Clint, une corde pour te pendre

This is the sequel to "Clint el solitario" (1967), again with George Martin and done by director Alfonso Balcázar (who also uses the synonym "George Martin" sometimes).

It's a mediocre italo-western with a typical american family-western storyline: Clint who killed the murderer of his brother in the first movie and therefore was imprisoned escapes from there and wants to get back to his family. His wife and the 2 children had to flee from their home and live on a farm in Texas now. She accepts Clint as a helping hand on the farm just if he lays down his weapons and swears off violence. But soon unscrupulous gangsters want to force them to sell their land and farm. And a headhunter is coming for Clint. So, here it goes...

If you don't like children as important characters of a movie because it often makes them childish, stay away. The acting is second stage professional, nothing special, everything mediocre... But this is more the american style of western, mainly because of the storyline. I can't stand heroes of a Western who don't have a gun on their belly all the time (better: out of their belly). And here you have this family- and farm-crap most of the time. And the wife demanding "No Violence! - or you cannot stay!" - Phhaaa!

Of course it's a trashy italo-version of it with a cheap and dirty setting, really evil and disgusting baddies, some bloody senseless killing and some good punch-fights. And there are some cool blood-red flashbacks to the first part. AND - YOU - HAVE: KLAUS KINSKI - of course he is great, the 100% uncaring headhunter, an invidious mien, but always above everything, long blond hair, smoking cigar permanently - cool as always! In this movie his character has quite a leading role. And I bought this DVD - which was released as "Ein Einsamer kehrt zurück" in Germany - because I love Italo-Western and Klaus Kinski. So it was o.k.! The atmosphere as you could expect it from an Italo-Western is nothing special, most of what you can describe as atmosphere is done by Klaus Kinski. Everything's mediocre - except Klaus Kinski of course!

I was wondering no one commented this movie as it has Klaus Kinski in a leading role and Ennio Morricone did the music.

Alfonso Balcázar's "Il Ritorno Di Clint Il Solitario" aka. "The Return Of Clint The Stranger" is a Spaghetti Western that is mediocre at best, with a storyline that is normally found in American 'Good Guys vs. Bad Guys' Westerns. The movie is, however, saved by two geniuses: Klaus Kinski, who once again delivers a great performance in an excellent role (the only great role in this, otherwise below average film), and Ennio Morricone who delivers the score. The score is far from one of Morricone's strokes of genius, basically one of the scores where you know Morricone just did them for the money and didn't invest too much time, but it is still capable of partially saving the movie and making it a lot better. This movie's highlight, however, is the bounty hunter character played by the brilliant Kinski, who is basically the only typical Spaghetti Western character in this.

The main character of Clint, played by George Martin, is basically a typical 'good guy' who wants to return to family life after five years of fleeing the law. Five years after killing his brother's murderer, Clint comes back to his hometown, which he finds terrorized by a gang of unscrupulous criminals who want to steal the land from poor local farmers. Furthermore, a mysterious bounty hunter named Scott (Kinski) has been following Clint for the reward on his head.

This movie's storyline is not too original, and the performances are not too impressive either. George Martin may fit in his role, and his leading performance is not necessarily bad, but he is not very charismatic, and his character is far away from the antihero characters my fellow Spaghetti Western fans love. Klaus Kinski's character, on the other hand, is the only true Spaghetti Western character in this, and what a Spaghetti Western character he is. Seeing Kinski play a cynical, long-haired, cigar-smoking bounty hunter in a poncho is a true highlight of this movie, and probably the only aspect which really makes "The Return Of Clint The Stranger" worth watching. This particular role, however, is such a great aspect, that I recommend it for every fan of Spaghetti Westerns, even if just for this role and nothing else.

All in all, "Il Ritorno Di Clint Il Solitario" is a Spaghetti Western that would be rather unsatisfying, if it wasn't for Morricone's score and, mainly, for the great Klaus Kinski and the great role he plays. Therefore it is certainly worth watching. 5/10

Il Ritorno di Clint is a mediocre western, George Martin ain't so charismatic but you get to see Kinski in a part that is mirroring his Loco arch-character of Il Grande Silenzio. Long blonde hair and coolness of a bounty hunter that is not evil incarnate but helps our hero. A typical vengeance western and I liked to think that this is the Kinski from Silenzio trying to be more human now, as he is out of the white hell. The Morricone contribution is by the numbers, as he did three tons of music those years. As for the alternate title, the movie was sold of course as one of the Trinity and Ringo series, like Django, they have nothing to so with anything in between. I have not seen the original (from which you have flashbacks), the other comment is right, Kinski and Morricone are the two reasons to see this film,though Martin (who also directs) is quite cool too. There are similarities with High Plain Drifter, not only the character's name with that of the star of the above mentioned.

Unless of course you want to see something like this. "Return Of Clint The Stranger" tries to combine these two sub-genres in one movie. Instead it actually combines problems that have plagued both genres and in the end what we get is a half-baked unpolished film mixed with the already over-used "American dream" type story.

"Return Of Clint The Stranger" is a story about a man named Clint whom after avenging the death of his brother and sister-in-law is forced to leave his family and go into hiding. He returns 5 five years later to them in the hopes that he can once again be accepted. Of course no story is complete without the villains and here we have them in the form of a greedy banker who is trying to drive Clint's family off their own lands.

I can almost guess what director Alfonso Balcázar was trying to do. He wanted to deviate from the established persona of the Italian western. He was trying to give this movie a bigger sense of depth, by adding more developed characters. The problem is, they are not particularly interesting in fact they are annoying clichés of the same characters you might see on any of the pre-Leone era American western. Clint himself is a very uncharismatic protagonist. We see that through his actions when he is trying to protect his family. At one point he tries bribing several of the henchman hired by the banker, but instead he gets hit in the head and they steal his money. He also unknowingly helps in causing the death of one his son's friends. And while some of these faults could have helped creating a more complex, filled with guilt character Balcázar fails to tap on them. Instead he continues to present the story in a monotonous way, Clint shows no visible regret of his actions and remains in the same passive mood. The entire story is mash of ideas that lack a proper realization. Klaus Kinsky's character for example could have been more strongly implemented into the plot instead of just throwing him this shallow role of a bounty hunter. The story's conclusion wasn't particularly memorable, the showdown between Clint and the banker's men wasn't all to great lacking the ingenuity of the better Italian westerns.

This movie can't brag about production values either. It's cheap, sleazy and while that could be forgiven in most westerns of the genre simply because they aim to entertain, here it helps to booster every other weak point in the film. This tried to be something more than pure entertainment. Tried and failed. I will pass on commenting on the acting simply because the version I watched was dubbed in Bulgarian. The music is a total lackluster, it lacks the punch of some of Morricone's earlier work and there is no doubt he did the score only for the money.

"Return Of Clint The Stranger" is not a good movie. It tries to add something new and fresh to the genre but it fails. It fails so much that it becomes hardly watchable on any standard.

a very moving film, strongly influenced by Shane. the hero (played by George Martin) returns to his family 6 years after avenging his brother's murder. he agrees to put down his guns and become a rancher. meanwhile, some baddies (very bad) threaten his family and the local ranchers. Klaus Kinski, as a bounty hunter stalks the hero to claim a $5,000 reward. great performances and a powerful ending. a beautiful Morricone score. apparently, only available in DVD in a Best Entertainment German Pal 0 release (it played on my DVD player).