Duello nel Texas

Gunfight At Red Sands is an excellent early spaghetti western. It is probably the best pre-1964 eurowestern I have seen.

I wouldn't be surprised if this spaghetti was the one that started it all, as far as the style goes. The other early examples of the genre I have seen seem to be lacking in the defining characteristics that make these films so great, but this movie has all of the stylistic elements in place. The ultra-bleak depiction of life in the west, a couple of oddball off-kilter characters, a great music score (by the master, Morricone, no less), some great suspense-building camera work, a dramatic showdown, and lots of rousing action really make this one stand out.

The acting in the film is very good, and definitely above-average for a eurowestern. Richard Harrison is great in the role of "Gringo." Giacomo Rossi-Stuart also does an excellent job in the role of Sheriff Corbett. All of the other players are great as well. The character "Lisa," played by Sara Lezana, is one of the strongest female characters I have seen in a western. She's every bit as tough, and can shoot as well as any other character in the story, and she has a very prominent role in the most important action scenes of the film.

The story is a very engaging one, and it moves along at a really good pace. There are no slow parts or fillers in this movie. There is also a strong element of mystery, as Gringo has to do a fair amount of detective work to figure out who murdered his father.

All in all, this is a great movie that no spaghetti western fan should overlook.

Richard Harrison is a gringo raised by a family of poor Mexican farmers, who have recently discovered gold on their property. He returns home from a war in Mexico to find his father shot down by three strangers looking to take his treasure, leading to a showdown with several local bigots and friction with the town's new sheriff.

Although definitely not the first western shot in southern Spain nor the first Italian-made western, this may have been the first real "spaghetti western" (albeit with American co-writer Albert Band), by Jolley Film of Rome, the studio that made A Fistful Of Dollars the following year.

Some say that El Sabor de la Venganza, released the same year, came before. However, I'm not entirely convinced, as this is the one that's acknowledged as the film debut of Spanish genre star Aldo Sambrell, an actor who appeared in both films.

Harrison, better known for starring in a slew of Italian sword and sandal features, is pretty good playing the sullen, lone-avenger type in this typical but entertaining flick, that benefits greatly from a fast-pace, good action, and gun-play.

This is also notable for being the first western film scored by the great Ennio Morricone. It's not his best, but there's a few good moments, including the catchy main-theme "A Gringo Like Me", featuring a truly odd vocal performance that was changed and made more mainstream for it's CD appearances!

GUNFIGHT AT RED SANDS is a good-natured spaghetti western, made just one year before Sergio Leone's A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS helped to define the genre as we know it today. As such, GUNFIGHT is more in line with the kind of Hollywood westerns that were produced in the 1950s, such as HIGH NOON: it's neither as gritty nor as dark and violent as many of the spaghetti westerns made in the late '60s. Nevertheless, I'd recommend it as a film definitely worth a watch, because it has much going for it – not least another effective leading man performance from peplum actor Richard Harrison. Harrison, who made his name in equal numbers of westerns and historical adventures, is as tough and ready as he ever was on screen. He's no Eastwood, but he does a good job.

My biggest complaint with this movie is the score by Ennio Morricone. This guy is one of my favourite composers, thanks to his iconic work on Leone's DOLLARS trilogy, but his music here sounds twee and dated, as if it came from some '30s melodrama than a '60s western. It seems he's constrained here by the producers, and the lack of experimentation hurts the movie a lot. Still, it's not all bad. The screenplay by future trash director Albert Band breathes life into old genre staples – i.e. the adopted son, the corrupt lawman, the criminal gang, the fiery love interests – and the action is well-handled, with plenty of nicely-choreographed brawls, shoot-outs, and gun battles. The chief villain role goes to Giacomo Rossi-Stuart and he fits it like a glove; I never did like this actor when I saw him playing the 'good guy', much preferring him as a slimy creep. Mikaela and Sara Lezana play opposing love interests, the former fiery while the latter sweet, although astonishingly I read somewhere that Lezana was born in 1948, which made her only 15 when she appeared in this film, kissing and frolicking with Harrison – surely an error?

