The Sheriff Won't Shoot (1965) User Reviews

Below average Paella/Spaghetti Western co-produced by Spain/Italy , louisily directed and badly played

[ma-cortes · 4/10 · 31 May 2020]

Inferior Tortilla Western filled with noisy action , go riding , fights and duels . This film begins with a stagecoach assault by a murderous gand led by Allan Day (Mickey Hargitay Jayne Mansfield and father of Mariska Hargitay) . Then , a doubtful sheriff (Dan Clark) is reluctant to take on the nasty band because being his brother the gang's head . There's is also a powerful and suspicious banker named Barone Vermont (actor Vincenzo Cascino , producer too) whose daughter (Pilar Clemens) is kidnapped by the nasty bunch to a ransom .

Below average Western in low budget with thrills , assaults , shootouts and violence . It is just a pretty bad Paella Western due to minimum budget and its director is a sort of Spanish Ed Wood , similar to Chorizo Westerns made by Spanish José Maria Zabalza or the Italian Demofilo Fidani . It is a Spanish/Italian made western that came to the big screen when the top time of the genre was rising with the Sergio Leone's masterpieces . However , this is a short-budget , embarrassing and ridiculous representation in the sub-genre . It's a Spanish realization , this is not the usual Spanish/Italian co-production of the 60s and 70s in which were clearly dominated by the Italian contingent and the traditional leanings of the Spanish producers of the time have their stamp on the entire proceedings . But this one is badly made with some exciting moments , it drags at times , balancing in ups and downs ; turning out to be entertaining enough , but below average. The movie contains typical particularities Spaghetti , as it is full of fury , sadism , bloodbaths , and close-ups of grime-encrusted faces . It does not follow utterly the typical paths of the European western wave around seventies , it lacks both the sarcasm and the Eastwood type of antihero . Here appears customary main and secondary actors from Spaghetti/Tortilla or Paella Western that give mediocre interpretations such as : Pilar Clemens , Sancho Gracia , Angel Ter, Manuel Zarzo, among others

The picture titled El Sheriff no dispara (Spain) , The Sheriff Won't Shoot (United States) , Le Shérif ne tire pas (France) was produced by Sergio Newman who financed all kind of genres as Western : "Sheriff Won't Shoot¨ , ¨Oro Maldito¨ , Drama : ¨"Romeo e Giulietta" , Wartime : "Hell Commandos" , ¨When Heroes Die" and Adventure : ¨Il magnifico Aventuriero" , "Mission in Morocco¨ and two ¨Zorro¨ movies : ¨Zorro¨ with Guy Stockwell and its sequel titled ¨Oath of the Zorro¨ also by Ricardo Blasco with Tony Russel , Maria Jose Alfonso , Sancho Gracia and again Agustin Gonzalez . The motion picture El sheriff no dispara was lousily directed by J.L. Monter . This Spanish filmmaker Jose Luis Monter made the following films : Los gatos negros 1964 , Genoveva de Brabante 1964 , Tela de araña 1963, Un americano en Toledo 1960 and a Documentary short : El rocío1962. Rating 3.5/10 .

Mickey in a Western

[BandSAboutMovies · 3/10 · 27 August 2023]

In the interview with Jay Slater that I have been referring to throughout my discussion of the films of Renato Polselli, this is mentioned as the director trying his hands at a Western: "Lo sceriffo che non spara tells of a muscular sheriff (played by Polselli regular Mickey Hargitay) who doesn't need bullets to rid his town of villains -- his brawn will suffice. Polselli is keen to point out that he directed the entire movie and it was not co-directed with Roberto Montero. Apparently, as the film was an Italian and Spanish co-production, the Spaniards asked if they could have one of their directors credited. The Spanish producers felt that it would make financial common sense if it was credited to an Italian and a Spaniard -- therefore Montero's name was plastered on the credits as co-director. Like most Italian directors who worked in the horror and western genres, Polselli discarded his own name and adopted a pseudonym. "I thought Ralph Brown sounded better to an American than Renato Polselli. Besides, they dislike Italian names -- too much tongue-twisting for them! This is why us Italians used pseudonyms for all our Spaghetti Westerns. We did our best to fool them!"

Lo sceriffo che non spara was the first film Polselli made with Mickey "Mr. Universe' Hargitay." Polselli is eager to spill the beans on Hargitay. "When I came to direct Delirio caldo, the producer called me to say that an actor was wandering around Rome looking for work. I convinced the producer that Hargitay was my ideal choice and even fooled him into thinking he was an American. I remember one night I introduced Hargitay to the producer. As the producer thought Hargitay was American, he spoke in English and Hargitay had to apologize and say "I'm sorry, I don't speak a word of English!" He was very strong, but hardly a bodybuilder like you see him in the films. He once boasted he could rip a Yellow Pages book in half -- and he did!"

Jim Day (Dan Clark AKA Marco Mariani) was once the fastest gun in the Italian West until he accidentally shot his father. He's hung up his guns and still his father-in-law makes him the sheriff of Richmond. Then, his brother Alanb (Hargitay) is in town, making shady deals with that very same father-in-law, who soon rips him and his gang off for $100,000 grand. Making things even worse is that Jim also takes up with his brother's wife, Desiree Vermont (Aïché Nana AKA Nana Aslanoglu, a Turkish belly dancer who was also in Images In a Convent, Porno Mondo, A...For Assassin and Due occhi per uccidere. Solvi Stubing also appears as the orphaned daughter of the last sheriff. She's also in Strip Nude for Your Killer, Deported Women of the SS Special Section and Special Agent Super Dragon.

Polselli used the name Lionel A. Prestol, while production manager Nello Vanin is Bruno Vani, who often served that job under Polselli.

It's a pretty basic Western with none of the insane touches that Polselli would later add to his filmmaking. But if we must be a completist, we must finish all the films, correct?