds appreciable eye candy as Lola, and Donato Castellaneta is quite appealing as saloon owner Paco. Some fans of Italian Westerns may find that ultimately it gets too silly, but it's undeniably very lively from start to finish and hard not to like. Steffen may not be Franco Nero, but he's pretty cool in his own right and the viewer simply has to love how ingenious he is. He establishes himself as a cool customer soon after his entrance, and he comes up with nifty ways to trick various bad guys. (The bit with the fake arm is a show-stopper.) All in all, this is quite agreeable and well worth a viewing. Seven out of 10.