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Sancho (Fernando Sancho) and his gang of outlaws rob the local bank in a meticulously planned raid, and when they find themselves pursued by a posse, they hole up in the next best hacienda that's easy to defend and where they also have plenty of hostages - and they threaten to shoot one every morning and evening until they're granted safe passage. In a word, the outlaws and their pursuers find themselves in a stalemate, and since the outlaws are trigger-happy ...

Problem here is that the hacienda is owned by Major Clyde (Antonio Casas), father of Ruby (Lorella De Luca), who in turn is the local Sheriff's (George Martin) sweetheart - thus storming the place and risking to lose the hostages is out of the question, but with every day that passes, Ruby is in more danger. So the Sheriff makes a deal with the devil: For 30% of the loot, he releases Ringo (Giuliano Gemma), a gunman who's sometimes too quick for his own good, from prison to infiltrate Sancho's gang.

At the hacienda, Ringo is welcomed less than friendly, but Sancho soon realizes that Ringo and his (virtual) bag of tricks might be his and his men's only way out. He doesn't trust Ringo one bit though, and plans to kill him once they're out. Ringo knows that though and has tons of safety nets - but some are traps so risky they may even spring on Ringo himself ...

Though it does have its violent bits, A Pistol for Ringo is hardly one of the darker examples of the spaghetti Western genre, thanks to a script that puts an almost comical spin on things, Giuliano Gemma's likeable personality, and a directorial effort that avoids pathos for the most part. But that said, it's still a very cool film, the narrative is expertly thought through and built up, and even if many of the characters are caricatures, they work in the context without making the movie an outright comedy like spaghetti Westerns of later years, and the direction and camerawork are always on the spot for sure. True, it's no genre classic like the cream of the crop by Sergio Leone, Sergio Corbucci or Enzo G. Castellari (to name but a few), yet still a very likeable and enjoyable genre movie all the same.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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