Seine Kugeln pfeifen das Todeslied

Moving and dramatic Macaroni/Paella Western about a violent feud among sons , mother and her lover . Spanish-Italian co-production with Spaghetti-heroes as Leonard Mann , Peter Martell against Luciana Paluzzi and Albert De Mendoza . An Italian-Spanish co-production full of action , exaggerated characters, gun-play and lots of violence . In the beginning of the movie returning from Civil War , general Jose Carrasco (Jose Suarez) is double-crossed and takes place an ambush, in which is killed by his unscrupulous spouse Anna (Luciana Paluzzi) and her lover named Tomas (Alberto De Mendoza) . The sole survivor named Sebastian of a slaughter seeks vendetta . Years later, grown-up Sebastian (Leonard Mann) has become a magnificent and fast-hand gunman. One day Rafael (Prieto Martellanz or Peter Martell) goes back to Texas , where Sebastian resides , and brings back the terrible records of Sebastian's infancy . Rafael, who is the lover of Sebastian's sister Isabel (Pilar Velazquez), insistently chased by Anna Carrasco's hoodlums (Jose Riesgo, Piero Lulli), and Sebastian agrees to join him back to his mother's estate in order to rescue his sister from their mommy and to avenge his daddy's death . After suffering atrocity , both of whom execute a single-handedly revenge , they hit , ravage and kill each person involved in the massacre . Follows the exploits of Sebastian Carrasco and Rafael Garcia in SW usual theme, 'revenge' . For pleasure, for avenge, don't care why they kills or how . They are relentless in their vendetta , deadly in his violence . The conflict is simple one between two avengers and a Baron land with his hoodlums , oppressors, nasty bandits .

It's an exciting western with breathtaking showdown between the protagonists Leonard Mann , Peter Martell and the enemy , Alberto De Mendoza, and his underlings . Leonard Mann is fine, he ravages the screen, he shoots , hits and run and ultimately takes the law on his own hands . Alberto De Mendoza as a cruelly baddie role is terrific, subsequently he would play similar characters in various oaters . Furthermore, appears usual secondary actors from Italian/Spanish Western as Jose Suarez , Jose Riesgo ,Franco Pesce , Jose Luis Martin , Luciano Rossi ,Enzo Fiermonte , and several others. Brief appearance of future Spahetti secondary myth , Piero Lulli . The film blends violence, blood, tension, family drama , high body-count and it's fast moving and quite entertaining . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing a shootout or stunt every few minutes . This is a good Spaghetti Western with some moments genuinely entertaining if you can avoid thinking too much . The musician Roberto Pregadio composes a vibrant soundtrack in Morricone style and well conducted ; including a catching leitmotif and considered to be one of the best . Atmospheric scenario with barren outdoors, dirty landscapes under a glimmer sun and a fine sets with striking cinematography in Eastmancolor with negative regularly processed , being necessary a right remastering . Interior filmed in Elios Studios (Rome) and outdoor sequences filmed on location in Lacio (Rome) along with Almeria, where in the 60s and 70s were shot innumerable Spaghetti.

It's a Western freely based on famous Orestes myth . According to Pindar, the young Orestes (here played by Leonard Mann) was saved by his nurse Arsinoe or his sister Electra (here Pilar Velazquez) , who conveyed him out of the country when Clytemnestra (Luciana Paluzzi) wished to kill him. In the familiar theme of the hero's early eclipse and exile, he then escaped to Mount Parnassus . In his twentieth year, he was urged by Electra to return home and avenge his father's death. He returned home along with his friend Pylades (Peter Martell) . The same myth is told differently by Sophocles and Euripides in their Electra plays. Other Spaghetti based on known and classic novels and plays , are the following : ¨Johnny Hamlet¨(1968) by Enzo G Castellari ; ¨The return of Ringo¨ by Duccio Tessari inspired on the ¨Odyssey¨, ¨John Il Bastardo¨(1967) based on books from Zorrilla and Moliere ; ¨Fury of Johnny Kid¨by Gianni Puccini based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and ¨Anche Nel West Céra una Volta Dio ¨ (1968) by Marino Girolami¨based on ¨Island of treasure¨ by Robert Stevenson. The motion picture was compellingly directed by Ferdinando Baldi . Baldi was a craftsman who directed all kind genres but especially Western such as "Carambola's Philosophy: In the Right Pocket" , "Django, Prepare a Coffin" , ¨Adios Texas¨ , ¨Rita in the West¨ and of course this ¨Il Pistolero dell'Ave Maria" or USA original title) "Forgotten Pistolero".

The DVD I've ordered features the film (Il Pistolero dell'Ave Maria) in its original Italian language. Some aspects of the story may have been changed in the English language version.

I will tell you just the very beginning of the story. I only want to give you a taste of the film. There will be no real spoilers (I think).

