FILM REVIEW OF "A BOUNTY KILLER FOR TRINITY" (1972)

Three things are conspicuously absent from one-time only director Oscar Santaniello's ''Bounty Killer for Trinity" (**1/2 OUT OF ****) that he co-helmed with the notorious Aristide Massaccesi, a.k.a. Joe D’Amato, who served not only as co-writer but also cinematographer.  First, we don’t see those rugged, sculptured, Spanish mountains.  Second, where are those ubiquitous and a Gatling guns/machine guns?  Finally, the hero isn’t captured and beaten within an inch of his life.  Otherwise, this made-in-Italy oater is standard-issue.  The hero dresses like Lee Van Cleef’s Colonel Mortimer from "For A Few Dollars More," and he rides around with an arsenal that includes a crossbow.  The crossbow is nice touch, and he gets around to using it the same way Woody Strode did in “The Professionals,” attaching dynamite to the arrows.  Another nice touch is that our hero sometimes runs out of bullets during the gunfights and seems surprised by this revelation.  Otherwise, this town taming western will keep you entertained if you love double-digit body counts, meatball villains, and over-the-top dubbing. Jeff Cameron, a.k.a. Goffredo Scarciofolo, who made as many as twenty Spaghettis, doesn't pack a whole lot of charisma.  Little is known about Scarciofolo who made Spaghetti westerns and sword & sandal epics.  According to the Internet Movie Database, Scarcifolo made his cinematic debut in 1962 in director Michele Lupo’s “Colossus of the Arena.” As long as he keeps knocking down bad guys like ten-pins in a bowling alley, Scarciofolo makes a stalwart, if not greedy hero.  He insists that he get paid $2-thousand for each man that he kills along with any bounty on the dastards.  He also gets a down payment of $6-thousand dollars from one of the town fathers.  Interestingly, no sooner has he cleared out the bad guys in Trinity than he receives a summons to provide the same action in Carson City!

The frontier town of Trinity is as beleaguered by a rabid outlaw gang as the poor peasants were by rogue bandits in “The Magnificent Seven.”  The desperate city fathers don’t immediately resort to a high-priced vigilante.  Initially, they turn to the government, but the harmless old geezer sent doesn’t stand a chance against these trigger-happy hellions.  The bandits promptly liquidate him without batting an eyelash.  Basically, they have an inside source on the city council.  Unfortunately, the identity of this quisling, Pizarro (Antonio Cantafora of “Demons 2”), is revealed almost immediately so we don’t have a chance to figure out who he is based on our own ingenuity. The Elios studio sets, Osanna Guardini’s wardrobe, and the sounds of the gunshots are distinctly Spaghetti western. One thing that I enjoy the most about European westerns are those gunshot reports.  American westerns have nothing to compare with them.  Sadly, the formulaic screenplay by Joe D’Amata and “Zombie Holocaust” scripter Romano Scandariato contains no surprises, and characterization is restricted to the costumes wore by each actor or actress.  “Django the Bastard” composer Vasili Kojucharov’s orchestral score isn't worth searching for on either vinyl or CD, but at least it isn’t the bottom of the barrel.  Nevertheless, Spaghetti western fans will find this trim, 85-minute horse opera devoid of pretentions.  The interesting side note is that the town is named Trinity, presumably because Trinity suggests good memories of Terence Hill as the comic gunslinger.  Although production designer Oscar Santaniello received credit as the helmer, I have the feeling that prolific veteran Aristide Massaccesi may have exert more artistry on this western.

FILM REVIEW OF ''THE GRAND DUEL" (Italian-1972)

Prolific Spaghetti western scenarist Ernesto Gastaldi penned the script for this Lee Van Cleef continental oater "The Grand Duel," directed with considerable competence by Giancarlo Santi. Although he didn't helm any Spaghetti westerns aside from "Grand Duel" on his own, Santi served as Sergio Leone's assistant director on "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" (1966) and his masterpiece "Once Upon A Time in the West" (1968) as well as Giulio Petroni's assistant director on "Death Rides A Horse"(1967). In short, not only did Santi know how to stage gunfights, but he also knew about the conventions of the Spaghetti western bullet ballet. Originally, Santi was hired to direct "Duck You Sucker," but Rod Steiger's complaints prompted Leone to replace Santi. "The Grand Duel" ranks high up in the lower 25 Spaghetti westerns out of the best 100. Three things make it memorable.  First, this above-average shoot'em up benefits largely from Lee Van Cleef's iconic gimlet-eyed presence. Second, the mystery gradually unraveled --presented in surrealistic flashbacks--generates suspense and tension. Third, Sergio Bardotti & Luis Enriquez Bacalov’s unforgettable orchestral score that signals the tonal changes in the narrative.

