Sfida a Rio Bravo

Saloon keeper Jennie Lee (Madeleine Lebeau) is fed up with Zack "The Snake" Williams ( Gerard Tichy) trying to take over Clementine Hewitt's silver mine. She contacts her friend Wyatt Earp to bring justice to the border town.

Problem is, Wyatt - under the alias Laramie - is just one man against Williams' hoard of henchmen. And he might not be able to count on much help in the town where everyone cowers under Williams' thumb, including a sheriff named Leo (Massimon Serato), who spends more time in Jennie Lee's saloon than he does upholding the law.

But Wyatt's resolve might help Leo regain the backbone he once had. After all, he's in love with Jennie Lee, and eager to impress ...

Guy Madison straps on his sixgun as Wyatt Earp in this spaghetti western, which is really a traditional western. The hero doesn't brazenly shoot down the villain as in other Spaghettis- during a showdown Earp only shoots a gun out of the bad guy's hand. Gunmen of Rio Grande is a handsomely produced western that has fantastic scenery, a good plot and a rip roaring performance by Fernando Sanchez as the bandit Chieftain. The plot can be static at times, but it's adequately involving. However, its lively action scenes are its selling points and pushes things forward.

This early Italian westerns title Sfida a Rio Bravo (1965) gives away the inspiration for this movie, Howard Hawk's Rio Bravo (1959), which was very popular in Italy. Guy Madison stands in for John Wayne while Gerard Tichy plays the drunken friend on the mend. This movie is a decent if unremarkable b-western from early in the Cinecitta western cycle. While it is clearly influenced by Leone's Per un pungo di dollari (1964), both stylistically and in terms of the motives for it's production, it is not based as much in those stylistic conventions that would soon come to define the genre as later films in the genre. As the Americanized pseudonyms for actors, directors, and composers in these early WAI suggest, there was an initial impulse to pass off these movies as an American product. However, as movies by Leone and Corbucci found an international audience, it later became more important to imitate their movies than the earlier American models. However, in 1965 and 1966 these conventions were not completely established and there were a number of films like Sfida a Rio Bravo (1965).

Though this is an early WAI and at first glance appears to be simply an antiquated imitation of the American original, there are a number of euro-western motifs derived largely from Leone's Dollars trilogy. Wyatt Earp is stalked from a distance by gunmen that haunt the ridges of the canyons, there is the focus on mirrors, confused or concealed identities, traps that use misdirection and misperception, feints and hidden alliances; these are all typical WAI elements. Even Lavagnino's score, which appears so imitative of the American example, has moments which are clearly inspired by Morricone.

The most interesting narrative element of this movie is the difference between those characters who are honorable, whether lawmen or outlaws, and those that are not. Wyatt Earp and the bandit Bogan can respect each other because they do not hide their intentions, but the judge and powerful Zach Williams are dishonorable because their actions are concealed. This is an old western trope, but is fairly well done here. The fistfight between Bogan and Earp is one the best scenes in the movie.

Overall, the action sequences are handled pretty well while the characterization and story are pretty standard American b-western fare, though even more artificial. The last gunfight is well done if conventional. As with many of the lesser WAI, this movie will be of interest only to genre fans as long as they are not expecting Leone.

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A sweeping drama of the untamed West! 1885 , famed marshal Wyatt Earp (Guy Madison) is sent to clean up a lawless mining town on the Mexican border . The famous lawman Wyatt Earp (Madison) , who finished with Clanton at the OK Corral, is hired by Jennie Lee (Madeleie Lebeau, the French singer who sang "La Marseillaise" in the unforgettable and emotional scene " Casablanca ") , the owner of the saloon of Rio Bravo , in order to end the excesses of Zack Williams (Tichy) , one of the most influential men in town , who supported by a band of outlaws led by Pancho Mexican Bogan (Fernando Sancho), intend to take with all the supplies of local mines . Meanwhile , Earp becomes involved with Clementine Hewitt (in his only film, Carolyn Davies) owner of a mine and Zack object of desire .

