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6/10
A blind gunman escaped from prison seeks vengeance against a cruel sheriff and Mexican outlaws
ma-cortes28 January 2012
Spaghetti with Chorizo Western filmed in Spanish location as La Pedriza ,Manzanares Del Real and Colmenar Viejo and interior scenes shot in usual Italian scenarios called Elios studios. It deals with an inmate wrongfully imprisoned for twenty years for a crime he didn't commit and escaping from jail . As Minnesota Clay (Cameron Michell) takes prisoner a lieutenant (Julio Peña) and seeks revenge on the man who withheld evidence at his trial and arrives in a town ravaged by a sheriff and bandits . The gunfighter enemy is Fox (Georges Riviere), who nowadays results to be the Sheriff of a little town who himself terrorises the villagers . At the beginning Clay rescues a woman from bandits , she is named Stella (Ethel Rojo) a gorgeous but devious woman . Later on , Clay is imprisoned by outlaw Ortiz ( Fernando Sancho) and also townsfolk is living in terror of his band . In the middle of these two waring parties is Clay's daughter named Nancy (Diana Martin) who thinks her father is dead . The gunslinger enters the town caught between two feuding factions, a nasty sheriff and a gang of Mexican bandits, and is caught up in a struggle against them. But here is a problem however, Clay is going blind.

The film packs violence , shootouts , high body-count and it's fast moving and quite entertaining . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing some shoot'em up or stunts every few minutes . It's an exciting western with breathtaking showdown between the starring Cameron Mitchell and his enemies , Geoges Riviere and Fernando Sancho . The movie contains gun-play, action Western , thrills and bloody spectacle . This interesting theme about a blind gunslinger is also treated in other films such as ¨The blind man¨ by Ferdinando Baldi , ¨An eye for eye¨ by Michael Moore with Robert Lansing and ¨Blind Justice¨ by Richard Spence with Armando Assante . In ¨Minessota Clay¨ appears as secondaries the habitual in Spanish/Italian Western such as Jose Luis Martin , Simon Arriga , Alfonso Rojas , Antonio Casas ,Alvaro De Luna and Guido Pernice , many of them usual in Corbucci films . Special mention to Fernando Sancho in his ordinary role as fatty Mexican bandit and in a cruelly baddie role , he is terrific, and bears a hysterical and mocking aspect , subsequently he would play similar characters . The movie gets the ordinary Western issues, such as avengers antiheroes , violent facing off , quick scenes and exaggerated baddies . It's an improbable blending of standard Western with pursuits, high body-count and it's fast moving and quite entertaining. An interesting casting full of usual Spaghetti make this oater well worth the watching . Mediocre cinematography by Jose Aguayo , Luis Buñuel's customary , but is necessary a perfect remastering , being the copy washed-out .

Screenplay with interesting premise about a 'blind gunfighter' is written by Corbucci and Jose G . Maesso , also producer ( he produced several Western as ¨The ugly ones , Minnesota Clay , Django , A train to Durango , Hellbenders¨) . Sergio Corbucci's direction is acceptable , he made numerous Spaghetti classics . Direction is well crafted, here Corbucci is more cynical and violent and less inclined toward humor and packs too much action , but especially this moving Western contains broad violence specially on the character played by Georges Riviere . The other Sergio made several Western classics as ¨ Django¨, ¨The great silence¨, ¨The specialist¨ , ¨The Hellbenders¨ , ¨Navajo Joe¨ , and Zapata Western as ¨The Mercenary¨, ¨The Compañeros¨ and ¨What am I doing in middle of the revolution¨ . In addition Sergio directed other inferior S.W. as ¨Far West story¨ ,¨Johnny Oro¨, ¨The white the yellow an the black¨ , ¨Massacre at Great Canyon (his first Spaghetti) ¨ and ¨Minnesota Clay (his second Western)¨. Corbucci makes a nice camera work with clever choreography on the showdown , fighting , moving shootouts and bemusing scenes . It's an offbeat , surprising and uneven Western but will appeal to Corbucci aficionados . Rating : 6 , riotous Western in which there's too much action and violence and enough excitement .
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7/10
Early Spaghetti revenge tale from a pre:Django Corbucci
marc-36618 May 2005
Now Minnesota Clay is one fast guy with a gun. Possibly the fastest in the world. Unfortunately he is also slowly losing his eyesight, with his vision now so impaired that one more punch could cause complete loss of sight.