Roughly speaking, the motives of the characters in "The Grand Duel" reverse the relationship between the old gunslinger (Henry Fonda) and youthful gunfighter (Terence Hill) in Tonino Valerii's "My Name Is Nobody." Meanwhile, Van Cleef's entrance in "The Grand Duel" imitates his striking introduction in Leone's "For A Few Dollars More." In these Italian horse operas, Van Cleef is presented initially as a commercial passenger. In "The Grand Duel," he rides in a stagecoach, while he rides in a train with his head bowed beneath a black hat in "For A Few Dollars More." In the latter film, Van Cleef concealed his face behind a huge Bible when he asked the conductor about the train making an unscheduled stop. The conductor warns him they aren't going to stop where Van Cleef's frock-coated, black hat clad character wants. Nevertheless, Van Cleef tugs the emergency cord, halting the train, and disembarks to fetch his horse from the freight car.

As "The Grand Duel" opens, lawmen fire warning shots at the stagecoach that Sheriff Clayton (Lee Van Cleef) is riding in and refuse to let Big Horse (Jess Han of "Escape from Death Row") enter Gila Bend. They explain that escaped killer Philipp Wermeer (one-time-only actor Peter O'Brien, aka Alberto Dentice) has holed up with a girl in town after breaking out of jail in Jefferson. The authorities have posted a $3-thousand bounty on Vermeer's head. Nevertheless, Clayton disembarks and strolls without any apparent concern past two lawmen and several bounty hunters to quench his thirst in Gila Bend. This introductory scene unfolds at a leisurely pace as it covers points, such as where the bounty hunters are hidden and Clayton's imperturbability in the face of death. Clayton indicates the positions of all the bounty hunters to Vermeer. Later, after our wrongly convicted hero eludes the bounty hunters during a furious horse chase. The villains kill his horse, but he flags down a stagecoach. The entire scene resembles the scene from John Ford's "Stagecoach" when Ringo (John Wayne) who was afoot clambered inside the vehicle.

The omniscient Lee Van Cleef hero dominates the action. The hooked-nosed, veteran Hollywood heavy delivers a stern but seasoned performance as the worldly-wise elder. Van Cleef smokes his signature curved pipe. Actually, when we meet Clayton, he is no longer the sheriff of Jefferson. He protested Philip Vermeer's conviction, and the authorities stripped him of his badge. Earlier, he had taken the Patriarch to court three times. Eventually, as the best man with a gun in the entire state, Clayton ushers in justice above the law. Anyway, one of the Patriarch's sons Eli Saxon (bald headed Marc Mazza of "Moonraker") accused Philipp Vermeer of killing the Patriarch, (Horst Frank in a dual role wearing whiskers), a wealthy, unscrupulous power-broker abhorred by half of the state. Vermeer suspects that the Patriarch had his father shot in the back because he learned about the silver on Vermeer's land. Meanwhile, Eli demands to know the identity of the man who killed his father. Clayton reminds Eli that the Patriarch was gunned down from behind and that Vermeer stood in front of them at the railway depot. Clearly, Vermeer couldn't have killed the Patriarch.
 

The vicious and degenerate "Grand Duel" villains qualify as challenging adversaries. David (Horst Frank of "Johnny Hamlet") rules the Saxon clan, while Eli serves as Saxon City's marshal, and Adam Saxon (Klaus Grunberg of "Fire, Ice, and Dynamite") runs the saloon. Grunberg plays Adam as a depraved homosexual who wears a vanilla-white suit, fedora, and constantly caresses a long scarf looped around his neck. The first time that we see Adam, he guns down an old man that his henchmen have thrown out of the saloon. Later, Adam massacres a wagon train with a machine gun and Brother David orders him to leave no eyewitnesses. David's words: "In a violent country, he who seizes today, controls tomorrow," epitomizes his treachery.

