Um Colt... para os Filhos do Demônio

This especial Italian western blends violence, western action, plot twists, shoot'em up with high body-count , it is fast movement and that's why it results to be entertaining . This is the story of the ex-bandit who'd worn it -till he'd faced one gun too many...the young , novice engineer he had to teach to wear it- or watch to die and the young who lived only to wear one of his own ! .. and for some dollars a month -that's what they gave you for protecting people who ran like rabbits when the going got roguish ! ¨ . The picture deals with a beginner young engineer (Antonio Sabato , of course , father of known TV actor Antonio Sabato Jr.) who persuades veteran rogue (Lee Van Cleef) and his hoodlums (the veteran Lionel Stander) to help him to rid a little town of bandits who have robbed 12.000 dollars belonging to payroll of the miners . Then , the thief turns into sheriff of the little town called Silver City where is guarded the silver treasure from the mine and the baddies led by Burton (a particular performance by a Peplum-hero as Gordon Mitchell dressed in black with cloak and hat ) want to rob . Meanhile, the old gunslinger , nowadays an upright sheriff falls in love with a beautiful girl (Graziella Granata) . Outlaw Sheriff - Within the Law, Without the Law, Beyond the Law. A saddle tramp... a black hustler... and a preacher - all operating beyond the law .

It's an acceptable Spaghetti film with dazzling shootouts between the protagonists and the contenders . This meaty Western contains interesting plot , violence , crossfire and being quite entertaining , though drags, at times , in ups and downs . This average Western balances noisy action , suspense and drama with tragic final in which happens a sad , dramatic showdown . It's a classic recounting about teaching and learning between an unexperienced young finely played by Antonio Sabato who is in charge of a silver mine and a veteran roguish become marshal . Agreeable performance by Lee Van Cleef changing his usual characters , here as a honorable sheriff who defends the villagers and even confronts his friends at an amazing ending . Decent secondary cast formed by ordinary Spaghetti/Peplum players such as Carlo Gaddi, Romano Puppo, Herbert Fux, Enzo Fiermonte and including Bud Spencer in a serious role as a foreman . Enjoyable score by Riz Ortalani who composed lots of Spaghetti Western scores , it contains a sensitive musical leitmotif . There are many fine technicians and nice assistants as the cameraman Enzo Serafin who makes a nice photography with barren outdoors , dirty landscapes under a glimmer sun shot , of course , on location in Almeria , Spain , though is mostly filmed at Italy . However , being necessary a perfect remastering because of the original copy is washed-out . The motion picture was professionally directed by Giorgo Stegani , though with no originality . He's is an expert writer of Giallo and Western as ¨Blood of a silver dollar¨ and ¨ Beyond the law ¨ and occasionally Western director as ¨Gentleman killer¨and ¨Adios Gringo¨ . Rating : 5,5 , acceptable but mediocre Spaghetti that will appeal to Lee Van Cleef fans .

Contrary to popular belief, the American west wasn't some lawless prairie/desert where only the strong like John Wayne's Rooster Cogburn and Clint Eastwood's man with no name could survive. While the likes of Jesse James and Butch Cassidy made the headlines, the average day in the life of an American westerner was pretty dull. The majority of people who lived west of the Mississippi lived in urban areas, not out in the boonies. Gun violence was actually less common in the western territories than back east and the majority of those who went out west were first generation immigrants, not idealistic white folk provoked by called for manifest destiny. Beyond the Law (1967) is a movie that may not dispel the myths of the wild, wild west, but like many Spaghetti Westerns it does put a new spin on things.

Lee Van Cleef stars as Billy Joe Cudlip, a craven thief who steals the payroll of a mining community from a naïve Czechoslovakian payroll clerk named Ben (Antonio Sabato). He is of course helped by his gang of thieves and conmen, Preacher (Lionel Stander), who dresses like his name to get rubes to trust him and James (Bud Spencer) a black man with a friendly face. Things go according to plan until Billy befriends Ben and is shoved into helping the locals recover the money. Preacher and James see this as an opportunity to steal more loot but things get further complicated when a rival gang of thieves led by Burton (Gordon Mitchell) comes into town.

Now Beyond the Law is far from a perfect movie. The acting ranges of the supporting characters range from okay to terrible and the cinematography is simplistic. Directed by Italian director Giorgio Stegani, Beyond the Law or The Good Die First brings to mind less severe Spaghetti Westerns. Rather than go the path of A Fistful of Dollars (1964), Stegani and his international crew made a movie closer to My Name is Nobody (1973) and My Name is Trinity (1970). It has the tendency to be funny and even unintentionally goofy at some points with Lee Van Cleef showing he can make the best out of a paycheck that bills him with non-English speakers.

