Quel Caldo Maledetto Giorno Di Fuoco" , Italy (original title)or "Damned Hot Day of Fire" USA title results to be an Italian/Spanish co-production directed by Paolo Bianchini with noisy action , intrigue and crossfire . Set during the American Civil War , there Richard Gatling (was an actual character who really existed) , ending his invention , which will completely change the course of the war, the machine gun called Gatlin . A North secret government commission interviews Gatlin to collect the gun in his house, in a small town in New Mexico . But there are two gunmen kill the commissioners, and kidnap the inventor and the machine gun . A few weeks later , Tanner (Robert Woods) an Union lieutenant unjustly accused of treason comes to town , by the issue of the gun , and by all means tries to know what happened in order to prove his innocence . He discovers that behind everything appears Tarpas (John Ireland) , a half-breed outlaw , who has the idea to sell the Gatlin machine gun to Northern government , and do the same with the Confederation , but selling it to the South.
"Gatling Gun" or "Machine Gun Killers" packs thrills , action , and lots of shots and gunplay . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing shootouts or stunts every few minutes . However , there are numerous night scenes and a lousy cinematography ; adding bad situations and some turn of script that no one understands . Acceptable screenplay by José Luis Merino , Western's expert writer and filmmaker , though this theme about a ¨Machine Gun¨ has been treated in several films such as ¨Thompson 1880¨ (1968) by Guido Zurli , ¨Something Big" (1971) by Andrew V MacLagen , ¨The Gatling Gun¨ (1973) by Robert Gordon . Starring Robert Woods is cool as an Union officer accused as a traitor , he is fine as the hero of the story . Robert Woods is very nice , he ravages the screen, he jumps, leaps and bounds , hits and runs , besides receives violent punches , kicks and wounds . However , John Ireland steals the spectacle as a crazed psychopath , a local mestizo magnificently interpreted by this veteran Hollywood actor . Worthwhile watching for a demonstration of the confrontation between Robert Woods and John Ireland with some looks that say it all , including a thrilling ending using the relentless machine gun . It's an exciting SW with breathtaking showdown between the protagonist Robert Woods and the hoodlums enemies as Gerard Herter -unforgettable nasty from ¨The hawk and the prey¨- , Ivan Scratuglia and George Rigaud . Furthermore, there appears usual secondaries of Italian/Spanish Western as Italian actors as the femmes fatal Evelyn Stewart or Ida Galli , Claudia Lange , Ivan Scratuglia ; as well as Spanish players : Roberto Camardiel , Fernando Bilbao , Alfonso De La Vega and Jorge Rigaud . Badly photographed by Francisco Marin , being necessary a right remastering . Filmed on location in Aranjuez , Madrid , Colmenar Viejo, Madrid, La Pedriza and Feria del Campo, Madrid , Spain . Original Music by Piero Piccioni who composes a mediocre soundtrack . The movie was produced in low budget by Atlantida Films/Jose Frade productions that financed several Western during the 60s and early 70s such as ¨Cuatreros¨ , ¨Mestizo¨ , ¨Challenge of McKenna¨ , ¨The mercenary¨ , ¨Los Compañeros¨, ¨twenty dollars for seven¨ and ¨Saddle tramps¨ , among others.
The motion picture was middlingly directed by Paolo Bianchini and he often used the pseudonym as Paul Maxwell. At this film he inclined toward violence and too much action . He made various ¨Spaghetti¨ such as Ehi Amigo... Sei Morto! , 1968 Lo Quiero Muerto , 1968 God Made Them... I Kill Them and ¨Spy genre¨ such as 1969 Devilman Story , 1968 Superargo, 1967 Hypnos Follia Di Un massacre , 1966 Il Gioco Delle Spie . Rating : 5 , average Western , though passable for some scenes typical Spaghetti .
