Garringo

In the beginning of "Garringo", we see a young boy named Johnny whose father is shot by soldiers. Many years later, he learns how to shoot and puts it to bad use: he kills any army officer he meets for blind revenge. The colonel of the local garrison asks lieutenant Garringo (Anthony Steffen) to find out who the killer is and put an end to this. This movie's subtitle was "I morti non si contano" (The dead cannot be counted) for a good reason, as Garringo does his job in a brutal way, never hesitating to kill. "Garringo" has an interesting pair of characters: on one hand Johnny the killer (Peter Lee Lawrence) who has sympathetic sides like his feelings for Julia, a girl he grew up with, on the other hand Garringo, the man of the law, who is quite merciless. This characterization evokes ambivalent feelings in the audience. Thus "Garringo" becomes an interesting movie in particular for those fans who are well familiar with the stereotypes and are looking for something a bit unusual, not following the familiar formula.

¨Garringo¨ or ¨I Morti Non si Contano" or ¨The dead cannot be counted¨ is a passable Chorizo Western well realized by one of the best Paella Western director , Rafael Romero Marchent . For money, for pleasure, for revenge , he doesn't care why he kills or how ¡ . The film deals with a little boy named Johnny whose daddy is shot by soldiers. He then is adopted by a sheriff (Jose Bodalo) and seeks vengeance . Many years later, he aware how to shoot as he kills any army soldier he meets for blind vendetta . The general of the local fort assigns a dangerous mission to jailed lieutenant Garringo (Anthony Steffen) to resolve the murderous who kills cavalry soldiers . As Garringo carries out his assignment by means of a cruel manner , as the officer executes a slaughter and atrocity , he pulls off a single-handedly revenge, slashes, , ravages and kills each person involved in the massacre . He is relentless in his vendetta , deadly in his violence . When Garringo find out the executioner of the grisly killings occurs the predictable battle of wits . The conflict is simple , one between avenger Garringo against also relentless killer Johnny (Peter Lee Lawrence) , never hesitating to kill. It's an exciting western with breathtaking showdown between the protagonist Anthony Steffen and the enemy Peter Lee Lawrence and his hoodlums . Both of them are fine, they ravage the screen, they jump, bounds and leaps, hit and run , besides receive violent punches, kicks , and ultimately takes places a breathtaking showdown .

This exciting western contains a story full of violence , good dramatic pace and slick direction . Enjoyable Chorizo-Spaghetti Western mostly produced by Spain and Italian secondary participation ; it follows the Sergio Leone wake , including close-up , zooms , choreographic duels and no being proceeded in American style . The film packs action , shootouts , drama , high body-count and it's fast moving and quite entertaining . It's a thrilling western with spectacular outdoors and breathtaking confrontation among heartless protagonists , Anthony Steffen and Peter Lee Lawrence ; and both of them against the Raf Baldasarre and his underlings . Acceptable action sequences with rousing crossfire and spectacularly bloody shootouts . Charismatic performance for whole casting . The notorious Spaghetti actor , Anthony Steffen is good in his usual tough role . photo) Anthony Steffen may be a name best 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. 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, 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. Fantastic performance by the always great Jose Bodalo in a likable role , famous for ¨Django¨ he subsequently would play similar characters ; furthermore the slimy, menacing outlaw played by Ralf Baldassarre, here in his ordinary role as bandit and in a cruelly baddie character . There appears as habitual secondaries in Spanish/Italian Western such as Lorenzo Robledo, Luis Induni , Luis Barboo , Tito Garcia , Barta Barry, Alfonso Rojas ,Frank Braña who still continues playing , and of course , Carlos Romero Marchent , Joaquin and Rafael's brother who used to work in their films . The musician Marcello Giombini composes a nice soundtrack , well conducted , this turns out to be one of the most memorable parts of the movie , as it's plenty of enjoyable sounds and haunting musical background and with agreeable leitmotif . Very nice cinematography ,including good sets, filmed on locations in Cuenca, Castilla-La Mancha, Madrid , La Pedriza, ,Soria, Castilla y León, Spain and Rome, Lazio, Italy .

The motion picture was professionally directed and in personal style by Rafael Romero Marchent at his best and written by his brother Joaquin Romero Marchent. Rafael is an expert writer and director of Spaghetti Western as proved in ¨Two crosses on Danger Pass¨, Cry for revenge¨ and ¨Two guns for two twins¨ . While his brother Joaquin Marchent is deemed the Paella Western's best director , his first film was ¨El Coyote¨ and the sequel titled ¨Revenge of Coyote¨ shot in Mexico ; after that , he filmed ¨The shadow of Zorro¨ and ¨Revenge of Zorro¨, he went go directing Western as ¨ Riding to death ¨ , ¨Adventures in the West¨ , ¨Three good men¨, ¨Sabor Venganza ¨ and the most popular and violent ¨Condenados a Vivir¨ . Plus , he wrote for his brother Rafael Romero Marchent the followings Western : ¨Manos Torpes¨, ¨Ocaso Un Pistolero¨ and ¨Garringo¨ . Rating : Passable and acceptable , though contains some flaws and gaps and excessive zooms . Worthwhile watching for the Spaghetti Western aficionados .

Garringo is directed by Rafael Romero Marchent and Marchent co- writes the screenplay with Giovanni Scolaro. It stars Anthony Steffen, Peter Lee Lawrence, Solvi Stubbing, Jose Bodalo and Raf Baldassarre. Music is by Marcello Giombini and cinematography by Aldo Ricci.

Johnny as a very young boy witnesses the murder of his father by a soldier, he grows up to be a double life leading killer of soldiers. Enter a man to hunt him down, Lieutenant Garringo.

This Is Bells City - You Better Return If You Don't Hear It.

A most interesting Pasta Western because although the narrative doesn't have ambitions to expand thematically, there's psychological depth to the principal bad boy. He's scarred by the murder of his father and has become a twisted callous killer, yet he's still capable of hiding his dark half so as to exude as a dandy caring type. That said, pic is more interested in the straight forward conventions of a driven hunter hunting down his prey, to which we have a cool Steffen and a schizophrenic Lawrence acting accordingly.

Sincerely Johnny.

Production crams in genre staples, both traditional American and Spaghetti, so we get camera shenanigans involving canted angles, zooms, close-ups et al. Plenty of violence resides, though some is done down by poor choreography (could the punches be any further from the targets?), and action is in no short supply (great hold-ups and the usual shoot-outs). The locations are most pleasing, which in turn are backed by a nifty musical score that's big on jaunty woodwinds and menacing strings.

A maniac who has to have a gun to be a man!

With both leading characters showing dexterity to marry up with their respective killing traits, it's a film underpinned by both, ensuring this is worth a watch. Hardly a genre classic, mind, but enough here to have a good time with. 6.5/10