Une minute pour prier, une seconde pour mourir

Back when the Italians were making their so-called 'Spaghetti Westerns', studios often obtained the services of non-Italians to play the leads in their films. The idea was that these B-list foreign actors would increase the marketability of the films abroad and folks like Rod Steiger, Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef were often seen in these movies. In "Un minuto per pregare, un istante per morire", Alex Cord, Arthur Kennedy and Robert Ryan starred...and it was unusual to see that many American actors in one of these films.

Cord plays Clay McCord, an outlaw who is headed to Tuscosa, New Mexico Territory. Why? The territory has just approved an amnesty for criminals. In other words, if they sign a document promising to obey the law, their past crimes will be forgiven. But Cord realizes this might just be too good to be true...and that's exactly the case. Scum-bags, bounty hunters and the like plan to kill these outlaws before they get to the city...and in McCord's case this actually occurs IN Tuscosa...mostly because the Sheriff (Kennedy) is a jerk. But when the Governor (Ryan) arrives and swears the support the amnesty, McCord MIGHT just stand a chance.

Like you'd expect, this movie is extremely violent...as are nearly every Italian western. Lots of remorseless killings are the norm in this one and they seem to take precedence over the plot at times. Add to that a very simple plot and you have what amounts to an exciting time-passer and not much more.

By the way, I really liked Ryan's performance....very low key and convincing.

Alex Cord stars in this beautifully-photographed Spaghetti Western about a gunfighter with an arm that goes into epileptic fits under pressure. After a local town decides to give amnesty and $50 to gunfighters that give themselves up, Cord strongly considers giving up his run-n-gun lifestyle. But of course there's bounty hunters, bandits and lawmen who don't exactly take a liking to that so Cord is gonna' need a lot of bullets. The action sequences are average for a Spaghetti (good guy shoots a bunch of times, bad guys throw their arms straight into the air and spin around) but the direction is quite good and the storyline is intriguing. Robert Ryan shows up to kick some ass and add some class to the proceedings. 7.5 out of 10

I caught this for the first time a few nights ago on television. I expected to only tune in for a few minutes, but found myself intrigued by the movie. I ended up watching it all and found it surprisingly compelling. The acting by the three American leads was quite good, especially that of Alex Cord. He plays a gunslinger with quite a degree of vulnerability. Very different from how most of them are portrayed in westerns. He ended up in several situations where he was at the mercy of the bounty hunters. The final shootout between the three leads and the bad guys was very good, as was the scene where the doctor digs a bullet out of Clay McCord. Somewhat gruesome, but realistic. I must admit that, despite my initial misgivings at watching a "spaghetti western", I ended up enjoying this film quite a bit. I would recommend it to anyone who likes westerns.

A MINUTE TO PRAY, A SECOND TO DIE is a surprisingly gritty spaghetti western that makes good use of Alex Cord's rather unlikeable outlaw whose lack of charm makes him the polar opposite of Eastwood's Man with No Name. The story involves our hero and his sidekick arriving in a locale populated by the usual unpleasant bandits and the like, and the fun is enhanced by the presence of Hollywood stars like Arthur Kennedy and Robert Ryan in support. The film has surprisingly graphic scenes of torture and killing, and builds to an impressive siege climax which really delivers. While it falls just shy of being a classic, in most respects this one works.

Alex Cord plays Clay McCord(how apt!), an outlaw who has traveled to New Mexico on the promise of amnesty given by its governor(Robert Ryan). Unfortunately, Clay gets challenged by the local sheriff(Arthur Kennedy) who doesn't agree with the governor's plans, and decides to use Clay to lure other outlaws to the state, so that he can deal with them all at once. This leads to a big showdown at the end.

Not bad western is clearly based on the style of the Sergio Leone westerns, and is a decent attempt at doing so, though of course is not as stylish or memorable. Good cast, and an interesting character detail of Clay having epilepsy like his father, which sometimes makes him vulnerable.