Der Colt aus Gringos Hand

(1967) Dakota Joe/ A Man and A Colt/ Un hombre y un colt (In Spanish with English subtitles) SPAGHETTI WESTERN

Co-produced, co-written and directed by Tulio Demicheli that has bandits led by Gusto Pedro (Fernando Sancho) robbing a mail carrying carriage that happened to be carrying some money. And seeing them from a distance is Dakota Joe (Robert Hundar). After the robbery was over, he then runs down there to grab one of it's horses from the carriage, before continuing to follow the bandits. Once he finds their hiding place, he then sticks his gun out to them before accusing two of them of stealing his horse. He takes both the money and his horse back before blocking their passage with hay. We then see Dakota Joe entering his intended destination, and that is to see a wealthy count, Don Carlos (Mirko Ellis). And before he sees him, he is then makes some new friends, a young couple of Pablo and his fiance Carmencita (Gloria Milland). And we find out that Dakota Joe is actually a hired gunman, and is instructed to shoot and kill a particular doctor, Garcia (Félix Dafauce). Except that Dakota wants to speak to him first, and takes a thousand down payment. And after finding out that the doctor is a non violent person, he rejects the offer before he returns the money. At the same time, we also find out that Gustro Pedro's bandits also work for Don Carlos as well. And just as Dakota returns his money, unfortunate circumstances happen when Pablo shoots and kills Don Carlo's arrogant brother, Garcia as he was attempting to assault Pablo's wife, Carmencita during their wedding. Pablo gets shot on the leg with him and his two brothers are then forced to go on the run. Don Carlos and his bandits then chase after them, hiding Pablo behind before his two brothers are running ahead as a ruse. Dakota eventually finds Pablo, as he is planning to break his wife to escape.

Forgettable scenario that takes a moment from "A Fistful of Dollars" and then making a different kind of movie from it, with the theme of 'you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours' that kind of thing. In this case it is Pablo and his wife, Carmencita as he is part of the Mexican revolution supporting Emiliano Zapata. It is almost identical when the Clint Eastwood character went out of his way to help Marianne Koch character both her husband and their son. The only problem is that their is a lack of action in it we have not seen from other Westerns or in this case Spaghetti Westerns for that matter.

This is an entertaining Zapata Western that packs stirring adventures , shootouts , riding chases , vengeance , treason and is pretty amusing . Paella/Ravioli Western starred by Dakota Joe (Robert Hundar) , he is a feared gunslinger , dedicated to rent his revolver to kill . And for that reason arrives in a ranch at Mexican border , called by the landowner Don Carlos (Mirko Ellis) , a rich man follower of President Porfirio Diaz and who attacks , rampage and pillage the peasants . Dakota is hired to kill the town doctor (Felix Dafauce) , a good man who helps poor and unfortunate people . So Dakota Joe decides not to carry out the assignment , and plans with Pedro (Fernando Sancho), an outlaw who ravages and sacks stagecoach , now working "honestly" to the wealthy man , stealing all the money saved in the latter safe . Furthermore , Don Carlos's brother (Francisco Moran) uses an old law which allows owner his feudal right of first night on the bride (Marta Reves) called ¨Ius Primae Noctis¨ after the wedding celebration , then occurs crossfire and subsequent vendetta . Meanwhile , there takes place Mexican Revolution with two bands , Emilio Zapata's supporters and Porfirio Diaz's followers . Dakota , then , decides to help the Zapatistas .

This forgotten S.W. packs thrills , action , and lots of shots and gunplay . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing shoot'em up , riding pursuits or stunts every few minutes . It deals with Dakota Joe , splendidly performed by the tall Robert Hundar , he is fine as the villain/hero of the story . Starring Robert Hundar is cool as a cold killer turned into a defender , he is enjoyable as the hero of the story . Hundar is very nice , he ravages the screen, he shoots , hits and runs , besides receives violent punches, kicks and wounds . The story is wrapped in the aura of Mexican revolution and an event on the metamorphosis of Dakota , a gunfighter turned into a hero . However , Fernando Sancho steals the spectacle as a likable Mexican with dark secrets , being magnificently interpreted by this veteran Spanish secondary actor . Worthwhile watching for a demonstration of the confrontation , with some looks that say it all , between Robert Hundar and his rival , the cruel owner well played by Mirko Ellis , also Spaghetti's ordinary . It's an exciting SW with breathtaking showdown between the protagonist Robert Hundar and the enemy hoodlums , including a thrilling ending when happens a showdown at a saloon between Dakota Joe and a surprising contender . In addition , there appears usual secondaries of Italian/Spanish Western , including customary actors as the femme fatal Gloria Marin , Jose Canalejas , Antonio Mayans , Simon Arriaga , Raf Baldassarre , among others. There are many fine technicians and nice assistant direction and excellent production design , a magnificent scenario on the villages , ranch , and barren outdoors , dirty landscapes under a glimmer sun and fine sets filmed in Almería, Andalucía , Spain . Evocative cinematography by Emilio Foriscot , showing marvelously the habitual Almeria outdoors . Angel Oliver supported by expert musician Coroliano Gori compose a vivid Spaghetti soundtrack and well conducted , including an awesome leitmotif ; it's full of enjoyable sounds and rousing score . Definitely a worthy topic but, well done correctly interpreted and euro-western of the first period which, although far from the postulates leonianos .

This is one of the uncountable Western that the producers pioneers (Jose Gutierrez Maesso , Eduardo Manzanos Brochero) were joined by other Spanish producers, among which the brothers Productions Balcázar Balcázar or IFISA Iquino Ignacio Farres who established around Barcelona (Esplugues City, Casteldefells) and Huesca, especially to shoot the exteriors, a new stable center for filming westerns. The Argentinian , nationalized Spanish writer/filmmaker Tulio Demicheli so consistently mixed the good with the mediocre that it became quite impossible to know what to expect from him next . This is his second S.W. and is superior than former and subsequent entries , as he directed other Gazpacho Western as ¨Tequila¨, ¨Arriba Sabata¨ and ¨Gunmen of Rio Bravo¨. Demicheli had a long , prolific career , working from the 40s , he directed all kind of genres as drama as ¨Herida Luminosa¨ , Thriller as ¨Ricco¨ , adventures as ¨Son of Captain Blood¨, ¨First adventure¨ , Spy sub-genre as ¨¨Il Nostro Agente a Casablanca¨, ¨Dirty game in Panama¨ , ¨Misión Lisboa¨ , Giallo as ¨Coartada en Disco Rojo or Two faces or fear¨ , Horror as ¨Monstruos De Terror or Assignment Terror" ¨ . His best movie was ¨Carmen of Ronda¨ with Sara Montiel . "Dakota Joe" USA title or "Man and a Colt" or ¨Un Hombre y Un Colt¨ resulted to be an above average Chorizo Western with an acceptable production , gorgeous cinematography , outstanding players and impressive musical score . Rating : 7 . Well worth watching .