If you're a western buff who's easy to please then Beyond the Law may be a perfect little surprise for you. It's a movie that is comfortable in its own banality. The story itself is strong, partially written by prolific Italians writers Mino Roli and Fernando Di Leo and the feel of the film is small but unique. The film was made only a year after Van Cleef's appearance in The Good the Bad and the Ugly (1966) and helped make Bud Spencer a star in his own right. It should at the very least be considered a decent B-movie.

If you're interested, try finding the 105 minute version through Diamond Entertainment and look to avoid imitators with bad digital transfers. There is a colorless butchered version that you can likely find at a bargain bin somewhere and there's a decent letterbox version you can find online. Go check it out before the ghost of Red Ryder comes back to re-mystify the west.

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(1968) Beyond The Law/ Al di là della legge DUBBED SPAGHETTI WESTERN

I was somewhat involved with the movie for for the most part until the ending which really sucked. Lee Van Cleef as Billy Joe Cudlip he is one of a trio of thieving bandits who succeeded into stealing a small bag of money from a locked stagecoach compartment. The group also includes a pretentious preacher (George Sanders) and an African man (Al Hoosmann). Unsatisfied, the trio want to score a much bigger jackpot except that Billy is starting to build a rapport with a European dude named Ben who's general responsibility was to make sure money would be traveled safely to it's rightful owners. And things really become complicated as soon as Billy accepts a role as deputy of the small town with the only obstacle are another outlaw bandit named Burton (Gordon Mitchell) commanding a gang of outlaws who're also basically seeking for the same thing as the thieving trio which is undeserving amounts of riches. After seeing many Spaghetti westerns, there seems to be a trend where the general story lines demands spontaneous 'unpredictability' even if it doesn't make any lick of sense, and this is another example of another one of those movies where it doesn't feel the need to make any sense when it ends badly.

"Beyond the Law" 1968 PG 1h 30m Original title: Al di là della legge.

It's a typical spaghetti western; filmed in Italy; in Italian; and now has English dubbing.

It has decent action, with a cookie cutter plot.

Lee Van Cleef stars as Billy Joe Cudlip, criminal turned sheriff! Van Cleef is awesome, as always.

Lionel Stander as Preacher, stands out (pun intended) and provides great comic relief. Bud Spencer is noticable as the money grubbing owner of the silver mine. And, Ann Smyrner is cute and bouncey, and provides the T&A.

Romano Puppo plays Burton, the leader of the bandits, and he is awesome. He wears this black, flat brimmed hat and a long, black, silk cape and he looks like Bela Lugosi playing Zorro. It's makes me think, A. That this is really good, but weird, costuming for 1968, and, B. He really really looks creepy. I can just imagine that in a theater, when Puppo finally gets winged, and falls to his death, the whole audience cheers! The director does a shot from above, showing Puppo lying face down in the dirt, with his cape artistically spread out. Great scene.

Overall, the picture and the sound are pretty bad. Partly because they waited too long to transfer this one from the old film. Still, it's a romp.

And guess what? Noflicks does not carry this one. LOL The Bushwacker 12/24/2021.

Ostensibly harmless thieves Van Cleef and his partners in crime (ex-boxer Hoosman and veteran supporting actor Stander) find themselves unwitting protagonists in the plight of a mining town when no-nonsense bandit Mitchell (in Zorro-esque garb) takes the town's women and children hostage in exchange for the town's rich silver deposits.

Essentially a lighthearted buddy-picture until the darker turn emerges late in the story when Mitchell's thugs emerge as the real villains, and conscience gets the better of Van Cleef's character.

In addition to the aforementioned trio, Sicilian heart-throb Sabato plays a young mining official trying to convince Van Cleef of his innate goodness, the attractive Granata is the town's most-eligible bachelorette and prospective future wife to Van Cleef if he can stay clean, and a bare-faced Bud Spencer also appears as the mining boss, momentarily unrecgonisable sans his trademark beard.

Aside from the sometimes melodramatic pace, I personally wasn't a fan of the rather gloomy conclusion which seemed a mean-spirited way to resolve matters when a more sympathetic ending beckoned. But it wasn't meant to be, and consequently this uneven spaghetti western is hard to like in spite of its initially good intentions.