The Spaghetti Western thread

[Jason C]

nevermind

[Jason C]

EL PURO (1969) didn't work for me. The acting was fine, the score is fantastic and the premise works but every scene felt like it would drag on forever. After what seemed like an eternity I checked the runtime and found that it was 70 minutes in and the hunters still hadn't caught up with their prey. I would have liked less time spent showing how menacing the villains are in lieu of some moments explaining why Rosie was so dedicated to El Puro. I am glad I got a opportunity to see the film. Its different and any film with Rosalba Neri is worth the time.

[SPOILER]I wasn't that affected by the ending. The way it was filmed I suppose it was meant to be a gut punch for the viewer, but it seemed like a fitting end for El Puro and the guy that kills him is the most interesting of the hunters. [/SPOILER]

[Paul L]

Watched A PISTOL FOR RINGO on "The Best of Spaghetti Westerns: In the Tradition of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" boxset. There's too much comedy for my tastes so it didn't quite work for me. At times it feels like a Warner Bros cartoon with Fernando Sancho as Yosemite Sam and Giuliano Gemma playing Bugs Bunny. That said, there are some entertaining shootouts and the growing affair between Major Clyde and the villainess was intriguing. The tension between Ringo and Sancho's ulra-rapey #2 kept things somewhat interesting as well. I noticed Ennio Morricone received credit for the score but nothing about it jumped out at me. I'm usually I huge fan. I doubt I'll re-visit A PISTOL FOR RINGO so I'm glad I didn't spring for importing the expensive OOP Koch release.

I like the 'Happy Christmas' gag at the beginning but I'm not a huge fan of the first RINGO film, I have to say. The second, IL RITORNO DI RINGO/RETURN OF RINGO, is splendid, however - an almost complete change of pace. If you've not seen it before, don't let your lukewarm feelings about UNA PISTOLA PER RINGO/A GUN/PISTOL FOR RINGO prevent you from seeing RETURN OF RINGO

[Jason C]

Watched A PISTOL FOR RINGO on "The Best of Spaghetti Westerns: In the Tradition of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" boxset. There's too much comedy for my tastes so it didn't quite work for me. At times it feels like a Warner Bros cartoon with Fernando Sancho as Yosemite Sam and Giuliano Gemma playing Bugs Bunny. That said, there are some entertaining shootouts and the growing affair between Major Clyde and the villainess was intriguing. The tension between Ringo and Sancho's ulra-rapey #2 kept things somewhat interesting as well. I noticed Ennio Morricone received credit for the score but nothing about it jumped out at me. I'm usually I huge fan. I doubt I'll re-visit A PISTOL FOR RINGO so I'm glad I didn't spring for importing the expensive OOP Koch release.

[Paul L]

What's the best way for a Yankee to get his hands on BLACK JACK and EL PURO?

BLACK JACK's hard to see in a decent version but a year or so ago, I made a composite of the German DVD and the Surf Film screener, both of which contain unique material (and one curious anomaly: the Surf Film screener features a sequence that should be day-for-night without the correct filtering). It can be found online quite easily at the usual places.