“Zorro the Rebel”
director Piero Pierotti’s “Tails, You Lose” qualifies as a sophisticated but bizarre
Spaghetti western. Pierotti combines
social commentary with a murder mystery and does a splendid job with both
themes. Top-notch production values, exterior
& interior sets, Carlo Savina’s superb orchestra score, strong
performances, and Pierotti’s complex screenplay distinguish this out of the
ordinary Italian oater. Although it isn’t
strictly a savage shoot’em up over real estate or livestock, this sun-baked sagebrusher
features several interesting characters, and Pierotti’s dialogue is
occasionally catchy. The local
undertaker observes after the hero is gunned down: “They all look the same when
they’re dead, these no-good, two-bit, double-dealing cowards.” Essentially, the hero conforms to the anti-heroic
tradition of the Clint Eastwood bounty hunter, except that he is an outlaw. Hollywood actor John Ericson establishes his felonious
credentials during the pre-credit sequence. He vanishes for almost a half-an-hour after
sticking up the stagecoach. Alluring actress Spela Rozin gets to wear a variety
of costumes beginning with the regalia of a dance hall girl to a babe in
buckskins. She undergoes a
transformation. The roles for women here
are traditional in one respect. Like the
good ladies in John Ford’s “Stagecoach,” the good ladies in “Tails, You Lose”
send the harlots packing, but they are a great deal more brutal than the “Stagecoach”
ladies.
Not only does wanted
desperado William Huston, alias the Black Talisman, (John Ericson of “Bad Day
at Black Rock”) rob a stagecoach in Texas in 1892, but he also hijacks a sack
of money and shoots the shotgun rider. Lenser
Fausto Zuccoli zooms out to reveal our hard-riding highwayman galloping away; the
awesome backdrop of a prodigious mountain dwarfs him and looks spectacular. The trouble erupts in the Arizona town of
Plata in the 1890s when two gunslingers shoot each other over the affections of
a dance hall warbler. One guy seized her
umbrella and another knocked him down.
They were prepared to shoot it out in the saloon but the town sheriff
intervened and ordered them to take it to the streets. Imaginatively, Pierotti confines Fausto
Zuccoli’s cameras to the saloon interior while the sounds of the gunshots occur
off screen. Comparatively, he doesn't
show the heroine as she is raped. One of
the duelers enters the saloon as if in triumph until we get a glimpse of his
perspective and the point of view shot quivers.
The man, who we may have mistaken labeled the survivor, drops dead.
Later, the
sister of a local pastor, Miss Phillips, advocates the exile of all the saloon
harpies. “My brother—the minister--shall
thunder from the pulpit: do we want Plata City to become another Sodom and Gomorrah?” Later, this grim dame in gray and black
proclaims ominously, “We cannot allow that witch from the saloon and her tarts to
continue” She pauses for dramatic
emphasis, “To take our sons from us, our brothers, our husbands.” The Christian ladies invite the sheriff to
their meeting to discuss their grievances or as he says “put him on trial.” “You know those ladies,” the lawman
emphasizes, “they don’t spare you nothing.” Burton the banker warns Shanda about the wrath
of the women. “They’re envious and they’re
bored,” he explains. “They have turned
to religion for excitement. Ever since
you arrived with your girls, they say that they are losing the fervor of their
husbands, and the number one bigot among those shrews is the pastor’s sister.” The severe-looking, tight-lipped Miss
Phillips leads a crowd of women to the saloon, and they trash the
premises. The saloon girls try to escape
without luck. The sadomasochistic wife
of a philandering banker derives sexual gratification from watching a bare-backed
prostitute, a Mexican girl (Edwige Fenech), whipped by another woman in brown. Some
of these girls are whipped, while others are tarred and feathered. The banker’s wife, who turns out to be a
sexual deviant, kills her husband and then frames the saloon girl Shanda (Spela
Rozin) for his demise. The sheriff
spares Shanda and sends two of his deputies to escort her to Phoenix. Along the way, another man of questionable
character joins the two deputies. The three rape her.
Although he held up the stage like a villain,
Huston shows up and discovers Shanda after she has left for dead in the desert. Spela Rozin presents a delectable looking
specimen of feminity sprawled nearly nude except for a blanket. Initially, Shanda mistakes Huston of one of
the men. Eventually, they grow to trust
each other. Huston makes an interesting
comment about Shanda: “You know, if you’ve been wronged, you’ve got what it
takes for revenge. You’re quite a wild
cat.” The curious Huston launches his
own investigation. “Tails, You Lose” amounts
to a different kind of Spaghetti western.
The lean, good-looking Ericson cuts a distinctive figure in his green denims.