This is a film for people with interest in the Western genre, mostly those who respect the European sub-genre, in the 1990's mostly connected to Italy, Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood but nowadays also related to director-names such as Sergio Corbucci and Sergio Sollima.

Filmed before Sergio Leone's success of the dollar-films, Duello nel Texas has several motives in common with Leone's films. The film is said to be set in the same surroundings, the film has the same composer (Morricone of course) and the film's story is set near the border between USA and Mexico. I watched it as a small kid, with enthusiasm over the action packed plot and some colorful characters. 20 years later, I got the opportunity to see it again. No widescreen, bad colors, bad sound and a very scratchy picture. At least it was the film that I had been waiting for.

Duello nel Texas doesn't start very promising but it grows. The Morricone-music is the best of it. The main antagonists holds the film together, and everything results in a conventional but great gunfight (that kind of direction looks so European/Italian-Western). You can find rather independent woman in the film, some anti-racism and a typical fist-fight (set in a bar). The plot is not as sophisticated as the ones in Leone's films, but it works good on it's own.

Duello nel Texas is a must see for the "die-hard European Western- fan".

Rating: 6 of 10.

1963...Sergio Leone had done 1 film as credited director..."Colossus of Rhodes"..; Clint Eastwood was still best known as "Rowdy Yates" on "Rawhide". Duello Nel Texas was released in Italy in Sept. 1963...Filmed in Northern Spain....using the set that would later be used as the town in FOD & FAFDM. Ricardo Blasco ..directed 8 other films..a couple of Zorro movies...most of his work was as Second Unit Director or Assistant Director. Massimo Dallamano, the cinematographer, went on to be director of photography on both Fistful Of Dollars and FAFDM.

Richard Harrison..had appeared in 1 previous "pre-spaghetti" Western..."El Sabor de la Venganza" (1963) (Gunfight at High Noon (USA) )....& went on to play Ringo in "$100,000 for Ringo"....Rocco in "Vengeance" (.Joko invoca Dio e muori).. & starred in "I'll Forgive You, Before I Kill You" .... .."Aquasanta Joe" & others. Gunfight at Red Sands is also noteworthy for being the first Italian Western to feature a Ennio Morricone score...& if my instincts are correct......a collaboration w/ Bruno Nicolai.

Harrison is Ricardo..a/k/a "Gringo"......who returns from an unsuccessful campaign fighting w/ guerillas in Mexico...& now just wants peace.......to discover that his adoptive father has been killed & the family's gold stolen. So he's gotta..avenge his father..& get the gold back.

This is Harrison without the stubble..not quite the antihero...an avenger...but not "The Stranger"...although he has been away for 4 years.

As for Ennio Morricone's first Western score.....parts of it are quite nice...others are just...OK...Hollywood-style stuff, as requested by the film's producers. ..Of course, early Morricone is very interesting...the title song (A Gringo Like Me) is a different version than the one that's become somewhat familiar...an earlier version w/ a different vocalist. He is also credited as musical director under the name of "Leo Nichols"...which for me is too close to Bruno Nicolai..that I suspect that to be a mistake..& Nicolai to be the true musical director.

The Italian Western was still very much an American Western imitation..but we see the SWlike quirk here & there..a lot of "roots" of what was to come in many films....the weird villain type (giggling..twitching guy)............& there's gold..Mexican revolutionaries...a corrupt sheriff who hates Mexicans....more than a few killings..a couple of not very well done fistfights..a final showdown that's OK.......minor red herrings & misdirection..pretty straightforward. Good bit early..the shootout w/ the Federales...although it does come off as too theatrical. Check out the scene early on when a jeep drives by in the background. Rest of the cast ranges from pretty awful to pretty good... nice turn by Sara Lezana as Lisa..who gets to show off some action chops that a year later became traditionally not done by women in SW.

Gunfight At Red Sands is really a PRE-Spaghetti Western....in tone... & spirit....dramatically & musically. It has more in common with the Hollywood knockoffs produced in Italy pre '64...but SW devotees will definitely notice & appreciate the elements of future films that are there...

The style hadn't arrived yet......nor the twinkle in the eye..but something quite unique and wonderful was just about to be born.

Spaghetti Western? Maybe an Antipasto Western.