The movie begins with Clay (Cameron Mitchell) escaping from imprisonment, and intent on getting revenge on the man who set him up. The man in question is Fox (George Riviere), who has appointed himself as the Sheriff of Clay's hometown and abuses this power, with the townsfolk living in terror of his gang. They had initially paid Fox to protect them from bandit Ortiz (played by the ever excellent Fernando Sancho), who himself terrorises the town. In the middle of these two waring parties is Clay's daughter, Nancy, who believes her father is dead, and thinks Clay is merely a local hero. They are reunited, but caught in the crossfire between the two gangs, co-ordinated mischievously by Estella (Ethel Rojo) who is as devious as she is beautiful (and my is she beautiful!).

Minnesota Clay is one of the earliest Spaghetti Westerns, directed by a pre-Django Sergio Corbucci. Whilst it is not as captivating or as dark as the films he directed during the Spaghetti boom of 1966-1970, it is still a very enjoyable movie, with the usual sprinkling of injustice that we have come to expect within his films.

Mitchell, Sancho and Riviere are captivating throughout, and Rojo could win the heart of any man with her portrayal of Estella (no wonder her character is so able to use those around her so ably). My only complaint would be the vocal overdub on the English soundtrack for the characters of Nancy (drippy) and Andy (who comes over as a Frank Spencer type character - apologies to any non-English readers that may not understand this comparison!). Once you get used to these minor grumbles about the overdub (which, honestly, does not take too long), you can really start to enjoy Minnesota Clay for the highly watchable film that it is.
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6/10
A Tamer, More Well-Behaved Early Corbucci
As a huge lover of Italian Westerns, Sergio Corbucci is one of my favorite directors ever. Corbucci's most famous and influential film is doubtlessly the blood-soaked cult-flick "Django" of 1966, his most brilliant achievement is the dark 1968 masterpiece "Il Grande Silenzio" ("The Great Silence"). But Corbucci enriched the Spaghetti-Western genre by even more masterpieces than the aforementioned two films, such as the Mexican revolutionary Westerns "Il Mercenario" (aka. "The Mercenary", 1968) and "Vamos A Matar, Compañeros" (1970). And even his lesser known films, such as "I Crudeli" ("Hellbenders", 1967) or "Navajo Joe" (1966) stand out as gritty and great Spaghetti Westerns, which makes Corbucci the undisputed number 2 in the genre, right after Sergio Leone. This being said, Corbucci's early Western "Minesota Clay" of 1965 does not live up to his later films in the Genre. While this is by no means a bad film, it is nowhere near as cynical, gritty and memorable as Corbucci's later Westerns were, as it bears more resemblance to the traditional American 'Good Guys Vs. Bad Guys' Westerns than the masterpieces of Corbucci's later career.

The eponymous hero, Minnesota Clay (played by the great Cameron Mitchell) is not really a typical anti-hero, as he is looking partly for revenge, but mainly for justice and for an opportunity to redeem his name. The two rivaling gangs (Mexican vs. American) that control the little town where this is set resemble the premise of "Django" as well as Leone's milestone "Fistful Of Dollars" (both of which were based on Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece "Yojimbo"). Yet, "Minnesota Clay" can not nearly make as much of it as "Fistful..." and "Django". Since the aforementioned films are masterpieces, this is not to say that this film is bad, however. "Minesota Clay" is an entertaining film, without doubt. The film's main fault is probably the lack of a real anti-hero with hardly any morals. If the film had just been a little more 'evil', it could have been way better. Even though a tough guy, Minesota Clay is basically an honest man who is looking for justice, and not nowhere near as immoral as anti-heroes like The Man With No Name or Django. Yet, Cameron Mitchell gives the character a certain greatness. I've been a fan of Mitchell since I first saw Mario Bava's Giallo-milestone "Sei Donne Per L'Assassino" (aka. "Blood And Black Lace", 1964) years ago, and he once again delivers a great performance here. The sexy Ethel Rojo and Diana Martin make a nice-looking female cast and the supporting cast includes Spaghetti Western regulars Antonio Casas ("The Good, The Bad And The Ugly"), Fernando Sancho ("The Big Gundown") and Gino Pernice ("Django"). As mentioned above, this film often resembles a traditional American Western - only with a bit more violence and Spaghetti-style. The locations and photography are great and the score by Piero Piccioni is also quite nice. Overall, I would have probably rated this a 7/10 as such, but I have to detract one star as it is way inferior compared to Corbucci's later films. This is an entertaining film that my fellow Spaghetti-Western-freaks should enjoy, yet I recommend everybody to see some of Corbucci's other films before. Especially "The Great Silence" and "Django" are essential. My opinion on "Minesota Clay": 6.5/10
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7/10
Early spaghetti western is a fine looking film
Leofwine_draca28 August 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Sergio Corbucci is one of the spaghetti western's greatest directors – he was responsible for two classics, DJANGO and THE GREAT SILENCE, among many others. This is an earlier offering, made before he got his groove on, and it doesn't have the same kind of 'vibe' to it as all the Leone-influenced westerns that came out during and after 1967. This one feels more like a set-bound American western; it has that clean-cut style to it rather than the dark and gritty atmosphere that epitomised the 'spaghettis'.

