Johnny Yuma

This is one of several of American actor Mark Damon's European ventures; he worked in various genres (such as historical epics and horror films) but also did a number of Spaghetti Westerns – including Sergio Corbucci's light-hearted RINGO AND HIS GOLDEN PISTOL(1966; originally bearing the similar title JOHNNY ORO) and the politicized KILL AND PRAY (1967), where he actually played the villain; even so, I don't feel he exudes the ruggedness which is part and parcel of this stylized subgenre!

Despite interesting credentials (incidentally, the widescreen German print on the budget DVD I rented omits the opening titles completely…so that the sequence where they ought to be merely shows Johnny Yuma wandering aimlessly on his horse!) – director Guerrieri, co-scriptwriter Fernando Di Leo – this is a minor genre effort, hindered more than anything else by a not very compelling plot line (drifter Damon battles sultry aunt Rosalba Neri and her gunman lover Lawrence Dobkin for an inheritance); unsurprisingly, the latter ends up befriending the hero and is ultimately himself deceived by the femme fatale.

The film is undecided whether it wants to be serious or approach the genre with tongue-in-cheek (hinted at by the presence of a greedy Mexican bum who aids Damon throughout) – though sentimentality over the murder of a child who has harbored the wounded hero (as often happens in this type of film, the latter receives a thorough beating only to re-emerge a stronger person for the finale) suggests something deeper may have been intended. The Mexican pueblo in which the tale unfolds supplies the requisite Western atmosphere, but also proves the ideal setting for the climactic gunfight. The score by Nora Orlando isn't bad and, yet, the lyrics to the title song seem to have been hastily scribbled down – having little to do with the action proper of the film!

The likeable mark Damon stars in this ok western that is mildly entertaining, especially in the latter half, however, I found it quite plodding at times with too much emphasis on comedy with the side kick, which distracts from an interesting storyline. Still, it has some good shootouts, and the voluptuous and deadly Rosalba Neri steals every scene she is in. The title song is good, reminds of that John Leyton song ( Johnny remember me).

This is a very memorable spaghetti western. It has a great storyline, interesting characters, and some very good acting, especially from Rosalba Neri. Her role as the evil villainess in this film is truly classic. She steals every scene she is in, and expresses so much with her face and eyes, even when she's not speaking. Her performance is very believable. She manages to be quite mesmerizing without being over the top (not that there's anything wrong with being over the top). Mark Damon is surprisingly good in this movie too.

The music score is excellent, and the theme song is the kind that will be playing in your head constantly for days after seeing the movie, whether you want it to or not. There are a couple of parts that are very amusing. I especially like the part where Rosalba Neri undresses in front of the parrot. There's also lots of slick gun-play that's very well done.

I would probably have given this movie 8 or 9 stars if it wasn't for two things. The first being a silly bar room brawl that occurs about 25 minutes into the film. This is one of the most ridiculous looking fights I have ever seen in a movie. It is very poorly choreographed, and looks more like a dance number from a bad musical than any kind of a real fight. One might be able to overlook this if it were a Terence Hill/Bud Spencer comedy, but this is a more serious western, and the brawl really needed to be more realistic. The other thing that annoyed me about this movie was Yuma's cowardly Mexican sidekick. I guess he was supposed to be comic relief or something, but the character was just plain stupid and unnecessary in a movie like this, and he wasn't at all funny. All I can say is where is Tuco when you need him?

All that having been said, let me assure everyone reading this that Johnny Yuma is a classic spaghetti western despite the faults I have mentioned, and all fans of the genre need to see this movie.

This film essentially begins with a married woman by the name of "Samantha Felton" (Rosalba Neri) arraigning to have her wealthy husband killed in order to inherit his sizeable ranch and fortune. The problem, however, is that her husband had recently written to his nephew "Johnny Yuma" (Mark Damon) who has agreed to give up his life as a gunslinger in order to work on the ranch and eventually inherit a part of it on some future day. Not at all content with that idea, Samantha reaches out to another gunslinger by the name of "Linus Jerome Carradine" (Lawrence Dobkin) to help her out in that regard. But what she doesn't realize is that both Johnny and Linus have previously met under somewhat amicable circumstances, and both share a healthy respect for one another--and this complicates things to a certain degree. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was an interesting film due in large part to the involvement of several different characters with their own individual agendas. That being said, while it may not be the best Spaghetti Western ever produced, it's certainly worth a watch and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

I wanted to like this a lot more than I did. From the title song on I felt like it was trying hard to find it's place within this competitive genre, but was misguided. All the ingredients are here for this to be a fantastic Spaghetti Western, but I think it took itself too seriously. There is some basic comic relief with his best friend and the score is OK, but makes the movie feel more like an American Western than it's Italian compadres. The lead female villain is pretty fantastic, but overall I think there are better movies within the genre. If you are into watching gun fights there is a pretty solid one that lasts quite awhile near the end of the movie.