Ein Loch im Dollar

Heading west, ex-Confederate Giuliano Gemma agrees to help capture a bandit, only to find out that the "outlaw is his brother and himself a patsy in an even bigger plot involving a crooked banker and a group of put-upon homesteaders.

Like most of Giuliano Gemma's westerns, this isn't near the top of the heap. However, it's sturdy enough, with a lot of action, some pretty dastardly villains, and a few good plot twists. It could have used a little bit more grit and suspense in the first hour though.

Also, Gemma is always fun to root for, no matter how good or bad the film is. In the beginning (sporting a beard), he looks kind of like Charleton Heston in Planet Of The Apes!

1865 , American Civil War is finished , Giuliano Gemma plays a confederate soldier named Gary O'Hara (as Montgomery Wood or Giuliano Gemma) who returns from the war to fight one at home and to meet his wife Judy (as Evelyn Stewart or Ida Galli) again . Gary returns home but a bit later on he sets out to seek fame and fortune . O'Hara arrives in a little town called Yellowstone to work , being hired by the mean landowner McCoy (Pierre Cressoy or Peter Cross) . However , McCoy prepares him a dark set-up . Gary agrees to ambush and kill Black Jack (Nazzareno Zamperla) but things go wrong and he finds out a big surprise . With vengeance in his heart he turns on his employers , who then shoot him , but he is saved by a coin : "One Silver Dollar" . Soon after , he attempts to prove their guilt and to chase the despot McCoy , but Gary is forced to flee .

This is a good S.W. plenty of action , shootouts , thrills and abounds fist-play . Action-filled Spaghetti , littered with killings , street shootouts , revenge , romance , cross and doublé-crosses . Maccaroni Western starred by habitual actors , such as Giuliano Gemma , Pierre Cressoy as an ominous tyrant and his hoodlums played by regulars Benito Stefanelli , Massimo Righi , Nello Pazzafini , Andrea Scotti , Franco Fantasia , Sal Borghese , among others . It stars Giuliano Gemma as Gary who is relentlessly pursued by henchmen but he gets rid of his contenders one by one and tries to execute his vendetta . Moving Spaghetti Western is filled with unstopped action , thrills , horse riding , brawls and crossfire . This is a nice Spaghetti titled ¨Un Dollaro Bucato" or "One Silver Dollar" or "Blood for a Silver Dollar" or "Un Dolar Marcado , well starred by Giuliano Gemma , a hero wrongly shot who escapes to seek revenge on the men who betrayed him . This Western is a superior outing because displaying emotion , shoot'em up , brawls , intrigue , riding pursuits , grisly killings and many other things . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing some shots or stunts every few minutes . The picture is a tale of justice and revenge with an interesting plot , as a drifter/Gemma is contracted by a nasty , powerful owner and unbeknownst to him , his brother has become the infamous gunslinger "Black Jack" to defeat the local bullies and only to discover too late who the outlaw really is . Later on , he carries out a hard mission and to find out a twisted intrigue to overthrow the hateful tyrant . Along the way he is detained , beaten , tortured and later on , he flees and seeks vendetta . The basic plot is typical spaghetti western fare , but what makes this movie stand out is its style . Giuliano steals the show as a merciless revenger , executing thespian skills , bounds and leaps , twists and shooting and throughly enjoys himself . Recently deceased Giuliano Gemma is very fine in his ordinary role as a gunfighter who seeks vengeance against his eternal enemy and their hoodlums . Giuliano Gemma , - along with Anthony Steffen and Gianni Garco - , resulted to be one of the greatest stars of the Spaghetti genre , but also played several Peplum and thrillers . Gemma in his beginning worked as a stunt-man , practiced many sports in his life, boxing , gymnastics, such as is well proved at the movie . Then the director, Duccio Tessari, gave him the first role as protagonist in the film " The Titani" and the first spaghetti western films where he often worked under the name of Montgomery Wood , playing Western as ¨A pistol for Ringo¨, ¨The return of Ringo¨ and others as ¨Adios Gringo¨, ¨Arizona Colt¨, ¨The price of power¨ , ¨Day of anger¨ and later ¨California¨. However, his first big opportunity came with the important Italian director, Luchino Visconti in ¨El Gatopardo¨ this was followed by important roles in "Angelica" , ¨Tenebre¨ , ¨Young Lions¨ and ¨The master touch¨. Then he played his most significant roles in ¨Il Deserto Dei Tartari¨ and ¨Il Prefetto Di Ferro¨ . Furthermore , in this movie "One Silver Dollar" appears usual Western support actors , the Italian players : the veteran Giuseppe Addobbati or John McDouglas , Nello Pazzafini , Benito Stefanelli , Franco Fantasia , Massimo Righi , Andrea Scotti , Nazzareno Zamperla , Fortunato Arena , Ignazio Spalla or Pedro Sánchez and the sympathetic secondary Salvatore Borghese who is regular in Terence Hill-Spencer films .