Saying that, it's still a great little film, really well paced for a western and with some intriguing characters. Much of the film's success is down to Cameron Mitchell, who appeared in some of the best genre films Italy had to offer during the '60s; most of these were directed by the great Mario Bava (I'm thinking LAST OF THE VIKINGS, BLOOD AND BLACK LACE, KNIVES OF THE AVENGER, the list goes on). Mitchell was a great actor in my opinion and he's perfectly cast as the hero here. He gives Clay a raw humanity that makes you sympathise with him from the outset and the fact that he's handicapped – as the film progresses he gradually loses his sight – only adds to the pathos. Clay's dire situation makes for a truly nail-biting extended climax as a group of killers prowl after him through deserted streets and stables.

Elsewhere, genre conventions abound. There are some brutal Mexicans, led by ever-present character actor Fernando Sancho, and a wonderfully staged shoot-out in which Clay seems to kill about two hundred of the enemy by shooting them off their horses. There's a tough femme fatale, played by the beautiful Argentinian actress Ethel Rojo, who easily holds her own against the macho guys surrounding her. Georges Riviere, who starred in a couple of Italian gothics like CASTLE OF BLOOD before appearing in this, is an unusual villain in that he doesn't actually do much that's villainous in the film: he just stands in Clay's way, and that's enough. The action scenes are well handled and the location work impressive. This is a film where even the horses seem to have their own individuality. The dubbing is pretty bad but this is par for the course for any Italian genre film, really. It's a good looking film, well handled by Corbucci, technically perfect and with enough atmosphere to make it a success.
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6/10
Hmmmm....what happened to the dubbing and captioning?!
planktonrules14 February 2013
Before you watch "Minnesota Clay", I have one bit of warning. Apparently, multiple versions of the film were made depending on what country showed the film. Now of course this makes sense with dubbed films, but I am talking about making the film with DIFFERENT endings depending on the country. This is the second Italian western that features a happy ending in the Italian version and a less happy American version. Now here's the rub--you get BOTH COMBINED on the DVD of "The Fast, the Saved and the Damned" (a DVD collection of four Italian westerns). So, after the film ends, the Italian happy ending is tacked on--and it's all in Italian and with no subtitles! So, up until then, it was dubbed in English and suddenly it's all Italian!! Now I did not have a hard time following what happened (and you probably won't--especially if you are familiar with Spanish or Italian)--but others might feel incredibly frustrated and wonder what is going on in the film. My advice? Ask an Italian friend to watch it with you!

The film itself is an okay western--neither a standout nor a dog. Cameron Mitchell plays a man who was sent to prison--yet there WERE folks who could testify that he was innocent but they didn't! So, he escapes and goes looking for them in order to force them to tell the authorities what they know. However, being a film, you KNOW it won't go that smoothly! Decent acting, nice music but nothing much more to make it stand out from the crowd.
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7/10
Colorful Spaghetti Western
FightingWesterner24 November 2009
Quick draw Cameron Mitchell escapes a federal hard labor camp and returns to his old stomping ground to find the man who could have exonerated him of murder charges, where he reconnects with his estranged daughter, and tangles with two rival gangs, all while contending with his own failing eyesight.

The second western directed by Italian favorite Sergio Corbucci, this isn't as good as some of his later work. Still, it's a solid western that's handsomely produced and a lot of fun to watch, with some good gun-play and a memorable title character, effectively portrayed by Mitchell.

The climax where Minnesota Clay battles the heavies using only his sense of hearing is quite entertaining.
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6/10
MINNESOTA CLAY (Sergio Corbucci and, uncredited, Mario Bava, 1964) **1/2
Bunuel19769 February 2008
Corbucci's second Spaghetti Western is an improvement on the first – MASSACRE AT GRAND CANYON (1965) – but still a long way from his best efforts in the genre (namely DJANGO [1966] and THE GREAT SILENCE [1968]). The leading man is Cameron Mitchell, who wisely opted to appear in European films tackling starring roles rather than be stranded in Hollywood playing poor supporting ones; that said, he was also featured in a fine 'B' Western by Monte Hellman – RIDE IN THE WHIRLWIND (1966) – alongside rising star (and screenwriter) Jack Nicholson! The narrative provides many typical Spaghetti Western elements but, as I said, it's an early example yet – so that it lacks the baroque touches inherent in later outings (suffice to compare Corbucci's relatively sober treatment here to the tongue-in-cheek approach to the same concept in the self-explanatory BLINDMAN [1971]!).

