Dieu pardonne... moi pas !

God Forgives...I Don't! (1967)

** (out of 4)

Incoherent but violent Spaghetti Western has a train pulling up to a station but everyone on board has been shot and killed and there's also $100,000 in gold missing. Soon Terence Hill and Bud Spencer (their first film together) are trying to track down the gold, which has been buried somewhere in the west. Apparently there are at least two versions of this film out there and the one I watched was the AIP version, which got a theatrical release here in the States back in the day. The studio was known for editing and rearraging foreign films and I'm curious if that's what they did here because the film was really incoherent and didn't make too much sense as if some of the scenes were either edited or moved. Since I haven't seen the foreign version I'm not sure what the case is so I can just review what I watched. As for the film, outside it not making too much sense, it really isn't as bad as some of the reviews that I've read. This is the only film I've seen from the Hill/Spencer team, although I've got more sitting here to watch. I think the two make for an interesting duo but I've read the majority of their films together are more comedy than anything else. This one here is certainly played straight as there are very few laughs and a lot of violence. The opening sequence on the train is wonderfully done as is the following scene where Hill is playing poker against three cheaters. The violence really keeps the film moving even when the story doesn't make too much sense. This isn't the best spaghetti I've seen but I'm sure there are worse out there.

Their first official movie Spencer and Hill stared in together, a classic spaghetti western. Ironically it was Hill who started out as the harsher character while Bud played the more amicable guy.

It was an entertaining enough movie, but if you're looking for the humourous slapstick comedy we have come to expect from these guys, you won't get it. Unlike "They call me Trinity", it's a very serious Western with little in the way of humour, although I do find the shoot outs amusing as the guns seem to fire off more like cap guns than real guns.

What intrigues me here is the voice dubbing. Bud was dubbed by the man who was to do his voice in most of his movies; Glauco Onorato. Hill usually did his own English voice dubbing, but in this one he has someone else doing his voice, a much colder and harsher voice to match his character. I guess it's not surprising that they needed to do that, otherwise his character, Cat would just not have the same menacing aura to him. Perhaps for the same reasons Bud is normally voiced by Glauco.

This was the first in a series of three movies using these two characters.

Very good quality spaghetti western!Without exploration in genre but strong professional work on all levels.Not bad scenario (rude variation on THE GOOOD THE BAD THE UGLY scheme).Without inventions in plot and dialog but successful inside fighting and especially torture (rope,water(pit),fire) scenes.Red hair Bill San Antonio not demonic power character but sly fox.Terence Hill as Cat Stevens is equal parts of Franko Nero's (Django) and Clint Eastwood's (in "dollars trilogy") "good" guys performances.Bud Spencer's Hutch Bessy is pretty with limit (relatively for latest Spencer's characters) physical power. Generally: for all spaghetti western fans!

Among all the spaghetti-westerns I have seen(maybe 50) this one belongs to the better ones. It has in fact a pretty complex story line with revenge, false accusation, treasure-hunt and buddy relationship elements which cannot be told in one sentence. There is even a twist and some well placed flashbacks. Terence Hill showed his talents and the "chemistry" with Bud Spencer worked so well that it wasn't their last pairing, to say the least. And I liked to see them as serious actors.

No special score and overall regular cinematography.

Noteworthy: Sandra Brennan from Allmovie Guide rated it with only 1 star, the lowest rating I found. ;)

6 / 10.

This film is one the first collaboration between Spencer and Hill, in which they both play a big part (and it is their first film together with their FAMOUS screen names). It is no great film by any means, but I must say that I've seen worse films of both actors. The main difference between this film and most other Spencer and/or Hill films, is that it has a more serious nature and is a lot more brutal than their usual comedy-style films. The story is pretty good though, as is the acting and the music and the whole is watchable, but not good. What might have made it a notch worse for me, is that Spencer and Hill did not have their standard German voices, but I cannot really say, because…well it's obvious isn't it!?! Ok spaghetti western if you're into the more serious side of western. If you're more interested in comedy-western try a Trinity film.

6,5 out of 10 (with a 6 given upon voting)