Blood for a Silver Dollar (1965)

Sword and sandal director Giorgio Ferroni's frontier saga "Blood on a Silver Dollar" marked the first of the four Spaghetti westerns that he helmed,including "For A Few Extra Dollars," "Fort Yuma Gold," "Wanted," "Gunmen Sent by God." Interestingly, Giuliano Gemma starred in the first three, and Anthony Steffen appeared in the fourth. Composer Gianni Ferrio provided the music for all Ferroni's westerns except for that final one, while the gifted Carlo Rustichelli handled the soundtrack assignment for "Gunmen Sent by God." Since Ferroni's first sagebrusher was released in 1965, it resembled an American oater with some evolution of what would come in the European genre. Giuliano Gemma makes a traditional, stalwart hero, and he looks good in his buckskin outfit. He has one interesting scene early on where he has a showdown with a gun-toting dastard, brushes dust into the dastard's eyes, and disarms him with relative ease. The production values look a notch about a standard-issue Euro-western. Ferrio's soundtrack enhances the action, while Ferroni stages some vigorous gunfights that rarely boil down to the chicanery that he indulges in with the final showdown. "A Bullet for the General" lenser Antonio Secchi's widescreen, color cinematography captures the abrasive look of the old Southwest. If you're a Spaghettimwestern aficionado, you'll recognize at least three of the villains who made prolific appearances in the genre: Benito Stefanelli, Nello Pazzafini, and Franco Fantasia.Like the traditional western hero, our hero isn't a bounty hunter as many Spaghetti western protagonist would later become. Indeed, the protagonist Gary O'Hara (no doubt some allusion to the fictional character Scarlett O'Hara from "Gone with the Wind") has a name that echoes the South. Gary and his brother Phil O'Hara (Nazzareno Zamperla of "Dangerous Beauty") are Confederate soldiers. The end of the war finds these two together briefly as the Union returns their firearms, with a proviso. You see, the Yankees have sawn off the barrels of their revolvers so they resemble the .38-calibered snub nose revolver. Gary complains about this to a Union commander and proves his point that these cut-down revolvers are virtually useless for protection. He fires at a can in the dirt and repeatedly misses it. When the Union officer suggests he should improve his marksmanship skills, Gary persuades him to allow him the use of his revolver. Our hero proves that he is a crack shot with a revolver, and his brother joins in, too. The Yankees send them on their way with the rest of the freed Confederate soldiers. At least, the filmmakers got a little history right because they state that Johnston surrendered instead of the usual reference to Lee's surrender at Appomattox. Before they part company to pursue their dreams now that the South lies smoldering in ashes, Phil informs Gary that he plans to seek his fortune out west. Meantime, Gary is a married man, and he must exercise greater discretion. Phil gives Gary is entire fortune: one silver dollar. Some prints of this Spaghetti western have abbreviated the title to "One Silver Dollar." Naturally, I prefer the title "Blood on a Silver Dollar" because it explains an important part of the plot. Our hero is killed alongside his brother Phil, but Phil had no idea that he was drawing against his brother. The chief villain McCoy (Pierre Cressoy of "Navajo Joe") is struggling to buy up all the land around Yellowstone, but he faces trouble when Phil sets out to exile him from town. Now desperate beyond despair with neither a horse nor a dime to his name, Gary is willing to accept any job, and he accepts McCoy's offer to arrest a troublemaker who has been harassing McCoy. Shrewdly, McCoy has decided that Gary stands no chance against Blackie so when they clash in the saloon, McCoy has his own gunmen wipe at Blackie in a hail of gunfire. Conveniently enough, McCoy's men kill Gary, too. What neither they nor Gary realize at the time is that Phil gave Gary a single silver dollar coin and the coin saved Gary's life. Furthermore, Gary grows to realize that he has killed his brother. Oddly, neither Ferroni nor "Adios, Gringo" scenarist Giorgio Stegani make a big deal out of Gary's brother getting killed by the villains. Indeed, eventually, Gary's wife Judy (Ida Galli of "The Unholy Four") blunders into the plot as a convenient weapon for the villains to use against him. Meantime, Gary uses his apparent death to create chaos for the villains. I cannot go into greater detail without sacrificing one of the chief surprises. Incidentally, the filmmakers get a lot of mileage out of those cut-down revolvers. I don't believe the Union Army pulled a stunt like than Southerners, but the gimmick works splendidly in the overall context of the action.

While "Blood For A Silver Dollar" is far from the worst spaghetti western made, I have to admit that all the same it failed to rouse me - and I usually LOVE spaghetti westerns! It felt interchangeable from the countless spaghetti westerns I had seen before watching it. I think the main reason for that is the script. The story doesn't contain any surprises - you'll always be one step ahead of the hero and the other characters from seeing the same situations in other spaghetti westerns before. Apparently because of this, Giuliano Gemma and the rest of the cast don't seem able to bring any life to their clichéd characters. Behind the camera, director Giorgio Ferroni does manage to give the enterprise an acceptable look, but can't generate that much excitement, in part due to the fact there's little action. Recommended only for those who have never seen a spaghetti western before in their life.

The revenge story of this movie has got an unusual twist, because the hero (Giuliano Gemma) shot his brother himself! However, that was an accident as he was hired to shoot a gunman named "Blackeye" (in the German dubbed version, good for some laughs elsewhere) and little did he know... He was supposed to die in that shootout himself as well, but a dollar coin in his pocket stopped the bullet. Later he becomes a member of the gang that now rules the town, trying to find out who is the boss responsible for all this. Shot in 1965 when spaghetti western was still fresh, this is a simple yet very entertaining movie although not a typical example for the genre, as it lacks the cynicism and ritualism of the later Django movies. But I hope no-one considers these to be necessary ingredients for a good western? Voted 7/10.

I only saw this film once in 1975 and for some reason it has stuck in my mind! The opening scene in particular. I am hoping that by writing here someone may be aware of its availability on PAL video and in English! There has to be a copy somewhere! I rememeber it being a particularly good example of this genre - ie: the "Italian Western."