Here, as in his two better-regarded genre classics, Corbucci gives us a hero – his name probably derives from Jackie Gleason's character, Minnesota Fats, in the pool-room drama THE HUSTLER (1961)! – who has to battle not just the villains but a physical ailment (he's slowly going blind). Besides, he has a daughter who thinks him dead – and he's willing to offer her his protection, while remaining silent about his paternity (only at the climax, when the villain callously exploits his condition by putting the girl in Mitchell's line of fire, does he confess to their kinship!).
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5/10
Too restrained for my liking
bensonmum218 November 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Wrongfully imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit, Minnesota Clay (Cameron Mitchell) escapes to seek revenge against the man who refused to testify at his trial. He finds that his target, Fox (Georges Riviere), has made himself sheriff of Clay's hometown. Fox and his band of thugs run the town with an iron fist and generally terrorize the citizens. To make matters worse, Clay is slowly going blind. How can Clay ever hope to get his revenge if he can't see his target?

Sergio Corbucci is one of my favorite Spaghetti Western directors. If it weren't for Sergio Leone, Corbucci might be remembered as the best director the genre ever produced. Some of his movies like Django, The Great Silence, Companeros, and The Hellbenders are among my favorites. Sadly, I cannot include Minnesota Clay on this list. It's an earlier example of the genre and it shows. The movie plays more like a traditional American Western that just happens to have been filmed in Europe. It lacks a lot of the over-the-top violence that I associate with the Spaghetti Western. While there are set-pieces I enjoy (like Clay's meeting with the Mexicans or any scene with Ethel Rojo), as a whole, it never draws me in the way Corbucci's other movies do.

I've always been a big fan of Cameron Mitchell. He was more than capable of giving the kind of performance that should have been perfect for one of Corbucci's Spaghetti Westerns. But like most everything else in the movie, he comes across as far too restrained. It's too bad this movie wasn't made later in the Spaghetti Western cycle. I would have really enjoyed seeing Mitchell in a Django type film.
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6/10
"Tell me, is there any particular way you'd like to die?"
classicsoncall17 June 2006
Warning: Spoilers
I just picked up a 3 DVD/9 Movie set of Spaghetti Westerns put out by St. Clair Entertainment and am getting an introduction to some neat Eurowest films. My only familiarity with the genre has been the Clint Eastwood movies, so these are proving to be a treat. "Minnesota Clay" is one of the entries, with a unique twist involving the main character - he's going blind. Cameron Mitchell portrays protagonist Clay, a gunslinger who escapes from a labor camp while waiting to be hanged for murder. The man who can clear him is now in control of Clay's home town, proclaiming himself sheriff and chief desperado. 'Five Aces' Fox (Georges Riviere) and his band of five henchmen carries on a running feud with Mexican bandit Ortiz (Fernando Sancho), while the town suffers in silence.

If things weren't hot enough, the presence of Ethel Rojo as Estella turns up the action a few degrees. In turn, she manages to set up Clay and Ortiz for villain Fox, but when a townsman fingers her for Clay's escape, Fox makes her swear on a Bible without giving her a chance to say her prayers.

The gradual loss of Clay's vision is handled cleverly, when he fires his weapon he relies more on hearing than sight to find his victim. This will come in handy for the final showdown when his daughter Nancy signals her own presence while Fox waits in ambush. Nancy (Diana Martin) only knew her father as Mr. Clay, having met him for the first time in the course of the film. However that seems at odds with the history of the town, since virtually everyone knew of Clay and his reputation as a fabled gunslinger.