The musician Gianni Ferrio composes an attractive Spaghetti soundtrack , well conducted and including a splendid leitmotif ; it's full of enjoyable sounds and emotive score , including catching songs . Atmospheric as well as evocative cinematography by Antonio ¨Tony¨ Secchi who also photographed other Westerns , such as : ¨Bullet for the General¨, ¨Wanted¨ and "The Hills Run Red" ; being shot on exterior location in Lazio Rome , Italy . In addition , filmed in studios : Elios studios , Cinecittà Studios , Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy . The flick was professionally directed by Giorgo Ferroni , an expert on Peplum . As he directed ¨The war of Troy¨ with Steve Reeves ,¨Hercules against Molock¨ and ¨Il Colosso Di Roma¨ with Gordon Scott . He also directed Western as "Fort Yuma Gold" , ¨Wanted¨ , "Blood for a Silver Dollar" , Wartime as ¨Battle of El Alamein¨ and Terror in acceptable results as ¨ Mill of the stone woman¨ and "Night of the Devils" .

Although not as good as Gemma's best Italian Western Day of Anger (Giorni dell'ira, I (1967)), One Silver Dollar is still enjoyable. It's a relatively early euro oater, mimicing more closely than do later productions the conventions of the American originals, and displaying few or none of the gothic cynicism and elements of parody which invaded the genre as it became more established. Gemma plays O'Hara, a ex-confederate soldier whose return to peace time life is marred when he encounters a band of crooks intending to take over a town and buy up homesteaders. After accidentally shooting his own brother, O'Hara struggles to put an end to the criminal's schemes, as well as extracting his wife who has now fallen into clutches of the ruthless gang. Directed as ‘Calvin Jackson Padget', Ferroni's film is very effective, even if the plot is hardly original. Now and again the film suggests things to come, especially in the second half when the put upon O'Hara is by turn fooled, left for dead, beaten up, and even has his mouth filled with salt in order to make him talk – all casual cruelties startling in the context of an otherwise fairly genial ‘bad-guys-stealing-homesteaders-land' plot. Gemma is a lithe, physical hero, but a scene or two opening out his character, especially in the light of his brother's murder, would have been welcome. Hidden underneath the narrative is some discreet play with masculinity and honour: O'Hara has to make do with an emasculated six shooter, whose barrel has been sawn off by his yankee captors while the bonding between old Confederate comrades, and their ongoing humiliation, is another recurring theme. The main titles theme is one of those instantly memorable whistle mottos which are a hallmark of the genre, although on disc the sound is a bit thin and appears to be sourced from a mono master. The Australian produced DVD features the American dub in a slightly faded widescreen print. Its only through the trailer, also included, that one gets a sense of how effective the original language version would have been. Many recent Spaghetti releases include a subtitled version and this is certainly the most desirable package.

While "Blood For A Silver Dollar" is far from the worst spaghetti western made, I have to admit that all the same it failed to rouse me - and I usually LOVE spaghetti westerns! It felt interchangeable from the countless spaghetti westerns I had seen before watching it. I think the main reason for that is the script. The story doesn't contain any surprises - you'll always be one step ahead of the hero and the other characters from seeing the same situations in other spaghetti westerns before. Apparently because of this, Giuliano Gemma and the rest of the cast don't seem able to bring any life to their clichéd characters. Behind the camera, director Giorgio Ferroni does manage to give the enterprise an acceptable look, but can't generate that much excitement, in part due to the fact there's little action. Recommended only for those who have never seen a spaghetti western before in their life.

Handsome, charming former stuntman Giuliano Gemma is once again in good form as he plays Gary O'Hara, a former Confederate soldier in the post-Civil War era. Looking for employment, he comes to the isolated town of Yellowstone, and gets hired for a job by local fat cat McCoy (Pierre Cressoy). He survives the ensuing ordeal to learn that McCoy lied to him, and that the supposed bad man he was hired to roust was in fact his brother Phil (Nazzareno Zamperla). Saved from certain death by a strategically placed silver dollar, he goes about seeking justice.

"Blood for a Silver Dollar" is just good, straightforward entertainment, complete with gunfights, stunts, twists and turns, a lovely leading lady (Ida Galli as Garry's wife Judy), and appealing widescreen photography. It doesn't reinvent the genre, but it tells a diverting story in capable fashion for a fairly well paced 91 minutes. Certainly a lot of the pleasure derives from Gemmas' casting, and he's an engaging hero as always. Cressoy is one of those classic characters who you can just sense is going to be sneaky and corrupt, and other supporting actors like Franco Fantasia (as the sheriff) also do fine work.

Gary takes plenty of lumps before the tale is done. While we're not in much doubt that he'll rise up righteous and kick some ass, it's good that he doesn't always necessarily have the upper hand, keeping things at least fairly interesting.

Seven out of 10.