tankjonah Review of Blood for a Silver Dollar

Blood for a Silver Dollar (1965)

Decent spaghetti western with some unusual touches

[5/10 · 28 January 2006]

A wandering soldier (Guiliano Gemma (here billed Montgomery Wood)) is tricked into helping his brother be killed by a bandit disguised as a wealthy landowner who has a hold on the cowardly town. Another film made in the wake of the success of A Fistful of Dollars (1964), this has neither the style nor moodiness of the best spaghetti westerns. However, there are some unusual and effective camera angles and occasional hints at the supernatural (a precursor to Eastwood's marvelous High Plains Drifter (1973). Wood is 'killed' before it is discovered a silver dollar saved his life. The story is somehow both routine and convoluted making for a rather boring film.