The town where the story takes place is never mentioned by name, which I found odd. Besides Fox's saloon, there were only a few other buildings and people in town that we ever see, which made me wonder about one thing. As his gang of outlaws begins to bear down on Clay, Fox demands that a handful of citizens pony up a tribute of a hundred thousand dollars in addition to their regular payment of protection money. Fox never mentioned any plans for leaving town, so what exactly would he have done with all that money?
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4/10
The dubbed version I saw is not good
jordondave-2808519 October 2023
(1965) Minnesota Clay DUBBED SPAGHETTI WESTERN

Co-written and directed by Sergio Corbucci that has Cameron Mitchell playing the title character "Minnesota Clay" seeking retribution to a racketeer named Fox (Georges Riviere) who succeeded in framing him to be put in jail in the first place. Somewhat boring that lacks logic, especially at the end of the film using plenty of close-ups. I also did not appreciate the fact that their were different endings in what is otherwise a dreadful movie to begin with. There's hardly any action that appear to look like it was made on a whim with producers wanting their two cents to what they want to see in the film.
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8/10
An enjoyable spaghetti Western
Woodyanders20 May 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Noble, shrewd, and lethal ace gunslinger Minnesota Clay (an excellent and convincing performance by Cameron Mitchell) breaks out of a federal labor camp while serving time for a crime he didn't commit. He tracks down evil corrupt sheriff Fox (nicely played with smooth oily charm by Georges Riviere), who let Clay go to jail by withholding evidence that would have exonerated him at his trial. Moreover, Clay's gotta work fast to exact revenge on Fox because his eyesight is rapidly fading. Director Sergio Corbucci, who also co-wrote the absorbing script with Jose Gutierrez Maesso, relates the engrossing story at a steady pace, maintains a fairly gritty and serious tone throughout, and stages the stirring shoot outs with real skill and aplomb. Moreover, there's no sappy sentiment or disruptive silly humor to detract from the no-nonsense revenge premise. This film further benefits from sound acting from an able cast: Mitchell impresses as a sympathetic protagonist, Riviere makes for a deliciously mean and hateful villain, plus there are commendable contributions from the luscious Ethel Rojo as the sultry, fiery, and duplicitous Estella, Diana Martin as the sweet and fetching Nancy, Antonio Roso as affable, jocular young buck Andy, the always great Fernando Sancho in one of his trademark greasy bad guy parts as vile and grubby Mexican bandit leader General Ortiz, and Antonio Casas as Clay's loyal friend Jonathan. Jose F. Aguayo's sharp widescreen cinematography offers several graceful gliding tracking shots and plenty of lovely panoramic images of the dusty landscape. Piero Piccioni supplies a moody and effective score. The big climactic confrontation with a blind Clay using his hearing to pick off Fox and his flunkies is extremely tense, gripping, and thrilling. A worthwhile movie.
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7/10
An Exciting Early Addition to the Spaghetti Western Genre.
JohnWelles7 April 2011
"Minnesota Clay" (1964) was one of the earliest Spaghetti Westerns directed by Sergio Corbucci; in two years time he would make the iconic and notorious "Django" and in 1968, he made the best non-Sergio Leone Spaghetti: "The Great Silence". But this is early days for the director, before cynicism and boredom seeped into his love of making Westerns. Shot around the same time as Leone's groundbreaking "A Fistful of Dollars" (1964), but released later, it shares the two gangs warring over a town theme, as well as the bandits being separated by race: the white, American Fox (Georges Riviere) and the Mexican Ortiz (Fernando Sancho); but this is the only similarity (which had been copied from Akira Kurosawa's samurai film "Yojimbo" [1961], which in turn had been inspired by the pulp writings of the brilliant Dashiell Hammett and his novel "The Glass Key" [1931]) and while nowhere near the greatness of Leone's Western, this is still a remarkably good movie.

The plot (by Adriano Bolzoni and Corbucci) though, is clichéd ridden: Minnesota Clay (Cameron Mitchell) escapes from prison after being framed by the devious Fox; returning to his hometown, Clay discovers that it is overrun by two gangs: Fox's and Ortiz's and then proceeds to clear the place up, even though his eyesight is failing terribly.

However, despite these script constraints, Corbucci directs some brilliant action, in particularly the climatic gunfight in the dark. He seems to be having fun with scenes like this, and it's not hard to see why. Riviere and Sancho honourably excused, the acting is mostly very poor. Mitchell is variable throughout, although his performance during the finale is very good. The music by Piero Piccioni is however, excellent and the photography by Jose Fernandz Aguayo is also pretty good. It may be finally floored, but this is still a worthy addition to the Spaghetti Western genre.
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5/10
One of the first spaghetti westerns
bkoganbing8 April 2014
I remember Minnesota Clay when it first came out on the big screen in my neighborhood. It was one of the first spaghetti westerns to hit the American market and was playing as the second feature on a double bill.

Cameron Mitchell who was doing sword and sandal epics in Italy at the time stars in this in the title role. Mitchell is an old gunfighter who is in a prison in the Southwest who's there for a crime he didn't commit. A witness who can clear him is another gunfighter who has had himself appointed sheriff of a town in the next territory and is doing a lot of looting.

