A Man Called Blade (1977)
"Mannaja" (original title)

A bounty hunter arrives in a mining town and is hired to track down the missing daughter of the town's crippled mayor and learns she has been kidnapped by the mayor's corrupt right-hand-man and a band of outlaws he is secretly working for.

Director:

Sergio Martino

Writers:

Sergio Martino, Sauro Scavolini

Stars:

Maurizio Merli, John Steiner, Sonja Jeannine

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Maurizio Merli	...	Mannaja
John Steiner	...	Valler
Sonja Jeannine	...	Deborah McGowan (as Sonya Jeannine)
Donald O'Brien	...	Burt Craven
Salvatore Puntillo	...	Johnny Johnny - the impresario
Antonio Casale	...	Dorman - bandits' head (as Nino Casale)
Enzo Fiermonte	...	The government Envoy
Rik Battaglia	...	Gerald Merton - Mannaja's father (as Rick Battaglia)
Aldo Rendine	...	The Fat Passenger in the Stagecoach
Sergio Tardioli	...	The Saloon Barman
Sofia Lombardo	...	Mannaja's Mother (as Sophia Lombardo)
Philippe Leroy	...	McGowan
Martine Brochard	...	Angela
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Enzo Maggio

Storyline

Arriving in the mining town Suttonville, after claiming the bounty of a outlaw known as Burt Craven, a bounty hunter named Blade (armed with a hatchet instead of a gun) is hired by the town's wheelchair bound mayor McGowan and his corrupt associate Voller to track down McGowan's daughter Debra who has gone missing. Blade is unaware that Voller kidnapped Debra and is secretly working for a group of outlaws who are looting shipment of silver from the silver mines that are run the mine owner McGregor. Caught up in Suttonville's affairs, Blade not only has Voller and the outlaws to deal with, he also goes to settle a score with McGowan (who was responsible for the death of Blade's father) and takes on Voller and his gang who are out to gun him down.

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Plot Keywords:

bounty hunter | silver | gun | mine | silver mine | 

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller | Western

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

13 August 1977 (Italy)

Also Known As:

A Man Called Blade

Filming Locations:

Elios Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Devon Film, Intes Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was banned in Sweden.

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Connections

References Torso (1973)

User Reviews

Entertaining Latter Spaghetti Western

Although very much late in the game for an Italian western, (the bulk of which were made between 1965 and 1972) Mannaja (A Man Called Blade) is no slouch. It's actually a good muscular western with lots of violence and dark atmosphere, with the sun blocked out and everything bathed in a fog of dust.

Maurizio Merli plays Blade, a mysterious hatchet wielding bounty hunter with unfinished business to take care of regarding a puritanical mine owner and his psychotic number two, played by John Steiner, who's excellent at portraying nasty weasels.

Also memorable is (the late?) Donal O'Brien, who would later gain infamy as the title character in Doctor Butcher M.D. (Medical Deviate), as a scroungy fugitive who gets his hand cut off by Blade in the first scene and features prominently in the film's finale.

Director Sergio Martino is a master of Italian exploitation and really knows how to deliver the goods, especially in action/adventures. Another of his films I really enjoyed was Slave Of The Cannibal God with Ursula Andress and Stacy Keach.

Also, I really enjoyed the title song even though it was repeated way too often in the course of the film.