Shoot First... Ask Questions Later (1975)
"Il bianco il giallo il nero" (original title)

In 19th century the Japanese Emperor sends a gift pony to the US President. The pony is stolen and ransomed by Indians. Sheriff Gideon aided by an inept Japanese servant who believes he is a true Samurai offers to deliver the ransom money.

Director:

Sergio Corbucci

Writers:

Mario Amendola, Renée Asseo,

Stars:

Giuliano Gemma, Tomas Milian, Eli Wallach

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Giuliano Gemma	...	Blanc de Blanc / Stetson
Tomas Milian	...	Sakura
Eli Wallach	...	Sheriff Edward Gideon / aka Black Jack
Manuel de Blas	...	Major Donovan
Jacques Berthier	...	Kelly Butler
Romano Puppo	...	Kady
Nazzareno Zamperla	...	Sgt. Donovan (as Nazareno Zamperla)
Edy Biagetti
Hideo Saito	...	Yamoto (as Ideo Saito)
Frank Nuyen	...	Console Giapponese
Lorenzo Robledo	...	Colonel
Giovanni Petti
Tito García
Franco Tocci
Cris Huerta	...	Robinson Grasso (as Chris Huerta)

Storyline

In 19th century a Japanese delegation travels to the USA to present the American president with a gift pony from the Japanese Emperor. The pony which is considered to be divine by the Japanese is stolen and ransomed by a belligerent tribe of Indians.In order to retrieve the pony the Japanese delegation offers one million dollars in ransom to be delivered to the Indians by the local Sheriff Gideon aided by an inept Japanese servant who believes he is a true Samurai.

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Plot Keywords:

native american | spaghetti western | martial arts | ransom | spoof | 

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Genres:

Western | Adventure | Comedy

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Details

Country:

Italy Spain France

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

17 January 1975 (Italy)

Also Known As:

The White, the Yellow, and the Black

Filming Locations:

Madrid, Spain

Box Office

Gross:

ESP 56,044,650 (Spain) (3 March 2000)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Filmel, Mundial Film, Tritone Cinematografica

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When the trio makes camp for the night the Swiss is asking Sheriff Gideon to respect the rules of the Geneva Convention and feed him supper(0:43:26).The Swiss is referring to the First Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field of 1864.

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Connections

Referenced in DVD (2006)

User Reviews

My copy was just about unwatchable.

Many of the problems I had with "Shoot First...Ask Questions Later" (a.k.a. "Samurai") had nothing to do with the original production. The DVD I got from Netflix was among the very worst discs I have ever seen--and that's saying a lot since I have rented thousands of their films. In fact, it might just be THE worst. It appears as if someone took an old videotape and literally filmed it with a home videocamera! The picture was super-blurry and crooked throughout. Ugly is perhaps the kindest thing I can say about the DVD!

As far as the film goes, it's not a good film either. It's all about some 'Japanese' folks in the West. Some might just have been Japanese but the main one was played by the Cuban-American Toma Milian and it's undoubtedly one of the most embarrassing roles he ever took. Seeing the guy in a goofy wig, mustache and kimono looked utterly stupid. Unfortunately, the film itself never rose much above this. Probably not worth your time unless you insist on seeing EVERYTHING made by Sergio Carbucci AND you can find a better DVD copy.