2 Pistolets pour un lâche !

This was just as obscure an entry in the Spaghetti Western genre as PROFESSIONALS FOR A MASSACRE (1967), which preceded it, had been; conversely, however, this has a somewhat complex (if still derivative) plot and an altogether somber tone. The film deals with the exploits of a legendary circus performer, a maverick gunslinger played by Anthony Steffen; it transpires, though, that this confident – even showy – façade (idolized by many kids but one in particular a' la SHANE [1953]) hides an essentially insecure and cowardly personality!

The Italian title translates to “The Gunman Marked By God” which, rather than a direct reference to his pistol prowess, I take to be a reference to the permanent scar his father gave him – after a gun he was maneuvering when still a boy had accidentally gone off and caused a cattle stampede which left his elder brother dead! The narrative takes in a variety of characters (though Steffen’s fellow circus members are relegated to the sidelines), but most prominent are the afore-mentioned boy and an unscrupulous cattle boss – flanked by the inevitable hired hand who, once the hero’s yellow streak is exposed, makes it a point to humiliate him at every turn. For the record, Steffen had been given credit for shooting five badmen single-handedly when forming part of a posse…but the deed was really committed by the hired hand – shades of THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (1962); the latter is played by Richard Wyler, one of the bandits behind a bank robbery and who had callously slain his own men soon afterwards!

Naturally, the hero contrives to regain his composure by the end, save the boy (who has been kidnapped by the cattle boss – because the former can attest to his involvement in the murder of the boy’s father years earlier!) and bring to book the villains…all of which leads him to once more be taken to heart by the townspeople. Ferroni can’t really be said to have had a distinctive cinematic style though, to his credit, he competently dabbled for a good many years in most avenues within the broad scope of “Euro-Cult”; while perhaps not among his more rewarding works, this is certainly an agreeable time-passer – which, however, is awkwardly accompanied by a grandiose and melodramatic score from the usually reliable Carlo Rustichelli that better befits a peplum or a Gothic Horror effort than a Western!

Gary Maguire, professional name Hurricane West, is a a trick shot artist traveling with a small circus. He is quite adept at handling setups with his two gun rig. He is idolised by a young boy called Tony Murphy( Marco Stefanelli), whose father had been murdered by a masked gunman a few years before during a raid on the family ranch, and is now raised by foster parents. Just before his father was murdered, he'd hidden a box with $30,000 dollars and told Tony it was his. No one else knew where it was hidden.

Gary Maguire has his own troubles - he might be adept with a gun but not when facing an opponent. Which brings up a psychological block in him dating back to his childhood. When practicing twirling his guns, one goes off and stampedes a herd of cattle, taking the life of his older brother. His father was so infuriated he struck him across the neck, leaving a livid scar there. Since then he freezes up when confronted by real violence.

A bank robbery happens and Gary is recuited for the posse. When they find the robbers splitting the money, the Sheriff goes to fetch the posse, leaving Gary to watch over them. He sees the leader, Roy Elroy(Giovanni Cianfriglia, billed as Ken Wood) shoot them all down, leaving with the money. Gary hides fearfully as all that happens. When he's credited with killing the five, he's too ashamed to admit the truth and becomes the toast of the town.

Roy humiliates him consistently causing him to quit the circus and turn to drink. Young Tony wants him to help get his ranch back. He's overheard by a prostitute telling Gary about the hidden thirty thousand and goes straight to the man who's murdered the boy's father, a crooked rancher named Coleman(Richard Wyler). The boy is taken by Elroy, who works for Coleman, and is to be tortured for the hidden fortune.

Can Gary overcome his fear and save the boy? You will have to watch to find out!

Two Guns and a Coward is a little different than the average spaghetti westerns mainly due to the ideas of a link between gun violence and masculinity, cowardice, childhood trauma and selfless loyalty. Such ideas aren't usually explored in spaghetti westerns where the hero is indestructible as he mows down five guys with his six gun. Here, the excellent Anthony Steffen plays a trick shot artist who suffered from childhood trauma and the nerves gets the best of him. His character is quite relatable and not just some superhero. Interesting bit is how he overcomes his problem with the help of others.

Not loaded with action yet it is quite engaging and the circus background adds a certain flavour and the ending has the usual gunplay with the circus people helping Steffen take care of the varmints. Also different is the outcome at the end - the gunman who humiliated Steffen gets the same treatment but he's let go. Usually there would be a showdown and he would be six feet under.

The film starts in Montana , 1880 , where occurs cattle war , close range and barbwire have surrounded lands . There happens lots of shootouts , while sheriffs fighting to stifle the conflicts between homesteaders and cattlemen who hire gunfighters and violent hired guns . Maccaroni Western through an American circus tour and meshing exciting happenings with events offstage . A circus and its ringmaster (Nello Pazzafini) performs at the town , the main attraction results to be the fast-draw but upsetting marksman called Roy Kerry or ¨Hurricane West¨ (Anthony Steffen) . Roy , then , has a fatal encounter with a nasty henchman (Ken Wood : Giovanni Cianfriglia) of an unscrupulous as well as powerful saloon owner (Richard Wyler) . Along the way Kerry -who has a childhood trauma- suffers bullying , being detained by the hoodlums , beaten , tortured , and later on , he flees and seeks vendetta . Meanwhile , a kid (Marco Stefanelli, son of regular Spaghetti secondary : Benito Stefanelli , usual master of arms) has been kidnapped by a cattle baron and our hero saves the boy in distress .