"The Grand Duel" plays out in three settings: first in Gila Bend; second at the isolated Silver Bells stagecoach station, and third in Saxon City where a showdown occurs in the stock pens in traditional western style. The final showdown scene is very atmospheric with Lee Van Cleef and his adversaries opening huge gates to each of the stock pens before they finally settle down to the shootout.  Santi never lets the action malinger. He does a good job with the first large-scale gunfight at the stagecoach station. The bounty vermin not only blow-up the stagecoach, but also shoot each other to increase their shares after Vermeer surrenders. The Saxon City shootout when Vermin pole vaults to safety is neat. The black & white night sequence that he stages during the Patriarch's killing has surrealistic quality. Meantime, hardcore Lee Van Cleef fans won't want to miss "The Grand Duel" for its several shootouts as well as the twists and turns in Gastaldi’s screenplay. Get the letterboxed Wild East DVD; it surpasses the full-frame, public domain DVD or the foreign, semi-letterboxed version.

FILM REVIEW OF ''THEY CALL ME TRINITY'' (1971)

Terence Hill had been acting in movies for almost twenty years before he took the lead in "Unholy Four" director Enzo Barboni's "They Call Me Trinity" (1971) with his favorite co-star Bud Spencer. Initially, Hill made his cinematic debut in 1951 as a child actor in director Dino Risi's "Vacation with a Gangster" under his real name Mario Girotti. Later, Girotti would appear in co-directors Gillo Pontecorvo & Maleno Malenotti's "The Wild Blue Road" (1957), and director Luchino Visconti's "The Leopard" (1963). When Franco Nero became popular, Nero's popularity was so vast that he couldn't appear in every Italian film so the Roman film industry found suitable substitutes, among them Maurizio Merli and Terence Hill. Hill starred in several Spaghetti westerns, including a Nero-esquire oater, director Ferdinando Baldi's "Viva Django!" (1968) as well as in the Giuseppe Colizzi trilogy, "God Forgives, But I Don't" (1967), "Ace High" (1968), and "Boot Hill" (1969), where he met Bud Spencer.

Although it did not qualify as the first Spaghetti western parody, "They Call Me Trinity" (**** OUT OF ****) cemented Hill's claim to fame and he became famous in his own right. Italian film comics Franco Franchi and Ciccio Ingrassia had starred in parody picture "Two R-R-Ringos from Texas" as early as 1967. Meantime, this landmark, low-brow western slapstick shoot'em up roughly imitates the same trail as George Stevens' "Shane" with Alan Ladd and John Sturges' "The Magnificent Seven." Not only did "They Call Me Trinity" turn Terence Hill into an international superstar, but also Bud Spencer and he wound up co-starring in 18 films. They met on Colizzi's "God Forgives, But I Don't" when Hill replaced actor Pietro Martellanza after the latter broke his leg and found himself acting with Spencer. Ironically, cinematographer-turned-director Enzo Barboni is reported to have persuaded Sergio Leone to watch "Yojimbo" because it would make a great western. Barboni lensed his share of Spaghetti westerns, including "The 5-Man Army," "The Hellbenders," "A Long Ride from Hell," and "Viva Django!"

Although it is not the first Spaghetti spoof, "They Call Me Trinity" ranks as one of the top five Italian western comedies, bracketed by its side-splitting sequel "Trinity Is Still My Name" and director Tonino Valerii's "My Name Is Nobody." Unfortunately, Barboni never delivered a third "Trinity," but he did make an inferior spin-off western "Trinity & Bambino: The Legend Lives On." Incidentally, do not be fooled into believing that director Mario Camus' "Trinity Sees Red" is a "Trinity" sequel because it is not. Furthermore, Terence Hill does not play Trinity. Presumably, the distributors were banking on Hill's identity as Trinity to see the film. Terence Hill displayed a knack of comedy so that he could move from a dramatic role to a comedic one. Trinity's first appearance makes it clear he is not a hero in the western tradition of John Wayne riding tall in the saddle. Instead, Trinity sprawls out comfortably on a travois, dragged by his faithful horse that attracts his attention when have reach a stopping point like the Chaparral Stage Coach Station.