Mitchell busts out of jail and heads for that town where he used to live. They're between the devil and the deep blue sea. There's also another gang doing a lot of looting around there headed by a self styled Mexican general.

Mitchell's also working against the clock because in addition to everything else, he's going blind. It sounds like he's got glaucoma which is not getting better with the burning Southwest desert sun.

Those of you who are devotees of the spaghetti western can pretty much figure out what's going to happen. As per usual a ridiculously high body count with enhanced fast draws will characterize things.

Mitchell is the only name you'll know in the cast and he creates a sympathetic character. Turns out he has family in the town, family that doesn't know he's a blood relation.

I'm not generally liking spaghetti westerns, but Minnesota Clay is all right and will hold your interest.
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7/10
Can Cam OutFox the Fox?
Bezenby17 April 2017
A pre-Django Spaghetti Western from Sergio Corbucci, starring b-movie master Cameron Mitchell as a gunslinger going slowly blind, and out to revenge his wrongful imprisonment before his condition overtakes him! Cam's been in prison for eighteen years but decides to break out one day and return to his home town, where his daughter lives (she don't know he's her dad though). The town is ruled by Fox, a nasty fella who put Cam in jail in the first place and is looking for a way to rid the town of the Mexican bandit gang (led by Fernando Sancho. Fernando basically plays the same character in every film I've seen him in - the chicken leg eating, cackling, Mexican bandit leader...and that's not a complaint).

Cam thinks about hooking up with Sancho to get rid of Fox but there's a Latin spanner in the works by the name of Estella and she's playing everybody for a fool. She frames Cam for stealing gold and basically leads everyone into a massive shoot out. Cam is going blind but he's also the greatest shot the town has ever seen, which makes him a bit of challenge.

Perfect pacing in this film I felt, and not only a great performance from Cameron (who is prone to over acting or not acting at all), but also a complete turnaround from Georges Rivieres as the bad guy Fox. The last film I watched him in (Castle of Blood) he played a wide-eyed, innocent romantic type...in this he's a man without a soul.

Cameron steals the show as the world weary gunslinger out to save his daughter before his blindness is complete. He basically has to fight his last battle using sound alone, which makes it very interesting. He sure ends up in some state by the end of the film! A quick note on Cameron Mitchell. He was the king of the b-movie, from low budget acid westerns like Ride In the Whirlwind (with Jack Nicholson), horrors like Nightmare In Wax, terrible weirdo films like Medusa, Hollywood bigshot films like the Klansman (with Lee Marvin!), mystery films like Haunts, playing a psychic so terrible the people who hired him shoot him in the South African slasher film The Demon, going up against Satan himself in The Nightmare Never Ends, being a cult leader talking crap in kung fu film Low Blow, or a park owner in Memorial Valley Massacre, one things for sure: He always looked middle aged, for some reason.
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7/10
Corbucci's First Western
zardoz-136 December 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Cameron Mitchell followed several other American actors to Europe in the 1960s and starred in several films, including westerns and sword & sandal sagas. "Django" director Sergio Corbucci cast him as a veteran gunslinger in "Minnesota Clay" who is losing his sight. Nevertheless, Mitchell's Clay remains as fast on the draw and as accurate ever with his six-gun. For the record, "Minnesota Clay" represented Corbucci's first oater to helm after sharing directorial credit with Albert Band on "Grand Canyon Massacre," starring virile Jim Mitchum. Unlike Corbucci's later westerns for which he is better known, including "Django," "Navajo Joe," "The Great Silence," "The Mercenary," and "Companeros," "Minnesota Clay" qualifies as a more conventional sagebrusher in the mold of traditional American model with few of the sudden, nimble reversals of a Spaghetti western. One trope that "Minnesota Clay" adheres to in the Spaghetti western formula is its high body count. Corbucci co-wrote the screenplay with sometime collaborator Adriano Bolzoni. As it turns out, Bolzoni supplied the story for Sergio Leone's "A Fistful of Dollars." Interestingly, when you compare the plots of both "A Fistful of Dollars" and "Minnesota Clay," the similarities are noticeable. The two films resemble Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa's vintage samurai saga "Yojimbo." An outsider rides into a town that two separate fractions are warring to dominate. The chief difference between the two films is that Kurosawa sued Leone for copyright infringement but ignored Corbucci's western.

"Minnesota Clay," for the most part, resembles a standard-issue American horse opera about a gunfighter searching for redemption. Mitchell is dutifully straight-forward as the quick-draw protagonist who wants to change his life. Clay escapes from a brutal prison camp after he takes the camp's doctor hostage at gunpoint. He rides back to his hometown of Mesa Encantada to find a man, Fox (Georges Rivière of "The Longest Day"), who can clear him of the crime that landed him in the hell-hole of Drunner Prison.

