Arizona Colt

Released on DVD here in the states as "The Man From Nowhere", this entry into the Western All'Italiana oeuvre features pretty boy Guiliano Gemma as the good, veteran character actor Fernando Sancho as the bad, and a disappointing script as the ugly.

Arizona Colt can never quite figure out what it's trying to be. As a Hollywood western there would have been a few too many deaths and too strong a focus on destruction. As an Italian Western it takes itself too seriously and leans too heavily on wide tracking shots of the ol' west.

There is some good humor, and the reveal how Arizona is going to take on a town full of baddies is very slick, but this movie is a series of good moments and an overall weak effort when considered as a whole.

Rating: 16/40

This is the eighth Spaghetti Western I've watched starring Giuliano Gemma - the others had been A PISTOL FOR RINGO (1965), THE RETURN OF RINGO (1965), FORT YUMA GOLD (1966), DAY OF ANGER (1967), A SKY FULL OF STARS FOR A ROOF (1968), THE PRICE OF POWER (1969) and SILVER SADDLE (1978). All of them are superior to THE MAN FROM NOWHERE - which turned out to be a sub-standard example of the genre and, though not an intentional parody, is so clichéd as to seem that way! Incidentally, the U.S. title is quite stupid since the main character (named Arizona Colt - also the film's original title) explicitly states he is named after the state he hails from!!

Fernando Sancho (again) is the trigger-happy chief villain; among his ragged outlaw gang is a drunkard Mickey Shaughnessy type who, unsurprisingly, befriends the hero - while favorite Euro-Cult starlet Rosalba Neri appears as a saloon-hostess, though she's killed off almost immediately! The film is stretched to a length of almost two hours for no very good reason which, with a none-too-exciting plot line at its centre (concocted by the ubiquitous Ernesto Gastaldi), quickly becomes tedious; even so, it does work its way to a good climax (with the hero utilizing a fake pair of hands to divert his adversary's attention, followed by a shoot-out in semi-darkness inside a funeral parlor).

The Wild East DVD I watched was extremely poor, which certainly didn't help my involvement in the film any: first off, the English dubbing is horrendous (Gemma's character is saddled with a ludicrous Southern accent); the muddy print - presented in a masked 1.85:1 ratio so as to simulate the original 2.35:1 Techniscope format! - features a number of jarring jump-cuts (indicating missing or damaged frames and suggesting, somewhat distressingly, that the film's supposed to be even longer than it already is) and, during one early instance, even falls several generations below the already unsatisfying standard on display. For the record, THE MAN FROM NOWHERE had a follow-up in ARIZONA COLT, HIRED GUN (1970) - with a different actor in the lead (Anthony Steffen), it's mainly notable for being Sergio Martino's debut film.

Gordon (Fernando Sancho) and his bandits attack a prison to free all the inmates, because they need more men to rob a bank. One of the ex-prisoners declines the job offer, though. Arizona Colt (Giuliano Gemma) chases a murderer (Nello Pazzafini) for a reward of 500 dollars - and a night with the daughter of the saloon keeper!

"Arizona Colt" proves once again that the spaghetti western heroes were not bound by morality. The protagonist is only into money and women, but somehow he remains sympathetic. Classic moment of cynicism: Gordon tells how his father many years ago said: "Son, when I'm dead, my golden watch will belong to you", and 5 seconds later, the watch did belong to Gordon! Fernando Sancho is perfect as always to play the leader of the bandits. Gemma is a different type of actor than the stone-faced Clint Eastwood imitators of the genre, thus his movies are usually more enjoyable and original. The music is quite close to the rather epic style of the Ringo films, but written by Francesco de Masi this time.

After spending time in prison, bounty hunter, Arizona Colt (Giuliano Gemma) escapes after the Sidewinder gang massacres the guards and releases the prisoners whom all take off with Gordo (Fernando Sancho) and his men. Pressuring him into joining them, Arizona refuses to join the gang and leaves after humiliating Gordon and his men and heads to Blackstone Hill. There, the daughter (Rosalba Neri) of the saloon owner is murdered by one of Gordo's men. Arizona makes an uneasy deal with the townspeople that he'll bring back the killer for a reward in addition to marrying the bar owner's other daughter, Jane. After a brush with death, Arizona Colt must save the entire town now taken over by Gordo and the Sidewinders.

Giuliano Gemma flashes his pearly white teeth and twirls his sixgun as Arizona Colt who isn't too far from his "Ringo" persona. Matter of fact, there's a scene which nods towards Ringo when Colt asks for milk but then orders beer instead. It's a handsome looking western with great cinematography, a hummable score and title song, and some nifty action. Not as strong as Gemma's Ringo films but it's still a solid western that is well made and has a strong plot. Nice shootout finale between Arizona and Gordo - quite apt that it takes place in a shack full of empty coffins!! Maybe the runtime is a little long, though.

I really enjoy spaghetti westerns, so obviously I have seen a lot of examples of the genre. Though I haven't seen every spaghetti western made, I have seen enough so that I can say with confidence that "Arizona Colt" (a.k.a. "Man From Nowhere") is below average. I wouldn't say it's a TERRIBLE movie - it has some positive attributes. The scenery is nice, the production values and action sequences are acceptable, and Fernando Sancho makes a pretty good villain. However, the movie stumbles in two key areas. The first mistake is that the movie is very slow-going - they should have really increased the pace. The second mistake is that the movie lasts almost two hours, which is far past the breaking point. Had they edited down the script before filming began, these problems may not have happened, and we might have had a pretty good movie. But as it is, I can only recommend this particular spaghetti western to die-hard fans of Euro westerns.