Covered from head to toe in dust, Trinity (Terence Hill) fetches his horse some hay and enters the station. The owner gives him a plate of beans. Two bounty hunters with a Mexican in their custody watch in fascination as Trinity polishes off his beans. As he leaves, Trinity takes the poor Mexican with him to the surprise of the bounty hunters. As he strolls out the door with his back to the bounty hunters, they try to bushwhack him. Trinity casually plugs both of them without a backward glance. He just keeps on traipsing along with the little Hispanic to his horse. This scene depicts Trinity's incredible marksmanship. Later, we discover that he can slap a man faster than the other man can draw his own six-gun. The long funny scene when Trinity appropriates the huge pan of beans and wolfs them down with a slab of bread is an amusing gastronomic gag. Thereafter, eating beans became a trademark for both Trinity and Hill. Altogether, Hill is just plain, downright affable as the protagonist who you cannot help but like because he radiates some much charisma.

In the next scene, Trinity rides into town where his half-brother Bambino (Bud Spencer) is masquerading as the town sheriff. Bambino is known as 'the left hand of the devil' and he guns down three tough-talking gunslingers when they challenge his authority. As it turns out, Bambino escaped from prison, shot a man following him, learned the wounded man was a sheriff and then took his job. Bambino is waiting for his fellow horse rustling thieves, Weasel (Ezio Marano of "Beast with a Gun") and Timmy (Luciano Rossi of "Deaf Smith & Johnny Ears") to arrive so they can head for California. Major Harriman (a mustached Farley Granger of "The Man Called Noon" doing faux Southern accent) is trying to run a community of Mormons out of a scenic valley where he would rather see his horses grazing. "Either you leave this valley, old man, or I'll bury you in it," Harriman assures Brother Tobias (Dan Sturkie of "Man of the East"), the leader of the Mormons. Eventually, Harriman teams up with an evil Mexican bandit, Mezcal (Remo Capitani of "The Grand Duel"), and his army of horse thieves. Of course, Trinity and Bambino thwart the Major and the Mexicans and save the Mormons from sure suicide.

The slapping scene in the saloon between Trinity and the Major's hired gunmen is hilarious. Bambino and Trinity get along for the most part, but Bambino has little respect for his half-brother's apparent lack of ambition. Nevertheless, the comedy emerges from their clash of personalities. "They Call Me Trinity" relies on broad humor, some shooting, and a lot of fist-fighting, but this western is neither violent nor bloody. The opening theme song provides a thumbnail sketch of Trinity and it hearkens back to similar theme songs in American westerns made in the 1950s.

FILM REVIEW OF ''AN ANIMAL CALLED MAN'' (1972)

The title of writer & director Roberto Mauri's flippant, featherweight, low-brow continental oater "An Animal Called Man" (** out of ****) packs more philosophical wallop about the fundamental nature of mankind than his spaghetti western comedy clone of Enzo Barboni's "Trinity" movies delivers laughs. Anybody but completist Italian western aficionados shouldn't saddle up for this half-baked horse opera. The most unusual thing about Mauri's minor sagebrusher, however, is its feminist slant. The gorgeous heroine, a high-stepping saloon dancer, has a medical degree and can practice medicine, but everybody refuses to seek her services since she is a woman. "An Animal Called Man" appeared long before CBS-TV's "Doctor Quinn: Medicine Woman.” "Few Dollars for Django" composer Carlo Savina provides a flavorful score that maintains the film's carefree aura of humor.

Everything opens leisurely enough with Johnny Matson (Omero Capanna of “Forgotten Pistolero”) complaining about the inequality of his predicament as he pedals a huge, old-fashioned velocipede bicycle while Bill Matson (Vassili Karis of “Five Giants from Texas”) lies sprawled in a cart attached to the bicycle. “God will punish you for this,” Johnny assures Bill. In a sense, Johnny is right because later the villains shoot Bill in the buttocks twice. Johnny is especially upset because he always gets stuck with the up-hill climbs while Bill gets the down-hill runs. Pausing in a stream, they playfully knock each other around in the water before they resume their journey to Silver City. When our heroes arrive in Silver City, the townspeople ridicule their mode of transportation and trampy apparel. Despite Johnny’s abysmal showing against Bill in the stream, Johnny knows how to handle himself in a fistfight. He dispatches several opponents with adept, acrobatic movies. The Matson brothers plan to participate in a sharp-shooting contest that pays $500 as well as a night in bed with the gorgeous dancehall girl, Dr. Yvette (Gillian Bray of “The Bod Squad”), who practices medicine on the side.

