Arizona Colt

Released on DVD here in the states as "The Man From Nowhere", this entry into the Western All'Italiana oeuvre features pretty boy Guiliano Gemma as the good, veteran character actor Fernando Sancho as the bad, and a disappointing script as the ugly.

Arizona Colt can never quite figure out what it's trying to be. As a Hollywood western there would have been a few too many deaths and too strong a focus on destruction. As an Italian Western it takes itself too seriously and leans too heavily on wide tracking shots of the ol' west.

There is some good humor, and the reveal how Arizona is going to take on a town full of baddies is very slick, but this movie is a series of good moments and an overall weak effort when considered as a whole.

Rating: 16/40

This is an entertaining , engaging Western crammed of shoot'em up , noisy action , fist-fights, punches , kicks, and overwhelming stunt-work . It concerns a heinous outlaw called Torrez Gordo : Fernando Sancho, frees a band of inmates , forcíng them to join his bunch , among them is Arizona Colt : Giuliano Gemma , who declines to do it . Meanwhile , bandit Gordo is scheming a bank heist with his henchmen : Nello Pazzafini , José Luis Martín . Along the way Arizona Colt meets an old drunk , Double Whiskey : Roberto Camardiel , and both of whom head for Blackstone Hill town . When one of Gordo' s hoodlums kills a saloon girl : Rosalba Neri , then Arizona seeks justice and offers to hunt down the murderer for a reward of five hundred dollars and to get the Dolores' sister , Jane : Corínne Marchand . As Arizona and Double Whiskey set out in pursuit the true guilty and later on , they have to confront the villain Gordo . At the ending takes place the thrilling showdown in moving style and under enjoyable musical score backdrop .There was no law, there was no order , there was just The Man From Nowhere . Arizona was his name , Colt was his game. For a dollar earned a Bullet was fired.

This Ravioli Western packs ruthless roles , thrills , shootouts , quick-fire , violence , high body count and some hilarious moments thanks to Fernando Sancho character . The lighting-paced storyline slows down at times , but frenetic fight-sequences make up for it .This is a decent and passable movie with usual ingredients , there is a nice implementation of shots in the camera work during some particular scenes as the movie approaches its climax , as an amusing gimmick at the ending when our sympathetic protagonist : Gemma faces off the nasty Fernando Sancho. Gemma is pretty well as a good-looking gunslinger . Giuliano is top-notch as one army man taking on a group of bandits and as always he makes his own stunts with sympathetic touches , as usual . Gemma along with Anthony Steffen, George Hilton ,Gianni Garco, turns out to be one of the greatest stars of the Spaghetti Western . In his first Westerns he often used the peculiar name Montgomery Wood, posing as an American actor . His biggest hit was A Pistol For Ringo , following a sequel titled The Return Of Ringo , and others as Adios Gringo , Arizona Colt , The Price of Power, Day of Anger and later, the twilight western : California and his last one : Tex . But he also played other genres as Peplum: The Titans , Thrillers : Master Touch , Wartime : Young Lions . And he perfomed roles in prestigious films as Il Gatopard , Desert of Tartars , and Il Prefecto Di Ferro . Here appears some familiar secondary faces from Spaghetti or Paella Western , as Spanish actors : Roberto Camardiel as likeable co-starring , Jose Luis Martin, Alvaro De Luna , Jose Orjas , as Italian players as Andrea Bosic , Rosalba Neri , Nello Pazzafin i, Mirko Ellis, Tom Felleghy , Riccardo Pizzuti, , John Bartha , Jeff Cameron , among others . It is followed by a sequel : ¨Arizona returns¨ or ¨Arizona lets fly and kill everybody¨ 1970 by Sergio Martino , replacing Gemma by Anthony Steffen along with Roberto Camardiel , Rosalba Neri again . And special mention for the always great Fernando Sancho in his ordinary role as a swanky , boastful Mexican bandit and stealing the show , as always . Good production design and art design by Petrarca , creating adequate scenarios with luminous outdoors , rocky mountains and deserts from Almería , Spain , well photographed by Guglielmo Mancori and also filmed in Cinecitta studios , Rome Lacio , Italy . Agreeable and long-standing musical score , containing an attractive and charming leitmotif from Francesco De Massi.

