Das Coltstrumpfband

This film takes place in Mexico during the last year of French rule with forces loyal to Napoleon III trying to stop arms shipments from Texas to Benito Juarez. As is often the case during a time of strife there is increased social unrest and as a result law and order has completely broken down with revolutionaries, arms smugglers and gamblers taking advantage of the situation. To that end, a French officer by the name of "Lieutenant Jean Martin" (Gaspare Zola) is instructed to stop a shipment of guns on its way to the local revolutionary commander "General Droga" (Walter Barnes). The problem with that is the fact that Lt. Martin has proven to be totally incapable of carrying out these orders as he has demonstrated several times in the past. But with no other option he complies with his instructions-and gets taken prisoner yet again. Fortunately, with the help of a double agent by the name of "Carlos" (Yorgo Voyagis) he manages to escape into the desert landscape and flags down a stagecoach headed in his direction. It's there that he meets a beautiful female gambler named "Lulu 'Garter' Colt" (Nicoletta Machiavelli) and from that point on their lives-along with that of Carlos-will become extremely complicated. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this film definitely had some potential but the talents of these actors were terribly wasted by an incoherent plot, poor direction and an awful script. Quite frankly, for a comedy it just wasn't that funny. Admittedly, having attractive actresses like Silvana Bacci ("as Red's masseuse"), Marisa Solinas ("Rosie") and the aforementioned Nicoletta Machiavelli certainly didn't hurt-but it simply wasn't enough to overcome the faults just mentioned and I have rated this movie accordingly.

This starts with an introduction at the beginning of the film: Mexico 1867. After the Austrians of Maximilian of Habsburg who took power in Mexico, the French troops of Napoleon III disembark. The war between the French oppressors and the partisan groups, the liberators of the Mexican hero Benito Juárez, continues. The chaos of this war brings with it adventurers of all kinds: arms dealers, gamblers, spies, and smugglers. Five captured Frenchmen are tied to stakes, the Mexican revolutionary general (Walter Barnes) lights a fuse, and the French explode, the explosion so violent that even parts of the fleeing Mexicans are thrown from their horses. After this explosive prelude to the revolutionary adventure, in the next scene Lulu (Nicoletta Machiavelli) appears, the lady in white and an erotic garter belt. She travels by stagecoach and what immediately catches the eye is the beautiful dress with a plunging neckline. The carriage carries two fugitive French soldiers who are at the end of their rope. Two Mexicans transporting weapons on a mule, including the bandit Red (Claudio Camaso), decide to attack the carriage and shoot one of the French, while the other, Lieutenant Jean Martin (Gaspare Zola), fights a duel with Red, then our beautiful protagonist pulls out a small pistol from her garter belt and shoots. Also appearing is the virginal Rosie (Marisa Solinas) who can't decide if Red or Martin would be the best lover for her. And of course, the bandit Red who is always behind Lulu until the subsequent violent confrontation.

It is a romantic narrative, with adventures, crossfire, violence, love affairs and little connection with the authentic Mexican History. The film seems somewhat improvised and disjointed, a little confusing in the convoluted storyline, here an attempt is made to create a new Spaghetti heroine, with Nicholetta Machiavelli as the true starring and whose best appearance was in 'Sergio Corbucci's Navajo Joe' alongside Burt Reynolds. Nicholetta plays a wonderful lady with great cleavage who turns out to be a conspicuous poker player, but she is a real cheater, being aided in her devious games by an usually hidden dwarf and a talking parrot. However, she missed a great opportunity to create a female heroine as opposed to the always masculine Spaghetti heroes such as Ringo, Sabata or Sartana. Here Nicoletta Machiavelli is gorgeous but she doesn't have any chance to really shine. However, being acceptable enough, playing a young gambling woman who defends herself from the attack of a fearsome bandit while falling in love with a young Frenchman, as the latter asks her to give up gambling and start a quiet and normal life, but when the young man is killed by the bandit, she is determined to seek vengeance. In Giarrettiera Colt(1968) there're several peculiar characters that appear here and there without much sense, such as a Mexican revolutionary general: Walter Barnes, a talking parrot, a dwarf who shoots hidden in a baby carriage, a duo of ballroom dancers, among others. Adding some "comic" elements, along with low-cut necklines, raised skirts and meanwhile our two heroines Machiavelli and Marisa Solinas roll around erotically in the hay or other peculiar places. The result is a small spaghetti western comedy with brief erotic touches that does not lack noisy action, betrayals, shootings and violence, but not only the extreme beauty, the attractive necklines or the beautiful dresses of Nicoletta Machiavelli (created by herself) are enough, a better narration would have been necessary to make it a decent film. Nicoletta is well accompanied by a good cast of familiar faces that appeared in Pasta Westerns, such as Claudio Camáso who was Gian Maria Volonté's brother but shortly after committed suicide, the American secondary, Walter Barnes, the gorgeous Marisa Solinas, the Greek Yorgo Voyagis, the indispensable Giovanni Ivan Scratuglia and Riccardo Pizzuti who frequently showed up in a number of Terence Hill and Bud Spencer films. The 90 minutes or so are entertaining, but expectations for a female heroine were totally disappointed. That's why the typical starring of the Spaghetti Western is usually a tough macho who finds no rival, ordinarily he is a gunslinger who seeks revenge, however, searching here and there, if a few female protagonists show up, such as: Elsa Martinelli in ¨The Belle Starr Story¨ (1968 ), Norma Bengell in ¨Freda West¨ (1968), Lola Falana in ¨Lola Colt¨ (1967) and Tina Aumont in ¨Man, Pride and Vengeance¨ (1967).

The film music by composers Giovanni Fusco and Gianfranco Plenizio has a catchy main theme, along with Spaghetti-style ambient music, and occasionally adding Mexican tonalities. And the cinematography by cameraman Gino Santini is colorful and sunny, being shot in Cinematografica, Cagliari, Sardinia and San Salvatore, Cabras, Oristano, Sardinia, Italy. The film was regularly directed by Gian Rocco. He was a screenwriter, producer and director with a limited filmography. Rocco only directed three films: ¨Milano nera¨ (1963) whose scriptwriter was none other than Pier Paolo Pasolini , ¨Carosello spagnolo¨ (1958) and ¨Giarettiera Colt¨ (1968). Rating: 5/10, average but acceptable and passable thanks to the beauty of Nicoletta Machiavelli.