Sella d'argento

This 1978 release is generally considered as the last spaghetti western in the cycle commenced in 1964. The occasional entries from the eighties were simply a one off attempts to revive a genre which formally ended in 1978 but which had been in its death throes since the early seventies. This is a western for children directed by of all people Lucio Fulci with his trademark gore nowhere to be seen. Gemma who was always a heroic presence rather than an anti hero was perfectly cast for the film intended by the producers. The story has a young boy seeing his father murdered and murdering the Killer and taking his silver saddle.Growing up as a feared bounty hunter he saves the life and befriends the young nephew of the man he intends to kill for having commissioned his father's murder and from this point on the action and mild violence take a back sear to th relationship between Gemma , the kid his beautiful aunt and his partner a sympathetic crook excellently played by Geoffrey Lewis. A good but not exceptional score is aided by a catchy title theme in the De Angelis mold. Not a great film, maybe not even a great spaghetti western but very enjoyable from start to finish.

The third and last of Fulci's Spaghetti Westerns (coming at the tail-end of the genre) - not up to the vintage MASSACRE TIME (1966) but preferable to the disappointing and unpleasant THE FOUR OF THE APOCALYPSE (1975) - with a distinct kiddie interest, since the violence isn't particularly graphic. In fact, even if star Giuliano Gemma (perhaps best known for two "Ringo" Westerns) is given the possibility of a couple of romances, the central relationship involves him and the young nephew of his sworn enemy!

As such, it emerges as unremarkable but surprisingly engaging, with a pleasant soundtrack and able support from Geoffrey Lewis (as Gemma's sidekick, a more likable version of the slimy bounty-hunters played by Strother Martin and L.Q. Jones in Sam Peckinpah's THE WILD BUNCH [1969]), Ettore Manni (as the chief villain) and Aldo Sambrell as a Mexican bandit-leader.

Lucio Fulci's "Sella D'Argento" aka "Silver Saddle" of 1978 is the last, and in my opinion the least interesting out of three Westerns directed by Fulci (not including his co-directing of Julio Buchs' "A Bullet For Sandoval" of 1969). "Silver Saddle" is definitely not a bad or boring Spaghetti Western, it is actually a fairly good movie, and Giuliano Gemma plays the lead very good, but I personally expected a little more from a Fulci Western, particularly after great "Tempo Di Massacro" aka "Massacre Time" of 1966 (with the great Franco Nero in the lead), and the moving though sadistic "Quatro Dell'Apocalisse" aka. "Four Of The Apocalypse", which was maybe no Spaghetti Western masterpiece, but which I personally liked a lot.

"Silver Saddle" starts out very good, when little Roy Blood witnesses the murder of his father by a henchman of the powerful Barrett Clan, and subsequently subsequently shoots the murderer and takes his saddle, which is adorned with silver. Grown up, Roy Blood (Giuliano Gemma) has become a deadly gunslinger, who still uses the silver saddle. After befriending a crook named Two Strike Snake (Geoffrey Lewis), Roy obtains an opportunity to kill the patriarch of the Barret Clan, and therefore ultimately avenge his father's death. When Roy hides where he suspects his arch enemy, however, a little boy shows up instead. Some thugs try to assassinate the kid and Roy keeps them from doing so by shooting them all...

...and at this point things started to bother me. Cute little kids in bigger roles may work fine in many movies, but they do certainly not belong into a Spaghetti Western directed by Lucio Fulci. The little kid was probably intended to be 'cute' and/or 'funny', but, I'm sorry to say this, I just found the little brat annoying as hell, and although he even admittedly is funny in some points of the film, the whole movie could have been a lot better without him.

Nevertheless, "Silver Saddle" is entertaining in most of its parts. A Spaghetti Western enthusiast, I have utmost respect for Giuliano Gemma for his performances in such films as "Day Of Anger" or "The Price Of Power", but I have never numbered Gemma among my favorite Spaghetti Western actors, since he hardly ever embodied the typical antihero, but was more of a typical 'good guy' in most of his films. Nevertheless, Gemma fits perfectly in some roles, and one has to say that his performance in "Sella D'Argento" is very good, and I could hardly imagine anybody else playing the role of Roy Blood. Geoffrey Lewis also delivers a very good, funny performance as Gemma's buddy Snake. The supporting cast furthermore contains two truly great Spaghetti Western regulars, Donal O'Brien, who only has a small role, and Aldo Sambrell, who once again plays a thuggish Mexican bandit. The locations are good, the score is OK, I especially liked Snake's theme, the only parts I didn't like about the soundtrack were the parts with the singing.