This Spaghetti was compellingly directed by Michele Lupo who made all kinds of genres. Lupo made various Bud Spencer vehícles as Bulldozer, The supersheriff , ET and the supersheriff , and Buddy go west . Lupo directed Giuliano Gemma , his fetish actor , in several films as Master Touch with Kirk Douglas , this Arizona Colt , and California with William Berger . Rating 6,5/10. Essential and fundamental seeing for Giuliano Gemma fans . Better than average western .

Torrez Gordon needs new blood for his gang of outlaws, so he breaks into a prison to brand the inmates with the 'S' of the Scorpion gang. You gotta love the way these Italian stunt men spin around when they are shot. Some of them even got their horses doing it! Only one man refuses to join Gordon's gang: a clean cut dandy who calls himself Arizona Colt, after the state and the pistol.

This is not your usual Spaghetti Western. The man with no name never cared about his appearance. Arizona however, hides in his underwear, hanging upside down from a tree to take another outlaw's outfit, all to keep his precious suit clean! The score is also more American in nature than usual: very brassy and with the occasional comic banjo thrown in for good measure.

Colt is off to Blackstone Hill where we are introduced to a lot of supporting characters that have little to add to the picture. Dolores, who work in a bar full of men, is killed by a drunk in the barn before the audience gets a change to care about her. When her father asks Arizona to go after the killer, he not only demands money in return but the other daughter, Jane too (so he isn't a total fruitcake after all). Jane does not object either, since this is the only guy in town who knows what a bathtub looks like. He's so clean his teeth shine in the dark.

It gets even sillier when the Scorpion gang stumbles upon a gang of singing cowboys. The scene starts of quite amusing, with Gordon's right hand man Big Whiskey smelling out each person's valuables. But when the gang leader pulls out his golden pocket watch (don't they always?) and starts shooting all of these Gene Autry's in the back, Whiskey is not amused. He eventually teams up with Arizona, who has failed his mission in order to learn the usual lesion in humility.

While he is recuperating in an abandoned church, Jane comes begging for his help again. It seems Gordon is now holding the entire town hostage. Luckily Whiskey is an explosives expert and the two of them decide to take on all the Scorpions. Ever the showoff, Arizona kills each one of them in a different way, making use of household objects like rocking chairs and of course his acrobatics. In the sequel, "Arizona si scatenò... e li fece fuori tutti" (1970), the much dirtier Anthony Steffen took over the lead from Giuliano Gemma.

5 out of 10

Gordon (Fernando Sancho) and his bandits attack a prison to free all the inmates, because they need more men to rob a bank. One of the ex-prisoners declines the job offer, though. Arizona Colt (Giuliano Gemma) chases a murderer (Nello Pazzafini) for a reward of 500 dollars - and a night with the daughter of the saloon keeper!

"Arizona Colt" proves once again that the spaghetti western heroes were not bound by morality. The protagonist is only into money and women, but somehow he remains sympathetic. Classic moment of cynicism: Gordon tells how his father many years ago said: "Son, when I'm dead, my golden watch will belong to you", and 5 seconds later, the watch did belong to Gordon! Fernando Sancho is perfect as always to play the leader of the bandits. Gemma is a different type of actor than the stone-faced Clint Eastwood imitators of the genre, thus his movies are usually more enjoyable and original. The music is quite close to the rather epic style of the Ringo films, but written by Francesco de Masi this time.

After spending time in prison, bounty hunter, Arizona Colt (Giuliano Gemma) escapes after the Sidewinder gang massacres the guards and releases the prisoners whom all take off with Gordo (Fernando Sancho) and his men. Pressuring him into joining them, Arizona refuses to join the gang and leaves after humiliating Gordon and his men and heads to Blackstone Hill. There, the daughter (Rosalba Neri) of the saloon owner is murdered by one of Gordo's men. Arizona makes an uneasy deal with the townspeople that he'll bring back the killer for a reward in addition to marrying the bar owner's other daughter, Jane. After a brush with death, Arizona Colt must save the entire town now taken over by Gordo and the Sidewinders.

Giuliano Gemma flashes his pearly white teeth and twirls his sixgun as Arizona Colt who isn't too far from his "Ringo" persona. Matter of fact, there's a scene which nods towards Ringo when Colt asks for milk but then orders beer instead. It's a handsome looking western with great cinematography, a hummable score and title song, and some nifty action. Not as strong as Gemma's Ringo films but it's still a solid western that is well made and has a strong plot. Nice shootout finale between Arizona and Gordo - quite apt that it takes place in a shack full of empty coffins!! Maybe the runtime is a little long, though.