Composer Angelo Francesco Lavagnino contributes a lively orchestral score to "Fistful of Diamonds" director Jaime Jesús Balcázar's derivative continental western "Four Dollars for Vengeance" about greed, betrayal, and murder. Scenarists Bruno Corbucci of "Django," Aldo Grimaldi of "Paths of War," and Giovanni Grimaldi of "Johnny Colt" have penned a thoroughly formulaic screenplay about a wrongly accused cavalry officer who is framed for a robbery that he did not commit. Corbucci and the two Grimaldis conceal the identity of the dastard who set him up until the last scene. Just to spice thing up a bit, they pull a slick trick on the villain that you may not see coming. The production values, where the Union cavalry uniforms and rank insignia are concerned, are laughable. The dialogue translation is equally inferior. For example, detachments of cavalry are referred to as "squadrons." Nevertheless, the gunslinging action is swift, sure, and deadly. Aside from the obvious European names of the cast and crew, you know that you're watching a Spaghetti western because the gunshots have that characteristic sound. Tino Santoni's color cinematography is a notch above average, and some of the opening credits imagery of cavalry riding along the skyline at sunset is quite striking. Indeed, those shots look straight out of a John Ford western. However, nothing really distinguishes this oater aside from it being a Euro-western.
U.S. Cavalry Captain Roy Dexter (Robert Woods of "Battle of the Bulge") and Captain Barry Haller (Angelo Infanti of "The Godfather" begin as friendly rivals for the affections of the beautiful Mercedes (Dana Ghia of "Burn!), but she singles out Dexter as her choice. Before they are married, Dexter receives orders to escort a fortune in Confederate money, but Colonel Jackson (Antonio Casas of "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly) provides Dexter with only seven men and a scout. During their journey along the Rio Grande, Dexter and his command discover a wrecked covered wagon and some corpses. Too late they learn that they have blundered into a clever trap. The dead man springs back to life and starts gunning down cavalrymen. Bandit leader Manuel de Losa (José Manuel Martín of "A Bullet for Sandoval") and his murderous bandits ambush Dexter's command. Our hero barely gets away with his life. He reaches town but he is in no shape to do anything. Afterward, Clifford Hamilton (Gérard Tichy of "El Cid") handles the prosecution of Dexter for stealing the money and wiping out his own men. Hamilton forces Dexter's spineless, alcoholic, debt-ridden cousin Dave Griffin (Antonio Molino Rojo of "Fistful of Dollars") not only to testify against Dexter but also incriminate him. Dave tells the court that he found the blood money in Dexter's house.
Incredibly, Dexter's rival for political office, Hamilton, handles him at a military court-martial. Our hero's impressive war record convinces the authorities to commute Dexter's sentence to life in prison. Colonel Jackson refuses to believe that Dexter committed treason. Once Dexter winds up in prison, the villains try to kill him. Initially, a convict topples a huge boulder that misses our hero. Eventually, Dexter manages to escape. During the pursuit, the prison guards chase him to a high cliff and he plunges to his death when he leaps off the mountain. Little do the prison guards and the villains realize that Dexter has survived. Masquerading as a Mexican himself, Dexter joins up with the gang of Mexicans that bushwhacked his men. He surprises his unscrupulous cousin and tries to pry the information out of him, but Dave tries to kill Dexter. Dave dies before he can reveal who engineered the conspiracy to send him to prison.
Robert Woods makes a serviceable swift-shooting hero in a role. George Hilton and he are virtually interchangeable in the mysterious stranger role. This Italian & Spanish co-production qualifies as a low-budget, mid-brow western, a level before the seminal Spaghetti westerns like "Fistful of Dollars," "Django," "The Mercenary," and "A Bullet for the General." This is a largely straight-forward epic with little flippant humor. "Four Dollars for Vengeance" boasts an adequate enough body count. The Spanish scenery is suitably rugged with lots of vistas.
U.S. Cavalry Captain Roy Dexter (Robert Woods of "Battle of the Bulge") and Captain Barry Haller (Angelo Infanti of "The Godfather" begin as friendly rivals for the affections of the beautiful Mercedes (Dana Ghia of "Burn!), but she singles out Dexter as her choice. Before they are married, Dexter receives orders to escort a fortune in Confederate money, but Colonel Jackson (Antonio Casas of "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly) provides Dexter with only seven men and a scout. During their journey along the Rio Grande, Dexter and his command discover a wrecked covered wagon and some corpses. Too late they learn that they have blundered into a clever trap. The dead man springs back to life and starts gunning down cavalrymen. Bandit leader Manuel de Losa (José Manuel Martín of "A Bullet for Sandoval") and his murderous bandits ambush Dexter's command. Our hero barely gets away with his life. He reaches town but he is in no shape to do anything. Afterward, Clifford Hamilton (Gérard Tichy of "El Cid") handles the prosecution of Dexter for stealing the money and wiping out his own men. Hamilton forces Dexter's spineless, alcoholic, debt-ridden cousin Dave Griffin (Antonio Molino Rojo of "Fistful of Dollars") not only to testify against Dexter but also incriminate him. Dave tells the court that he found the blood money in Dexter's house.
Incredibly, Dexter's rival for political office, Hamilton, handles him at a military court-martial. Our hero's impressive war record convinces the authorities to commute Dexter's sentence to life in prison. Colonel Jackson refuses to believe that Dexter committed treason. Once Dexter winds up in prison, the villains try to kill him. Initially, a convict topples a huge boulder that misses our hero. Eventually, Dexter manages to escape. During the pursuit, the prison guards chase him to a high cliff and he plunges to his death when he leaps off the mountain. Little do the prison guards and the villains realize that Dexter has survived. Masquerading as a Mexican himself, Dexter joins up with the gang of Mexicans that bushwhacked his men. He surprises his unscrupulous cousin and tries to pry the information out of him, but Dave tries to kill Dexter. Dave dies before he can reveal who engineered the conspiracy to send him to prison.
Robert Woods makes a serviceable swift-shooting hero in a role. George Hilton and he are virtually interchangeable in the mysterious stranger role. This Italian & Spanish co-production qualifies as a low-budget, mid-brow western, a level before the seminal Spaghetti westerns like "Fistful of Dollars," "Django," "The Mercenary," and "A Bullet for the General." This is a largely straight-forward epic with little flippant humor. "Four Dollars for Vengeance" boasts an adequate enough body count. The Spanish scenery is suitably rugged with lots of vistas.