All said, "Silver Saddle" has its flaws, they should especially have left the little kid out and there is a lot of other unnecessary and silly cheese throughout the film, but apart from that it is an enertaining if disappoining Spaghetti Western, with a fair amount of action and violence in it. As a Spaghetti Western enthusiast I found it to be an enjoyable time-waster, fans of Giuliano Gemma should give it a try. Don't expect too much though.

Fulci's third and final Western may have a straightforward plot, but the whole thing is so well made I couldn't help but like it anyway. In HD, parts of it look like an oil painting.

Guiliano Gemma plays Silver Saddle, a guy who required his saddle by killing the guy who killed his father at the age of ten. Since then, Gemma has wandered the land and hating on the family who hired the guy who killed his dad. Or something like that.

While out one day, Gemma bumps into Two Strike Snake (Geoffrey Lewis, who I did not expect to see turn up in an Italian film), Snake likes to loot dead bodies and knows Gemma because he's famous for leaving bodies everywhere. Eventually, Lewis manages to talk Gemma into taking an assassination job - that of one of the hated family. Gemma's all up for that...until he discovers that the target is a child, and even though Gemma hates that family, he does not kill kids. But who wants him dead?

I've not watched Massacre Time, but compared to Four of The Apocalypse this film is a lot less violent. It's still violent mind you (head shots etc) but no one eats anyone else's arse like in Apocalypse. No Tomas Milian types writhing about in filth screaming either. It's tale of the good guys versus the bad guys, with all the usual ingredients thrown in, like Mexican bandits, greedy landowners and corrupt sheriffs, but seeing as how it's made by Fulci with his best crew, I have no complaints whatsoever.

And that includes the soundtrack. I though it added a slight melancholy atmosphere to the film. Is this really known as the last ever Spaghetti Western?

Admittedly, riding through in the Wild West with a silver saddle on your horse is ultimately prestigious if you're a bounty hunter, especially if you obtained it by killing its previous owner at the remarkable age of 10 years old, but it's not exactly practical or user-friendly! Our boy Roy always has to take his saddle with him to the saloons or to the brothels he visits, or must pay some money to a bum to guard it. I'd prefer an old-fashioned and rudimentary saddle, thank you very much!

After this totally pointless and very personal observation, my more elaborate thoughts on this awesome and too often overlooked Spaghetti Western! I knew immediately I was going to love "Silver Saddle". Because it's from Fulci, first and foremost, and he is my all-time favorite director (tie with Mario Bava), and secondly because it features a title song especially written and sung for the film. Not just masterful instrumental tunes, like from Ennio Morricone, but an actual song. Whenever a western has a song like that, it always ends up in my list of favorites. Other examples include: "Django", "Keoma", "The Big Gundown", "Run Man Run", and "Jonathan of the Bears".

With its release year being 1978, "Silver Saddle" is generally considered as the last Spaghetti Western to come from Italy. There were a few noteworthy attempts to revive the genre, like with a belated sequel to "Django" in 1987 or by Enzo G. Castellari in 1994 with "Jonathan and the Bears", but the magical era really did end in 1978 with "Silver Saddle" as its swan song. But what a film! Westerns may not be Fulci's biggest expertise, but he made two great ones previously ("Massacre Time" and "Four of the Apocalypse") and this one is magnificent as well. Talking about expertise, Lucio Fulci is THE ultimate master of gore and violence, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that the gunfights, duels, and kills in "Silver Saddle" are extremely bloody and explicit.

The plot is simple and straightforward, but that's usually an advantage in Westerns. Lone rider Roy Blood roams the West, which has been his destiny ever since he was 10 years old and killed the ruthless landowner Mr. Barrett, after he killed Roy's father. Now a feared bounty hunter, Roy is confronted with the corrupt and greedy Barrett family once more, but he never thought he'd develop an emotional connection with one of them...

This is a stylish western effort from Fulci. The atmosphere is captivatingly melancholic, the sound & picture quality are impeccable, the body count is high, and the performances are splendid. Giuliano Gemma never was my favorite Spaghetti Western actor (at least not compared to other regulars like Tomas Milian, Anthony Steffen, or William Berger) but he's solid here. The supportive cast is even better, with Geoffrey Lewis is the best role I have ever seen of his.