Nobody informs the footloose Matson brothers that the individual who typically totes off the cash prize and beds down Yvette is the local rancher, Mark Forester (Craig Hill of “Siege at Red River”), with an army of gunmen at his disposal. Forester keeps the town under his thumb. During the shooting contest, Bill goes to the toilet. He uses his trip as a cover to sneak next door to Charles Smith’s general store, burglarize the safe, and plunder a small fortune. He clobbers Smith as the man enters his own store. Afterward, Bill matches Forester in the bullseye shooting contest and then tops him again shooting out candles at twenty paces. When Bill meets Yvette, she explains that she came from Paris, France, with a heart full of hopes and a medical diploma that has done her no good. “Nobody trusts me because I’m a woman,” she explains. “All you want is a pretty, brainless female you can play around with, that’s all men want. To live I had to do something, even sell myself to men. I had to do it. There is nothing else for me to do. People here are just too prejudiced.”

Meanwhile, the sheriff suspects Bill robbed the general store despite his alibi. He visits Bill the next morning in Yvette’s room. “Thievery is rare for us. Local folks don’t go in for it. They’re proud of their honesty. You get the idea,” he says and then searches Bill’s clothing. He finds nothing. Later, Bill slips the stolen money out of a pillow casing while Yvette makes him coffee. Our heroes set out to their “rat’s nest of a shack.” Forester’s men beat them to it and dynamite it. Returning to Silver City, Johnny and Bill check into the hotel. The sheriff arrests Bill the following morning and takes him to jail. They discover that Smith has died of a punctured appendix. The sheriff’s deputy explains, “His wife refused to call Yvette to take care of him so he died.” Reluctantly, the sheriff releases Bill. Our heroes buy themselves some clothes to replace their rags. The livery man tells Johnny that he has a very special horse. “He’s been trained to warn you of approaching danger.” They ride out to Forester’s ranch. The gunmen run Johnny and Bill off the property.” Mr. Forester likes to have only the company of the people he knows.” After our heroes ride off, they masquerade as Forester and demand more money from people that have been paying Forester for protection.

Johnny and Bill return to Silver City to visit Yvette, and Forester’s men escort them out to the ranch. Forester is quite insistent about the ground rules. “There is no room for people like you. Your fancy shooting is going to cost you, mister Matson. People around here don’t outshoot me if they know what’s good for them. And we have another score to settle, a more serious one, before out the business of the shooting, first you’ll have to pay me back the $2-thousand you collected in my name. That was a silly thing to do. Did you imagine you could get away with it?” Bill assures Forester that it was all a part of his plan to get to see him. Johnny and Bill disarm Forester’s henchmen in an ensuing brawl and demonstrate how useless they are to the rancher. Johnny has ringing success with an iron pot that he clobbers his assailants with and knocks them out. Contemptuously, Bill observes about Forester’s hired hands, “Your boys need practice. They’re getting too much soft living around here, Mr. Forester. As bodyguards, they’ve had it. Your life isn’t safe . . .” Forester tentatively agrees to a partnership with our heroes and then orders his men to kill them.”

No sooner do they leave Forester’s ranch than the villainous rancher sends out two gunmen to ambush them. Our heroes survive the ambush attempt, but Bill catches bullet in the backside. Yvette digs it out, making Bill her first patient. Later, he is shot again in the backside and Yvette removes that bullet, too. Forester hires a gunslinger from Laredo dressed in black to kill Bill, but Bill guns him down in a fair draw in a saloon. Later, two Forester men invade the hotel room where Johnny and Bill are sleeping. They fill the bundled shapes on the bed with lead and then receive the last surprise of their ill-fated lives when our heroes pop out of nowhere and gun them down! Eventually, Forester’s own right-hand henchman Joe (Gilberto Galimberti of “Viva Django”) shoots him three times in the back.

Vassili Karis somewhat resembles Terence Hill, but Karis plays a scheming protagonist. Meanwhile, gimlet-eyed Craig Hill is appropriately stern and slippery as Forester, but he isn’t ruthless enough for us to hate him. One drawback here is Forester’s death at the hands of his own men. Mauri doesn’t write any memorable dialogue, but to his credit he doesn’t wear out his welcome. He likes to rack focus and zoom. Mauri’s western isn’t exactly side-splitting material, just amusing enough to be tolerable. There are enough shoot-outs, but none are distinctive. “An Animal Called Man” isn’t a savage spaghetti western.