Un cercueil pour le shériff

The setting is an area in the Wild West terrorised by a violent outlaw gang who have the corrupt sheriff in their back pocket. Into this enters a mysterious loner who takes it upon himself to protect the people against these criminals by joining the gang and infiltrating them from within.

From the above synopsis it should be clear to any seasoned fans of spaghetti westerns that A Coffin for the Sheriff (great title, pretty irrelevant though) is a film with some very familiar plot elements seen in many other entries in the sub-genre. But in fairness, this is a pretty early entry in the Italian western cycle of movies and so these clichés weren't quite as cemented in as they were going to be by the end of the 60's. This one was helmed by Mario Caiano who, like most of his Italian contemporaries, made a number of films in the different popular genres of the given year; the best of the one's I have seen is his impressive Agatha Christie styled giallo Eye in the Labyrinth (1972). With this one, it's really more a case of business as usual, as opposed to an entry that brings anything new to the table. It is one of the sub-sets of spaghetti westerns that fall under the revenge-themed bracket and I thought it essentially delivered its goods in an effective and entertaining enough manner. The star of the show is Anthony Steffen, who seemed to specialise in roles such as this one; he is a fairly limited actor in many ways but fits the persona of spaghetti western anti-hero pretty well it has to be said.

Ultimately, this one is more of the same but more of the same is okay sometimes and it's perfectly acceptable when it's based around an original formula which is so dependable to begin with.

Vengeance-minded stranger Anthony Steffen worms his way into a gang of thieves led by a crooked ex-lawyer and a Mexican bandit in order to find the perpetrator of a previous murder attributed to the gang.

A vivid atmosphere and some great Spanish locations make up somewhat for some rather pedestrian script-writing. Steffan and villain Eduardo Fajardo are always fun to watch too.

Though not really bad, this is still recommended only for die-hard spaghetti western fans.

Director Mario Caiano has done better work, especially in the horror genre.

This film essentially takes place somewhere in the American Southwest with a marauding gang of bandits, led by a man named "Lupe Rojo" (Armando Calvo), terrorizing the surrounding area. Eventually, his crimes become so frequent that a bounty is put on his head for $5000-dead or alive. The scene then shifts to the small town of Richmond with a mysterious man by the name of "Shenandoah" (Anthony Steffen) walking into the local saloon with a fistful of dollars and being invited to play poker with some of Lupe Rojo's thugs. Naturally, considering the caliber of men he is dealing with, a fight breaks out with Shenandoah managing to fend for himself quite nicely. Having now proven his mettle, Shenandoah further ingratiates himself with the outlaws by saving one of them during a bank holdup a little while later and is subsequently allowed to join them at their secret hideout. What these bandits don't realize, however, is that Shenandoah has his own reasons for joining this gang and money is of no real importance to him. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this movie was produced during a time when the Spaghetti Westerns were first coming into prominence and as a result it pretty much laid down a template which was followed by other films of this sort. As a result, the plot may seem a bit standardized for this movie through no fault of its own. Be that as it may, while I don't consider this film to be one of the best in this particular sub-genre, it passed the time fairly well and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

Spaghetti Westerns would go on to become one of Italy's main exports, but A Coffin for the Sheriff was released while the genre was still in it's infancy, and before Sergio Leone had chance to complete his legendary Dollars trilogy, and it's a rather good little film that is worth seeking out for Spaghetti Western fans. The film is directed by Mario Caiano, who would go on to direct a number of entries in this genre; this film being one of his first. I've not seen a lot from this director, but his Giallo 'Eye in the Labyrinth' was decent and he directed the excellent 'Night of the Doomed' in the same year as this film. The title makes no sense, but anyway we focus on a mystery man who calls himself 'Shenandoah'. He turns up in town one day and bumps into a gang of local thugs in a bar. He gets challenged to a poker game and ends up loosing - though this doesn't concern him too much since all the dollar bills he's carrying are fakes. The game is interrupted when some other bandits attempt to rob the town's bank, and it soon becomes apparent that there's more to the stranger when he lends a hand to an injured robber...

The sound is always an important part of a Spaghetti Western, and this one features both the good and bad elements. On the plus side, we have an excellent Western score that while not rivalling the work by the great Ennio Morricone, is still good enough and fits the film well. On the negative side, however, we get 'treated' to some of the worst dubbing I've heard in a Western - it's not good at all! Cult star Anthony Steffen takes the lead role and does a good job of playing the gritty Western hero. Steffen would go on to take the lead in a number of Westerns (including a handful of Django flicks) and it's not surprising since he looks the part and plays it well. The rest of the cast is more than adequate, though as is often the case; the main focus here is put squarely on the lead player. I can't say that this is one of the very best Spaghetti Westerns that I've seen, although in fairness the standard has been set rather high by a number of films in this genre. The film is quite hard to come by, but I would certainly recommend that Spaghetti Western fans give it a look as it is a film worth seeing.

Shenandoah (Steffen) works his way into a band of highwaymen led by Rojo (Armando Calvo). His initiation consists of hunting down and killing a member of the gang who has 12 bullets while he is only given 2 bullets. When the bandits attempt to rob a wealthy rancher, whom Shenandoah knows, he warns him. The outlaws begin to suspect they were betrayed and commence to rough Shenandoah up. Shenandoah then reveals his true reason for joining the gang; one of them killed his wife and he is there for retribution.

A coffin for a Sheriff is an odd title for this 1965 spaghetti western because there's no coffin - there's a sheriff but his link to a coffin is non-existent. Its other title is much apt as Anthony Steffen is certainly a "Lone and angry Man" as the stranger who ends up joining a cutthroat gang led by Lupe Rojo and there's the usual showdowns, brawls and a vendetta. One beating that Steffen takes is quite brutal for its time. It's an entertaining western, a little slow at times, perhaps, but Steffen's performance, the landscapes and the efficient plot makes this worthwhile.