A western made during the boom of such movies in Italy, but quite an unusual one. It's not about revenge or a bag of gold, it's about a kind of economic struggle. The villain Brady (Paul Muller) asks his men to always obey the law, because guns are not as effective. He tries to control a town by building a monopoly, thus controlling the prices on all kinds of goods. This becomes difficult when Ray (George Martin) comes to town. He is unarmed, but invents the first machine gun, which gave the movie its title. Sheila (Gia Sandri) expects Ray to help her build up her own shop with lower prices. In opposite to most genre heroes, Ray is not keen on using a gun at all. But when Brady is increasingly afraid of losing his profits, the going gets tough, naturally. Great roles for José Bódalo as the drunken judge who loves to quote Shakespeare, Gordon Mitchell as a gunman with crippled hands and Pedro Sanchez as one of the bad guys.
2 Reviews
So-so Pasta/Chorizo Western co-produced by Italy/Spain with intrigue, thrills , and impressive ending crossfire
ma-cortes13 June 2020
This is a Paella/Ravioli Western with acceptable acting by Jorge , ¨George¨ , Martin , about a classic theme , the usual confrontation between a powerful owner and a stranger drifter . A villainous land baron named Brady (Paul Muller) and his hired hands (Pedro Sanchez or Ignacio Spalla, Dino Strano) attempt brutally to rule a town called Desert Spring by creating a monopoly , thus controlling the prices on all kinds of supplies . This results to be hard when Ray Thompson (George Martin) comes to the little town . The peaceful Ray comes to defense citizens in their struggle against the tyrannical owners , as he is fighting to stifle the conflicts , while bringing a hidden box containing the first machine gun . Nasty Jameson Brady (Paul Muller) wishes to get his hands the townfolks by getting the exclusive sell of the goods , even if it means murdering . Along the way Ray befriends the independient Sheila O'Connor (Gia Sandri) who asks Ray to help her to make her own hardware with lower prices . At the end , there are even biographic remarks about General Sheridan who introduced authomatic weapons , which will completely change the course of the Civil War , thanks to Ray Thompson .
The film packs action , drama , violence , shootouts , a high body-count at the end by using the relentless machine gun , and it results to be entertaining enough . It's a middle-budget film with functional actors , technicians, production values and pleasing results . There is action enough in the movie , guaranteeing some shoot'em up or stunts every few minutes . It's an exciting western with screenplay from Jaime Jesús Balcázar and Lorenzo Gicca Palli , including breathtaking final showdown between the starring Jorge Martin and his enemies. This theme about a Western machine gun has been already treated on other films as Machine Gun killers 1968 by Paolo Bianchini, Something Big 1971 by Andrew McLagen, The Gatlin Gun 1973 by Robert Gordon .The film is well starred by a great Spaghetti star as the Spanish George Martin who worked much for Alfonso Balcazar's factory such as ¨Clint the strange¨, ¨The return the Clint¨, ¨Oeste Nevada Joe¨, Thompson 1880¨ , ¨Taste of killing¨, ¨A pistol for Ringo and ¨The return of Ringo¨ . Furthermore , here appears ordinary secondary of Spaghetti/Paella Western as José Bodalo of Django performing a drunk judge , Cameron Mitchell who played a lot of Peplum and Spaghetti plays a cripple gunslinger , Giovanni Ivan Scratuglia , Pasquale Basile , Dino Strano and Pedro Sanchez or Ignacio Spalla who often used to play similar roles to Fernando Sancho as a cruelly baddie role of Mexican bandit , subsequently he would play similar roles in other Spaghettis . The picture well photographed by Victor Monreal , though is necessary a fine remastering because the film-copy is washed-out . Mostly filmed on location in Lazio , Rome and a village located in ¨Splugues De Llobregat¨ Barcelona , it resulted to be the location where were shot lots of Westerns produced and directed by Catalan people as Alfonso Balcazar , J.J. Balcazar , Jose Antonio De La Loma , Juan Bosch, Ignacio F. Iquino and Julio Buchs , among others , because Almeria was too far and the landscapes bear remarkable resemblance . There are many professional technicians and appropriate assistant direction and nice production design by the usual Juan Albert Soler , he creates a good scenario . As well as enjoyable and atmospheric musical score by Marcelo Gigante .