This Western is a superior outing because it displays thrills , emotion , shoot'em up , brawls , intrigue , riding pursuits and many other things . It's a medium budget Spaghetti film with acceptable actors , technicians , production values and pleasing results . Agreeable Spaghetti Western follows the American models more than Sergio Leone style . The film blends noisy action , crossfire , violence , blood , and it is fast moving and quite entertaining . The picture is a tale of justice and vengeance , the basic plot is typical spaghetti western fare , but what makes this movie stand out is its style . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing some shots or stunts every few minutes . The starring called Hurricane West is decently played by Anthony Steffen , here gives better acting than other films , his character is a coward , shy circus performer who is humiliated at every turn and , subsequently , finds redemption . Stars Anthony Steffen who is well remembered by Spaghetti Western aficionados , but in his day , from the mid-'60s to the early '70s , Steffen was one of the most popular actors of the genre — at the time cheap B movies , now revered cult classics . Anthony Steffen -along with Giuliano Gemma , George Hilton and Gianni Garco- , results to be one of the greatest stars of the Spaghetti genre . The handsome , Italian-born — actually at the Brazilian embassy in Rome — Antonio Luiz De Teffè Von Hoonholtz began working in films as a studio messenger for Vittorio De Sica . From there , Steffen began acting in sword-and-sandal epics as Sodoma and Gomorra , later moving onto the Western genre , where he found his niche . Unlike fellow Spaghetti star Clint Eastwood , however , Steffen never became a top international box-office attraction . He played as a Man-With-no-Name a lot of Spaghettis in his ordinary role as a gunfighter who seeks vengeance against his enemy and hoodlums , usually played by Eduardo Fajardo , as he performed : ¨Gentleman Killer¨, Garringo¨, ¨Apocalypse Joe¨, ¨Stranger in Paso Bravo¨ , ¨The last Tomahawk¨. His nemesis is Ken Wood as a two-fisted gunslinger , he is terrific , subsequently the would play similar roles in other Spaghettis . Ken Wood or Giovanni Cianfriglia steals the show as a merciless killer , executing thespian skills shooting badmen single-handedly and throughly enjoys himself . Ken was usual stunt to famous bouncing man , Steve Reeves . Furthermore , here appears Italian Western's usual secondaries as Nello Pazzafini , Tom Felleghy , Andrea Bosic , Massimo Righi , Benito Stefanelli , Romano Puppo , Sal Borghese and Riccardo Pizzuti , usual in Terence Hill/Bud Spencer movies . And two beautiful Eurotrash Starlettes Luisa Baratto and Gia Sandri .

The musician Carlo Rustichelli composes an attractive Spaghetti soundtrack , well conducted and including a splendid leitmotif ; it's full of enjoyable sounds and emotive score . Atmospheric as well as evocative cinematography in Eastmancolor by Sandro Mancori , but an urgent remastering is really necessary ; being shot on exterior location in Lazio Rome , Italy and Elios studios . In addition , filmed in studios : Elios studios . This flick titled ¨El Pistolero Segnato Da Dio¨ or ¨Deux Pistolets Por Un Lache or ¨El Pistolero Que Odiaba La Muerte¨ or ¨The gunman marked by God¨ or ¨Two pistols and a coward¨ was professionally directed by Giorgo Ferroni , under pseudonym , Calvin Jackson Padget , an expert on Peplum . As he directed ¨The war of Troy¨ with Steve Reeves ,¨Hercules against Molock¨ and ¨Il Colosso Di Roma¨ with Gordon Scott . He also directed Western as "Fort Yuma Gold" , ¨Wanted¨ , "Blood for a Silver Dollar" , Wartime as ¨Battle of El Alamein¨ and Terror in acceptable results as ¨ Mill of the stone woman¨ and "Night of the Devils" .

It's 1880 and a gang is terrorizing Montana. During a nightly raid on a ranch, many red shirted farmhands get killed, who instead of simply falling to the ground all jump in the air first. One guy is only shot in the arm, leading us to think he must be important. This is further made clear by the fact that when he goes inside, a spotlight seems to follow him around. But ultimately, even he gets murdered in front of his little boy Tony, starting off yet another by the numbers story of revenge. This also marks the first use of the film's inventive cross cutting (from the murder scene to a circus number in one fell swoop).

Tony is now being minded by a black butler and idolizing circus cowboy Roy Kerry. This guy already has some trauma's of his own because people are constantly trying to test his abilities. Kerry inadvertently gets mixed up with the cattle rustling gang and he does not get much respecto either, being just a circus patsy. You can tell it's just about time for the unavoidable bar brawl, complete with two sound effect. Accompanying this is a loud and overpowering score (making extensive use of a Hammond organ) that would not sound out of place in a Hammer Horror film.

Senor Roy gets bullied and humiliated like a little boy, for even in the old west, fame was fickle and guess what? He turns the other cheek and takes up drinking. This keeps up until the return of tiny Tony, for some reason dressed in a cooky kind of bus conductors uniform. Anyone who's ever seen a spaghetti Western before will realize there is a flashback coming up revealing that the kid and the gunslinger now share a common enemy. Roy finally decides to use his god given talents to break several commandments. Unfortunately the whole circus comes to Lewis Town, just in time to get in the way of the big shoot out and Shane homage.

4 out of 10

"Two Guns and a Coward" is a pretty good spaghetti western. Despite having a pretty forgettable cast, the movie is worth watching. The story is strong as is the action. The movie does go off the rails a little bit towards the end but by that time there has been so much goodwill built up that it doesn't really matter. I probably won't remember much of "Two Guns and a Coward" in a couple of weeks but tonight I enjoyed it. (Now because of IMDB's 600 character minimum I have to ramble on for a few minutes. How was your day? Mine was quiet. Thanks for asking. I'm going to walk the dog now. Good night.)