A Pistol for Ringo (1965)

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

This story was written and directed by Duccio Tessari and tries it's level best to find closure in and among the Italian Westerns made more popular by Clint Easewood. Although it's interesting, it falls short. Still it holds it's own as B-Type and has some merit there. The story as one follows it, has a Gun-Man called 'Angel-Eyes' and is better known as Ringo (Montgomery Wood) for the film " A Pistol for Ringo " Following a shoot-out with some killers who have come gunning for him, Ringo ends up in jail, at the same time, a gang of Mexican Outlaws rob the bank and kill a few of the citizens and take refuse in a Fortress hacienda. The sheriff has to make a deal with Ringo in order to save some hostages and recover the loot. Infiltrating the gang led by a Bandit name Fernando Sancho, (Sancho) From the beginning the movie is a tests of skills between the bad guys and Ringo. Some gun play, some physical confrontation, some Comic situations, laughter and small drama, but none of which is sustained. All in all a good movie for the audience, if they don't expect too much. Entertaining for a B-Picture. ***

Based on the dubbed Koch media version.If we would take one genre and analyze it, the western is the most obvious. Themes appear and come back because they work. Style means everything, the story comes in second. Acting is not really required; (most characters are sociopaths anyway) as long as the stars of the film have the right face. Spaghetti westerns have style.The greatest weakness of this movie is exposed in the opening shot; the lack of style. Sure, there is a form of style, but its not the style a western need. The spaghetti western is a pretty vulnerable subgenre since the lack of budget requires for real talent. Choices must be made and especially in Italian westerns, these choices push the film towards greatness or towards weakness. The first shot says a lot. The camera work is completely uninspired. We see all characters from a strange distance most of the time (I saw the widescreen version), almost like a stageplay filmed from the audience! Most scenes are played out in one shot, leading to an enormous lack of intensity in almost every scene! The characters seem to be dressed by the wardrobe department of a western TV series for children (clean shaven, way too much color, clothes in excellent condition and stupid looking hats).A western seems to profit from being unrealistic, creating a myth of some sorts, but this movie does none of the above. That not every director is Sergio Leone or John Ford for that matter, seems obvious, but some link is needed to feel for the story. The story itself is good. In the hands of a more skilled director, it might even be a real classic! It doesn't matter it's over the top sometimes, but it does matter if the things that ARE over the top are not filmed that way. Someone being smashes through a wall seems very silly if filmed like a dialog without any notable emotions. It's just the action we see, nothing more.The locations are good. The exteriors are superb, the interiors are weaker. Not that the locations are not good, but the light is completely uninspired! The interiors look like the are filmed under the light of TL light. It looks like a modern office! The cast itself is good; they do what they should. Only two of the main characters (Ringo and the Sheriff) seem schoolboys playing cowboy. Fernando Sancho as Sancho is a great villain, but the camera doesn't seem to appreciate him. Only beauty Nieves Navarro seems to be aprreciated by the camera. Maybe the director or the DOP fell in love with her and only concentrated on the shots with her in the center. The sound quality of the English track is a bit muddy sometimes, but understandable.The music is good. I say good, while it could have been great. Morricone composed yet another great score. The tracks itself are good. Some honky tonky music is present, but the real western themes are great. From a main theme that sometimes seems to be bordering lounge music, to a soaring trumpet theme; Maestro Morricone is really the absolute best in his line of work! It's a shame that the editing is never really done to the pace of the music. The music works, but could have carried the movie if only it was not used as ambient.There is many more to tell about this movie, but it comes down to one thing. There is a lot to see in this one, but when it's simply not filmed or filmed incorrectly, there is not much left to admire. Maybe it's due to lack of budget, but if they somehow could make this movie really work, it might become a classic.

The leader of a band of Mexican outlaws is wounded as the group makes its getaway after a bank robbery. The bandits decide to hold-up at a nearby ranch. The outlaw leader, Sancho (Fernando Sancho), threatens to kill two hostages per day unless he and his gang are allowed passage to Mexico. The local sheriff feels hamstrung as he fears for the life of his girl, one of the hostages, if he makes a move against the bandits. Reluctantly, he turns to a prisoner he's holding, Ringo (Giuliano Gemma), for help. The plan – have Ringo, an outlaw himself, infiltrate the group and work from the inside to free the prisoners.A Pistol for Ringo is an interesting and entertaining early Spaghetti Western. It's interesting to me because I look at it as something of a bridge between the traditional Hollywood Westerns and the Euro-Westerns just getting cranked-up in 1965. It's a mix of old and new. Old – costumes, the unrealistic portrayal of violence (no blood), and the lack of dirt (it always bugs me that no one in old Westerns ever gets dirty). New – the anti-hero, bandits like Sancho, the body count, and crazy plot points and twists. It's really cool to see these different elements blended into one movie like A Pistol for Ringo. As for entertaining, well it's just fun. Lighter feeling than some of the other early Spaghetti Westerns, A Pistol for Ringo has something of a playful tone to it despite the violence. The script is well written and includes many interesting pieces of dialogue – the bit about what makes men different in Texas being one of my favorites. The script also includes a well written, but heart wrenching, twist near the end that I really didn't see coming. It completely caught me off-guard. Director Duccio Tessari keeps things moving at a nice pace with lots of action, gun fights, and interesting set-pieces throughout. The acting is a real highlight. Gemma, Sancho, and the beautiful Susan Scott (Nieves Navarro) help make A Pistol for Ringo worth watching. Finally, there's Ennio Morricone's score. It's what I've come to expect from Morricone – wonderful

1965: the year when Italian westerns were busily developing a style of their own after the success of "A Fistful of Dollars" - while the influence of the American classics was still visible. "A Gun For Ringo" is a good example for this search of new ways. On one hand, we have a cynical hero seemingly only motivated by money: after a bank robbery, Ringo only agrees to help and free the hostages after his demand of a 30 per cent share of the stolen money is accepted, and he's not ashamed to ask the bandits whether they would offer more? On the other hand, we see a sheriff (George Martin) in love with one of the hostages (Lorella de Luca) and a land owner who keeps up the traditional values of hospitality, courtesy and honor even under the most difficult circumstances, recalling the 1950s."A Gun For Ringo" is a lively movie created in the middle of a small revolution, the beginning of a successful European western wave, and the makers seem to have had a feeling "we've got our hands on something here!", a certain excitement that hasn't faded away. Great fun to watch, and both the youthful Giuliano Gemma (Ringo) and the charismatic Fernando Sancho (Sancho, leader of the bandits) went on to play similar roles in many movies of the following years.