This motion picture was well produced by Alfonso Balcazar who alongside his brother screen writer Juan Jose Balcazar produced and directed a lot of Chorizo or Butifarra Western , most of them starred by Jorge Martin or Anthony Steffen or Robert Woods or Fernando Sancho ; such as 1972 The return of Clint , 1972 Judas... ¡Toma Monedas! , 1968 Sartana no Perdone or Sonora , 1967 With Death on Your Back, 1966 Dinamita Jim , 1965 Doc, Manos de Plata , 1965 Viva Carrancho , 1965 Five Thousand Dollars on One Ace . The yarn was professionally directed by Guido Zurli who managed to make a fluid , witty and passable SW . He was a director and writer, who made all kinds of genres , being especially known for Polizia selvaggia (1977), È mezzanotte... butta giù il cadavere (1966), Bersaglio altezza uomo (1978) , Zorro the Fox , Gansters 70 , The mad butcher , among others . Rating : 5.5/10
The film packs action , drama , violence , shootouts , a high body-count at the end by using the relentless machine gun , and it results to be entertaining enough . It's a middle-budget film with functional actors , technicians, production values and pleasing results . There is action enough in the movie , guaranteeing some shoot'em up or stunts every few minutes . It's an exciting western with screenplay from Jaime Jesús Balcázar and Lorenzo Gicca Palli , including breathtaking final showdown between the starring Jorge Martin and his enemies. This theme about a Western machine gun has been already treated on other films as Machine Gun killers 1968 by Paolo Bianchini, Something Big 1971 by Andrew McLagen, The Gatlin Gun 1973 by Robert Gordon .The film is well starred by a great Spaghetti star as the Spanish George Martin who worked much for Alfonso Balcazar's factory such as ¨Clint the strange¨, ¨The return the Clint¨, ¨Oeste Nevada Joe¨, Thompson 1880¨ , ¨Taste of killing¨, ¨A pistol for Ringo and ¨The return of Ringo¨ . Furthermore , here appears ordinary secondary of Spaghetti/Paella Western as José Bodalo of Django performing a drunk judge , Cameron Mitchell who played a lot of Peplum and Spaghetti plays a cripple gunslinger , Giovanni Ivan Scratuglia , Pasquale Basile , Dino Strano and Pedro Sanchez or Ignacio Spalla who often used to play similar roles to Fernando Sancho as a cruelly baddie role of Mexican bandit , subsequently he would play similar roles in other Spaghettis . The picture well photographed by Victor Monreal , though is necessary a fine remastering because the film-copy is washed-out . Mostly filmed on location in Lazio , Rome and a village located in ¨Splugues De Llobregat¨ Barcelona , it resulted to be the location where were shot lots of Westerns produced and directed by Catalan people as Alfonso Balcazar , J.J. Balcazar , Jose Antonio De La Loma , Juan Bosch, Ignacio F. Iquino and Julio Buchs , among others , because Almeria was too far and the landscapes bear remarkable resemblance . There are many professional technicians and appropriate assistant direction and nice production design by the usual Juan Albert Soler , he creates a good scenario . As well as enjoyable and atmospheric musical score by Marcelo Gigante .
This motion picture was well produced by Alfonso Balcazar who alongside his brother screen writer Juan Jose Balcazar produced and directed a lot of Chorizo or Butifarra Western , most of them starred by Jorge Martin or Anthony Steffen or Robert Woods or Fernando Sancho ; such as 1972 The return of Clint , 1972 Judas... ¡Toma Monedas! , 1968 Sartana no Perdone or Sonora , 1967 With Death on Your Back, 1966 Dinamita Jim , 1965 Doc, Manos de Plata , 1965 Viva Carrancho , 1965 Five Thousand Dollars on One Ace . The yarn was professionally directed by Guido Zurli who managed to make a fluid , witty and passable SW . He was a director and writer, who made all kinds of genres , being especially known for Polizia selvaggia (1977), È mezzanotte... butta giù il cadavere (1966), Bersaglio altezza uomo (1978) , Zorro the Fox , Gansters 70 , The mad butcher , among others . Rating : 5.5/10
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