There is plenty of action and thrills in the movie , guaranteeing shoot'em up or stunts every few minutes . This Spaghetti was filmed in 1964, a notorious year in the development of European western that almost doubled since former year with movies filmed in Spain and involving Spanish producers (thirteen Western were filmed westerns in 1963 and almost thirty in 1964 ); it consolidated this trend the following year with the shooting of more than forty. This rise was due not only to the landing of U.S. producers seeking to reduce costs and to compete with the burgeoning TV series set in the West , but, above all , the change in the policy of subsidies, priority from now at the box office and encouraged co-productions . The film so we can fit within "urban western " prevailing at this time in Western films shot in Spain, whose films were characterized by a very similar plot structure in which the hero, characterized by his skill with firearms, stop in a population temporarily hit by a crime wave affecting, among others, to a girl who will protect and then fall in love with her , while unmask the villain .

Moreover, and as usual in these early productions in Europe, shows a clear influence of the western U.S. and is also seen in the characters . Thus, as would be usual in this type of products, the main character is a historical figure, in this case the sheriff Wyatt Earp who participated the most famous duel occurred in the western town of Tombstone in 1881 that has been brought to the big screen many times as in the classic "My Darling Clementine" in 1946 directed by John Ford, the famous " Duel of Titans" (1957) by specialist John Sturges who would resume the same story in "The Hour of the Gun" (1967) ; the demystifying "Doc" (Frank Perry, 1971) or the more modern "Tombstone: The Legend of Wyatt Earp" (George P. Cosmatos, 1993) and Wyatt Earp (Lawrence Kasdan, 1994). Also noteworthy in this respect the figure of the drunken sheriff again refers to "Rio Bravo" and, specifically, the character played by Dean Martin similarly to Massimo Serato . Finally you can trace the footprint of several American westerns in the approach of the film and in some situations. Regarding the approach to "Wichita" (excellent western filmed by Jacques Tourneur in 1955 in which a young Earp-McCrea put order in the city the title taken by outlaws). But despite its lack of originality and not hide influences , I think the film works reasonably well thanks to the work of the cameraman , musician , enough budget that results in a more than acceptable work setting and filming in numerous locations with highlights about the planning of the various scenes, offering nicely filmed several sequences mainly the action, as a remarkable and realistic showdown .

As for the cast, as was also usual, at the top, we found an American actor decided to try his luck in European cinema . In this case the character brought to life , legendary Earp , well starred by Guy Madison , actor who had his first major role in "Until the End of Time" a drama directed by Edward Dmytryk, 1946 to then changed in action roles , mainly series B westerns , get some success with the series "Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok" and ends up traveling in Europe in the sixties where he made many Euro-westerns . The rest of the cast , we find the two negative characters to which the director gives a different treatment : firstly the Mexican outlaw Pancho Bogan to be described in some respect , as he is a villain but with his own code of honor , the German living in Spain Gerard Tichy giving life to the greedy Zack Williams , a devious individual , devoid of honor , who never shows his face, uses others to do the dirty work and attempts to hide true intentions ; role he repeated in many westerns . But let us look at the film that had a pretty big budget for this type of film and whose production was responsible Italo Zingarelli, producer, director and screenwriter who used to guarantee the quality of his products . The Argentinian , nationalized Spanish writer/filmmaker Tulio Demicheli so consistently mixed the good with the mediocre that it became quite impossible to know what to expect from him next . He directed Gazpacho Western as ¨Tequila¨, ¨Arriba Sabata¨ and ¨Man and a colt ¨ . Demicheli had a long , prolific career , working from the 40s , he directed all kind of genres as drama as ¨Herida Luminosa¨ , Thriller as ¨Ricco¨ , adventures as ¨Son of Captain Blood¨, ¨First adventure¨ , Spy sub-genre as ¨¨Il Nostro Agente a Casablanca¨, ¨Dirty game in Panama¨ , ¨Misión Lisboa¨ , Giallo as ¨Coartada en Disco Rojo or Two faces or fear¨ , Horror as ¨Monstruos De Terror or Assignment Terror" ¨ .