Per pochi dollari ancora

In this spaghetti western from director Calvin J. Padget (real name Giorgio Ferroni), Montgomery Wood (real name Giuliano Gemma) stars as Confederate officer Gary Hammond, imprisoned shortly after the end of the Civil War. The Union general in charge of the prison asks Hammond to go on a mission to stop a renegade Confederate general and his band of outlaws from robbed the gold deposits at Fort Yuma. Hammond agrees, but soon discovers that there's more to the story than he was led to believe. Also featuring Sophie Daumier as a character named "Connie Breastfull".

The movie has six credited screenwriters, which was not uncommon on Italian films at the time, but it may explain the overstuffed and piecemeal feel of the story. Wood/Gemma is boring as the hero, but Dan Vadis makes for a good villain, and Sophia Daumier is good as the showgirl love interest. There's a little bit of Ennio Morricone music on the score.

Confederate Major Sanders (Jacques Sernas), continues fighting the North after the conclusion of the American Civil War. Former Rebel Gary Diamond (Giuliano Gemma), now a guide, leads a pair of Union soldiers to obstruct Sanders before he can pull off a raid on Fort Yuma. However the others are unaware that Diamond knows that one of the Union officers is actually Sanders' spy. More complications ensue, pairing Diamond with the aptly named saloon-girl Connie Breastful (Sophie Daumier). Later Diamond is found to be a traitor and is tortured severely before Sanders' plot is foiled.

Giuliano Gemma plays a stalwart hero in a western that has an interesting storyline with enough action to keep spaghetti westerns fans happy, however it never lifts itself above average. The plot can be complicated, thus confusing. There's bizarre scene where Gemma is staked out in the desert so the sun can burn out his eyes; a fishnet-like material is placed over his head with eye holes cut out. Which leads to a protracted sequence where he's pretending to be blind in order to escape and continue on his mission. There's an exciting shootout finale in a mine.

Giuliano Gemma is a Confederate raider freed from a Yankee prison in order to avoid an unnecessary slaughter in Fort Yuma, and he will have the help of a beautiful dancer and a good old man in his dangerous mission. It is not an innovative movie, for sure, as many of the usual clichés are there in this highly conventional spaghetti Western (in reality, it is a co-production Italy-France-Spain) without deepening the characters: saloon brawl, piano-playing, shoot-out inside the mine, torture under the sun, honored Southern soldier... Though, it is an unpretentious nice Western, with good filmmaking, good soundtrack, good action, and even good (although not special) acting. Far from achieving the high quality of Leone's movies, this spaghetti Western with a similar name is still above average, anyway.

This is a good S.W. plenty of action , shootouts , thrills and fist-play , being inspired by the known novel Miguel Strogoff written by Jules Verne . It's a thrilling western with breathtaking confrontation between the protagonist Giuliano Gemma against the heartless enemies : Dan Vadis , Angel Del Pozo and Jacques Sernas . It concerns about a Confederate militia that constitutes a serious threat to Fort Yuma . Our handsome hero, Gary Diamond (Giuliano Gemma or Montgomery Wood) is imprisoned at a hard Northern prison , he is a highly respected Southern official , then the Union Colonel (Andrea Bosic) assigns him a risked mission , carrying a secret message across dangerous landscapes until Fort Yuma . As the Davis camp Colonel asks him to go and hand over an important letter . Gary Diamond along with Capt. Lefevre (Ángel del Pozo) and a sergeant (Nello Pazzafini) travel across the Old West till Brighton . Meantime , Gary falls in love a beautiful woman named Connie Breastfull (Sophie Daumier) who heads to town to sing at a saloon spectacle . But Gary is captured , he's whip-tortured with his naked torso and put in front of sun , being blinded (similarly to Miguel Strogoff) and having to lose his eyesight in some sequences make a strong impression .

