• Parolini isn’t really a figure (as far as I know) in cinema or certainly in my archives yet but this is a well-directed film a moderately strong entry for Van Cleef and the spaghetti western subgenre (this one borrows from Leone even more than most) in general
  • Zoom heavy as you’d expect in 1969
  • Many of the actors, not just Van Cleef, are from Leone – most notably the stout Ignazio Spalla
  • Gorgeous theme song and unbelievably catchy musical theme
  • Foul play, corrupt politicians, police and rich men—we have the borrowed “future real estate because of the rail road” narrative from another Leone film- once upon a time in the west which is from 1968
  • Spawned sequels
  • A very nice crane shot from behind (and thru) a church
  • William Berger as “Banjo” is an interesting character- another character named after a musical instrument (Charles Bronson plays “Harmonica in once upon a time in the west the year before)
  • There’s an explainable (and formally unsound) surrealism scene from Banjo about 40 minutes in for some reason
  • For Van Cleef it’s the end of an incredible decade. He was a villain in b-movies in the 50’s (high noon, Kansas city confidential, the big combo, OK Corral) and even into the early 1960’s (he’s one of the henchmen of Lee Marin in liberty valance) but everything changed with Leone. In total he had 7 archiveable films in the 1960’s. He’s not as good here as he is in the films that changed it all (for a few dollars more 1965, the big gundown (1966) and the good, the bad, and the ugly (1966) but it’s great to see him in lead again
  • Recommend but not near the top 10 of 1969