When our hero arrives in town, he learns that two rival factions are tangling over the town. First, a villainous American named Fox rules Mesa Encantada like a racketeer and forces the town's merchants into paying astronomical protection fees. Were this not enough, Fox serves as the town's marshal so he controls the law in Mesa Encantade with an iron fist. Nobody in town likes Fox, and everybody would love to see him deposed. Second, a slimy stereotypical Mexican bandit General Domingo Ortiz (Fernando Sancho of "Gunfight at High Noon"), who is as dimwitted as he is gullible, wants to see Fox bite the dirt. He hopes Clay will join him. In the middle of all, two women pursue different aims. First, sweet young Nancy Mulligan (Diana Martín of "Revenge of the Black Knight") who lives just outside of town. She has been told that her father died years ago. One of the movie's revelations is that her father is none other than Minnesota Clay. Corbucci stages a typical American western scene where Nancy struggles to halt a runaway team and Clay rides heroically to her rescue. Second, the treacherous Estella (Ethel Rojo of "Doomed Fort") learns that her treachery doesn't endear her to anybody. She facilitates Clay's escape from Ortiz's camp. Estella informs Ortiz that Clay not only has fled, but he also has stolen Ortiz's box of gold. Surprisingly, Estella has aligned herself with Fox and tells him that Ortiz is heading toward the Mulligan Ranch. Fox assembles his men and rides to the ranch. Meantime, Clay and company knock off high numbers of Ortiz's riders out of their saddles. Ortiz sets fire to the building that our heroes have sought as refuge.

The above-average "Minnesota Clay" ranks far down on the list of Corbucci's westerns. But it was a beginning for the gifted Italian. The blind gunfighter premise is novel. Incidentally, the Mesa Encantade town set is the same location that Leone used for San Miguel in "A Fistful of Dollars." Altogether, this Corbucci western contains seeds that foreshadow some of his ideas and techniques in his later westerns.
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6/10
Before Django
gavin694222 November 2017
Wrongfully imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, Minnesota Clay seeks revenge on the man who withheld evidence at his trial. There is a problem however; he is going blind.

The most notable hing bout this film is that it happens to be a spaghetti western before "Django". That title is the essential film of the genre, and more to the point, comes from the same director. People more knowledgeable than myself could probably make style comparisons.

In many respects, this is the same story that we see in westerns again and again: a good guy, a bad guy, and a town caught in the middle. The twist is that our hero is going blind, and I am not sure if this has been done in any other film before or since.
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6/10
seeing the enemy
lee_eisenberg29 October 2014
Sergio Corbucci's "Minnesota Clay" puts a spin on the spaghetti western genre. Here the protagonist (Cameron Mitchell) is losing his sight as he escapes jail and seeks revenge on the man who wronged him. There's a lot of the stuff that we expect to see in spaghetti westerns. To be certain, Corbucci went on to direct "Django", which inspired Quentin Tarantino's 2012 homage. But the important point is that the European* westerns - depicting a gritty, dismal Old West - were a rejection of the John Wayne mold (which made the Old West look immaculate and wholesome). I suspect that "Minnesota Clay" was a fun movie to make.