Enjoyable Chorizo-Spaghetti Western co-produced by Spain , Italy and France and follows the American models more than Sergio Leone style . This Western is a superior outing because it displays thrills , emotion , shoot'em up , brawls , intrigue , riding pursuits and many other things . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing some shots or stunts every few minutes . The picture is a tale of justice and revenge , as a soldier carries out a hard mission when is kidnapped , beaten , tortured and blinded and later on , he seeks vendetta against his torturers . The basic plot is typical spaghetti western fare , but what makes this movie stand out is its style . The starring called Gary Diamond is stunningly played by Giuliano Gemma . Giuliano is very fine , he ravages the screen , he jumps , bounds and leaps , hit and run . Gemma as a brave and two-fisted northerner military is terrific , subsequently the would play similar role in other Spaghettis . Gemma , along with Anthony Steffen and Gianni Garco , results to be one of the greatest stars of the Spaghetti genre . Gemma in his beginning worked as stunt-man , practiced many sports in his life, boxing, gymnastics, such as is well proved at the movie . Then the director, Duccio Tessari, gave him the first role as protagonist in the film " The Titani" and the first spaghetti western films where he often worked under the name of Montgomery Wood , playing Western as ¨A pistol for Ringo¨, ¨The return of Ringo¨ and others as ¨Adios Gringo¨, ¨Arizona Colt¨, ¨The price of power¨ , ¨Day of anger¨ and later ¨California¨. However, his first big opportunity came with the important Italian director, Luchino Visconti in ¨El Gatopardo¨ this was followed by important roles in "Angelica" , ¨Tenebre¨ , ¨Young Lions¨ and ¨The master touch¨. Then he played his most significant roles in ¨Il Deserto Dei Tartari¨ and ¨Il Prefetto Di Ferro¨ .In the movie appears usual support actors as Spanish people : Jose Calvo , Lorenzo Robledo , Antonio Molino Rojo , Pepe Martin , Alfonso Rojas as Italian players as Ettore Manni , Benito Stefanelli , Ricardo Pizzuti , and , of course , Nello Pazzafini . It's a co-production Spanish-Italian and shot on location in Manzanares Del Real , La Pedriza and Colmenar Viejo (Madrid) , Spain . There are many fine technicians and nice assistant direction , excellent production design , and atmospheric cinematography by Rafael Pacheco , he creates a magnificent scenario on the interior ranch and barren outdoors , dirty landscapes under a glimmer sun . Excellent music original by Gianni Ferrio and Ennio Morricone .The musical score of the film included some parts of the score for I malamondo (1964) in order to justify including Ennio Morricone in the score credits of the film. Morricone sued the producer and the dispute was settled in court in 1973. The musicians compose a nice Spaghetti soundtrack and well conducted and splendid leitmotif ; it's full of enjoyable sounds and emotive score , including enjoyable songs at the beginning and the end. The flick was professionally directed by Giorgo Ferroni , 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" , "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" .

This Western was inspired by the famous and classic novel titled ¨Miguel Strogoff¨ written by Jules Verne . Other Spaghettis freely based on famous novels and plays are the followings : "Long Days of Vengeance" by Florestano Vancini with Giuliano Gemma and Francisco Rabal based upon The count of Montecristo by Alexandre Dumas , ¨The Fury of Johnny Kid¨ based on Shakespeare , being directed by Gianni Puccini with Peter Lee Lawrence and Cristina Galbo from ¨Romeo and Giuletta¨ . Furthermore : ¨Johnny Hamlet¨(1968) by Enzo G Castellari ; ¨The return of Ringo¨ by Duccio Tessari also with Giuliano Gemma and inspired on the ¨Odyssey¨, ¨John Il Bastardo¨(1967) with John Richardson , based on books from Zorrilla and Moliere ; ¨Anche Nel West Céra Una Volta Dio ¨ (1968 )by Marino Girolami based on ¨Island of treasure¨ written by Robert Stevenson and ¨Apocalypse Joe¨ with Anthony Steffen based on Macbeth and Hamlet .

"Fort Yuma Gold" offers some good entertainment for lovers of the Spaghetti Western genre, with another charismatic performance by Giuliano Gemma a.k.a. Montgomery Wood. The story & screenplay (credited to six people!) are set after the Civil War has ended, and concern Gary Hammond (Mr. Gemma), an imprisoned Confederate raider who agrees to a dangerous mission. He must inform the people at Fort Yuma that a raid on their fort - and gold reserve - is being planned. During a subplot, he also briefly accompanies a gorgeous blonde saloon singer named Connie Breastfull (!) (played by Sophie Daumier). Among the villains Gary will face: a physically imposing thug named Riggs (Dan Vadis) and the maniacal Southern major Sanders (Jacques Sernas).

"Fort Yuma Gold" delivers to its audience plenty of two-fisted action (including a major barroom brawl) and gunfire, leading to a fairly memorable finale inside a mine. The story may not be anything special, but it holds' one attention capably enough, with some diversions along the way. (Such as performances by sexy female bit players.) It pretty much paints its characters in "black & white" shades, with no doubt as to who the good guys and bad guys are. And the bad guys are pretty good antagonists for this sort of fare. (If you recognize the studly Vadis, it's because he became a regular player in Clint Eastwood movies of the 1970s and early 1980s.) Angel del Pozo is effective as the weaselly Captain Lefevre; this guy might just as well be twirling his moustache constantly. The handsome Gemma is once again a worthy genre hero, and the stunning Ms. Daumier is appealing as his love interest.

The majestic score is credited to both Gianni Ferrio and the great Ennio Morricone, although the story is that the producers borrowed some Morricone compositions from the film "Malamondo" just so they could put his name in the credits. And later, Morricone took them to court over the matter!

Well acted and well photographed, this shows SW admirers a pretty good time.

Seven out of 10.