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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.

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.

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!

I only saw this film once in 1975 and for some reason it has stuck in my mind! The opening scene in particular. I am hoping that by writing here someone may be aware of its availability on PAL video and in English! There has to be a copy somewhere! I rememeber it being a particularly good example of this genre - ie: the "Italian Western."

This is one of the greatest movies I remember from my teenager years. It was the talk of town. It used to run on the local theater for months on a roll and many people went to see it more than once, including me. For some reasons it became a classic of "western" right here in Brazil. Maybe even more than full-fledged American westerns. Giuliano Gemma, even though, Italian, become the poster-boy for an authentic American cowboy down here. The plot was very well written, good fist fights, great shoot-outs right on the beginning. The soundtrack is just amazing and stands up by itself as a classic. Pay attention to the opening credits, you can have a lot of fun just by doing that. It could have been even better if had been shot in American old western soil, such as "Monument Valley". It's kind of intriguing, how italians, the creators of pasta, could make such awesome western movies and New York is the best place in the world to eat Italian food. How can these two countries can be so far and so close at the same time? It wracks my brain.