Roy Colt & Winchester Jack

This is the only western that I know of that was directed by the great Italian horror director Mario Bava. He directed quite a few non-horror movies, but his true talent is mainly exhibited within the categories of horror and giallo. His other films usually aren't meant to be taken very seriously, and this one is no exception. That having been said, this film is still lots of fun to watch, especially if you are a spaghetti western fan.

The music score is great. The trumpet, guitar and organ music set the proper tone for a spaghetti western.

The acting seems about average for a Eurowestern. Marilu Tolo is beautiful as Manila, and she steals the show by doing the best acting out of the entire cast, as well as being so nice to look at. The character called "the reverend" is very annoying, and suffers from some very corny translation in the subtitles. I probably would have given this movie a higher rating if it had been dubbed in English, since I prefer watching westerns that way. They could have at least done a better job with the subtitles! This movie is a bawdy, humorous spaghetti western, not the dark and vengeful kind one might expect from a director of horror movies. The humor misses in a couple of parts, but works pretty well in general if you recognize this as a light-hearted film. The story is one of those in which everyone double crosses one another in the search for gold. It is typical, but engaging and fun. There is a twist at the end, but I saw it coming about 10 minutes into the film.

This one's not bad, and all connoisseurs of the spaghetti western should see it at least once.

Roy Colt and Winchester Jack (1970)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Spaghetti western directed by Mario Bava about two outlaws (Brett Halsey, Charles Southwood) trying to find a treasure. Outside some nice cinematography this film is pretty much a wasted effort for everyone involved, especially the director. I'm a fairly big fan of Bava but this here certainly ranks down at the bottom of his filmography. The film goes for way too many laughs, which is okay if any of them were actually funny. In the end the film is basically a rip of The Good, The Bad and the Ugly as well as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. There are a few good moments but not enough to make it worth watching.

Now that this is available in a beautiful letterboxed, subtitled DVD, ROY COLT AND WINCHESTER JACK can be enjoyed by anyone who wants to see it. Is it worth seeing? Well...what you have is basically a lowbrow Eurowestern comedy that belongs on the same shelf with STING OF THE WEST and IT CAN BE DONE AMIGO. The various supporting players are colorful, and there are two strong American leads in the charismatic Brett Halsey and the engaging Charles Southwood. Though hidden under a lot of makeup, Marilu Tolo is as sexy as ever. I've never found Italian western comedies to be that worthwhile (or western comedies in general, BLAZING SADDLES excepted)--for me, most of the best qualities of westerns are lost when they are played for laughs. There are a number of laughs in this film--Halsey and Southwood both play comedy well--but the viewer should be warned that the laughs are on a Bowery Boys/Police Academy-level. I like that kind of comedy, but you may not. The reason this film was reissued is that it was directed by Mario Bava; however, had I seen the film without knowing that, I would never have guessed. Bava scholars can no doubt find similarities, but I would not consider his direction a major element here (see my review of RINGO DEL NEBRASKA, one of Bava's two other westerns). Overall, this is an enjoyable Eurowestern comedy, with excellent and creative production design (now THERE is a Bava quality!) and good performances, but I don't really consider it essential, only for the serious Eurowestern fan or the Brett Halsey fan (of which I'm one).

A rollicking spoof of the Spaghetti Western genre, "Roy Colt & Winchester Jack" offers some fun for fans of the genre, although ultimately it's awfully silly stuff. American actors Brett Halsey and Charles Southwood star as the title characters, members of the same outlaw gang. Roy goes his own way, hoping that he'll be able to successfully go straight. But Roy, Jack, and others all end up on the trail of some hidden gold, with other people such as flamboyant villain "The Reverend" (Teodoro Corra) and self-serving, materialistic Indian prostitute Manila (Marilu Tolo) also playing key roles in the proceedings.

Although a far cry from the best work of Italian maestro Mario Bava, it's still a definite curiosity that his admirers will want to check out. It's a real change of pace for the filmmaker; rarely did he embrace comedy this thoroughly. While not always terribly funny - it does wear a little thin - it can't be denied that it's a very lively film that delivers some reasonably rousing action scenes. The performances are suited to the material. Halsey and Southwood have good chemistry; both are handsome, charismatic stars. Corra is way over the top as the effeminate bad guy who absolutely hates the feeling of being cold. But it's the gorgeous Tolo who often steals the show; her character really is something. In one hysterical sequence, she insists that Jack take a bath - in cold water - before she'll agree to make love to him.

Bavas' creation of visuals and camera work are typically stylish, helping to keep this modest diversion watchable for a decently paced 86 minutes. It definitely ends on a real high note.

Six out of 10.

Typical Italian western, made at the time when producers wanted to cash in on the success of Sergio Leone's IL BUONO, IL BRUTTO, IL CATTIVO. Plot about three gunslingers (Halsey, Southwood and Corrà) is clearly a rip-off and nowhere as funny or clever as the Eastwood western; too often it resorts to low-brow comedy. Some typical directorial touches, nice photo-graphy (by Antonio Rinaldi) makes film worth watching for Bava completists. Nice score by Piero Umiliani.