*It wasn't just western Europe that made westerns. The Eastern Bloc also made them. An example was "The Sons of Great Bear" from East Germany.
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6/10
You got to be blind, if you think Minnesota Clay is a horrible movie. Still, it could had been better.
ironhorse_iv18 September 2014
Warning: Spoilers
One of the earliest Spaghetti Westerns directed by a pre-Django Sergio Corbucci, this film was indeed, fun to watch and you don't need braille to see that. It's a huge upgrade from his lousy previous film, 1964's Grand Canyon Massacre; a film that doesn't feel like a Spaghetti Western film. Between the time of Grand Canyon Massacre release and the making of Minnesota Clay, a little film call 1964's Fistful of Dollars by Director Sergio Leone came out and change how Italian westerns films would be made. The film would be, more violent, cynical, and have more complex gritty darker story lines. You really see, how much Sergio Leone's film influence the making of this film. The year is 1883, Minnesota Clay (Cameron Mitchell) has just escape from a prison labor Camp. Determined to prove his innocence, he return home to confront the man that framed him, Sheriff Fox (Georges Rivière) whom terrorizing and extorting the town folks for years. Now Minnesota Clay is one fast guy with a gun. Possibly the fastest in the world. Unfortunately he is also slowly losing his eyesight, with his vision now so impaired that one more blow to the face could cause complete loss of sight. To make the conflict worst, Mexican bandits leaded by a man named Gen. Domingo Ortiz (Fernando Sancho) wants to take over the town, no matter whom is the winner. The whole concept of the rivaling gangs (Mexican vs. American) wanting control of a little town, resemble the premise of 1966's "Django" as well as Leone's Fistful Of Dollars in which both were based on Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece 1961's Yojimbo, which in return is based off, the 1929's novel, 'Red Harvest' by author, Dashiell Hammett. The whole idea of a blind man taking on gangs, were taken from the Japanese's Zatoichi's series of films, like 1962's The Tale of Zatoichi & 1962's Zatoichi on the Road. Most of this movie's story ideas, came from director, Robert D. Webb's 1956 hit, 'The Proud Ones' in which the protagonist has to deal with his old nemesis, as well as recurring bouts of blindness. So, the story and plot isn't anything new. Still, the film packs violent shootouts, a really high body-count and action pack scenes. The whole runaway wagon was very entertaining to watch. Lot of crane shots and elaborate pans, truly filling the widescreen frame. You really get the scope of how big the gangs are, with these shots. The acting is pretty good for the most part. Special mention to Fernando Sancho in his ordinary role as the fat Mexican bandit that always fun to watch. George Riviere was alright in the role, but way over shadow by Sancho. He hardly stood out. He clearly isn't in his element in a western context: it would be his only spaghetti western. The women in the film are just beautiful. I have to say, Diana Martin as Nancy was just wonderful. Another was Ethel Rojo as Estella who is as devious as she is beautiful was fun to watch. It was nice to see women have complex roles. There was only one annoying character; that the film could do without, and that's the talkative and clumsy admirer, Andy (Alberto Cevenini). He comes off as a Spaghetti Western version of Jar Jar Binks!! Cameron Mitchell was great in the main role, and you really see his acting chops in the more emotional scenes. While, the acting is good, the whole English dubbing dialogue sounds a bit off. It really didn't match, the lip movement at all. The music score by Piero Piccioni really didn't stand out. Still, it was later featured in the video game 2004's Red Dead Revolver. The stunt work is dangerous in some scenes, the horses & stuntmen really took some awful falls. The movie would influence other films such as 1966's 'An eye for eye¨ by Michael Moore, 1971's 'Blindman' by director Ferdinando Baldi and 1994's ¨Blind Justice¨ by Richard Spence. The movie is a bit aged, but the DVDs out there like the ones from St. Clair Entertainment are in good copies. Due to the low bitrate, there are some smudgy outlines, especially during sideward pans, but colors are vivid and print damage is reduced to some hairs and scratches. The audio is loud and clear, but there are quite a few dropouts. The movie has various endings to this film. Two different versions were made, a shorter one with an unhappy, and one with an added-on happy ending. Some copies of the film, end with Clay lying apparently dead in the street, with Nancy at his side, but in the Italian version, there is a version, where Clays rides off alive and his sight completely restored. The dying ending was a bit off putting. Overall: Watch it yourself, whatever ending you prefer. It's simply a must-see from the early years of the Spaghetti Western.
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8/10
Enjoyable spaghetti western that is very similar to the 50s B westerns and A fistful of dollars
TankGuy9 December 2011
Warning: Spoilers
I am reviewing Minnesota Clay,it's my eighth spaghetti western review in the new series.

Minnesota Clay is one of the very first spaghetti westerns,being released at the time of Sergio Leones dollars trilogy.This is ironic since it uses the same locations as A fistful of dollars (notice the town) and the plot is nearly the same(two rival outlaw gangs fighting each other and a lone gunslinger in the middle of it all),but this is a very entertaining cowboy picture that never fails to disappoint.

The photography is brilliantly done and the shots of horses running and roaming around the country side are excellent,such shots makes this 1960s spaghetti western fell like a 1950s American B western,but that's a good thing.

The acting is good and Cameron Mitchell is excellent at playing Clay,the character of Clay is similar to Clint Eastwoods man with no name and Mitchell plays Clay with brutal bitterness which is nearly the same as how Clint Eastwood plays in the dollars trilogy.

There's a decent amount of action including a large shootout at a ranch which showcases a lot of kills from the main characters and there's a brilliant duel at the end in which Clay takes down the bad guys.

The story does drag a little bit and the ending is quite abrupt,but still very good.I highly recommend this to any western fan,if you can ever get your hands on it,then do.

Keep checking my account for more spaghetti western reviews.
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