A lone rider going through a canyon. Up on the cliffs horsemen watching him. Close-ups of their faces, hands ready for action. The scene is enhanced by a hauntingly beautiful score.

The rider is Rafael (Pietro Martellanza). As a boy he had worked in a hacienda in Mexico. The owner of the hacienda was absent fighting against the french. For those that have no knowledge of the history of Mexico, very simplistically told, the french had invaded Mexico in 1861 and installed Maximilian of Habsburg in power. He became the emperor of Mexico! The french rule lasted until 1867, when the Mexicans led by Benito Juarez, expelled the french and shot the Emperor. Crazy, ain't it?

Coming back to the film, Rafael worked in this hacienda that belonged to the Carrasco Family. The patriarch and owner of the hacienda, General Juan Carrasco, was absent fighting against the french. Rafael was the best friend of his (the general's) son Sebastian (Leonard Mann), and loved and was loved by Sebastian's sister, Isabella (Pilar Velazquez). Children, the three of them. But while General Carrasco was away fighting the french, his wife Ana (Luciana Paluzzi) was having an affair with the hacienda's foreman, Tomas (Alberto de Mendoza). After the french had been defeated, General Carrasco returns home and is received in high style by everyone in the hacienda. A party is held to commemorate his return. Suddenly... betrayal and tragedy.

The characters are scattered to the four winds. Years pass and the dust seems to have settled down, but a chance meeting will rekindle old memories. The day of reckoning has arrived.

This story almost seems a Mexican melodrama, but it's filmed with a grandeur and style that's unique. The party that is held in homage to General Carrasco, when he returns from the war, with its dancing, singing and eating, is flamboyantly portrayed. The same holds true for the scene in which a character enters a small Mexican village where a celebration is taking place in the streets ... firecrackers, people laughing, singing ... Then the saloon, with wild and beautiful women dancing barefoot on the counter... Ferdinando Baldi is very skilled in telling a story by way of images - editing, framing, close-ups, music ... everything adds up to create the right atmosphere and the proper emotion. It's true that sometimes he goes overboard, as he proved with the completely over-the-top film's ending, that's so operatic, so melodramatic, as to put even the wildest Mexican melodramas to shame.

A good, well-told story featuring beautiful women (Luciana Paluzzi, Pilar Velazques and many others), sunny, dry landscapes, and a wonderful soundtrack. I didn't like so much the ending, though, with its fire and brimstones conclusion, but this is a matter of taste. Highly recommended if you like your spaghetti hot and wild.

"Gunman of Ave Maria" ends up missing the mark. It has a good story. The male cast is fine and the female cast is dreamy but, for some reason, it doesn't really come together. It kind of plays like a Lifetime version of a spaghetti western. I guess they deserve some points for trying something different but I don't think I'll be re-watching "Gunman of Ave Maria" any time soon.

I don't think this one ever got a release in the USA. It's got a great score, good action, and kind of a soap-opera plot, but the actors do a good job and production values and sets are top notch. Leonard Mann and Peter Martell play two young gunmen who share a tragic past; childhood friends, they were separated when Mann's father was killed by his mother's lover. He was spirited away by a faithful servant while his sister (the lovely Pilar Velazquez) remained to be raised by the two murderous lovers. Rafael (a brooding Martell), childhood friend and servant also remains, but is practically a prisoner of the household until he grows up and escapes, searching for the missing Sebastian. Complications ensue. This one has a bit more heart than most spaghetti westerns, and if you are a fan of the genre, you'll enjoy it. 8/10

As soon as the Forgotten Pistolero starts, the theme tune is instantly familiar - with the whistled score probably surpassed only by Morricone's Dollars trilogy soundtracks, or maybe the Magnificent Seven, when it comes to being used as the backdrop to western sketches everywhere. It is made all the more beautiful by the mountainous Almeria backdrop.

The film itself is equally impressive. Directed by the prolific Ferdinando Baldi, it begins with Rafael (Pietro Martellanza) being pursued by a gang of Mexicans. Surviving the ambush (to the sound of that glorious theme), he finds himself finally locating child-hood friend Sebastian (Leonard Mann).

Sebastian is informed that the woman he believed to be his mother, and who had raised him since a child, had in fact rescued him as an infant from the brutal attack and mass murder that had cost his father his life. Rafael tells him that this attack had been arranged by his real mother (Paluzzi) and her lover.

Sebastian's sister, who had witnessed the massacre all those years ago, had since fallen in love with Rafael (for which he had been severely punished and hounded). The extent of this punishment becomes clear later in the movie when, whilst captive, he is forced to lie next to a beautiful lady, and taunted that he now only has his muscles to prove his manhood.

This revenge story follows a different path to the majority of Euro-westerns, with emphasis on the tale rather than action (that said, there are some great action scenes). It is a highly captivating and atmospheric movie, gripping from start to finish. Well worth the watch but - warning - you'll be whistling the music for days!