Adios, Gringo (1965)

Guiliano Gemma is Brent Landers, a man tricked into buying a herd of stolen cattle. When the rightful owner confronts him, gunplay is unavoidable. With a murder rap on his head, Landers goes on the run and begins a search for the real cattle thieves.

He stops running when he comes upon Lucy Tillson (Evelyn Stewart), who’s been tied up, raped and left to bake in the desert son. He takes her to town and places her in the hands of the doctor. But the doctor and sheriff convince him to stick around for her mental well being.

Turns out, one of the rapists, Frank Dawson, is among the cattle thieves for whom Landers is searching. Another of the rapists is the son of a wealthy land baron named Ranchester. And Ranchester will do anything to keep his son from going to jail, even if that means having Landers and Lucy killed.

Review:

Interesting early Spaghetti, with enough plot depth to keep things interesting, though it lacks many of the gimmicks common to the genre.

Dr. Barfield and Sheriff Slaughter play characters sympathetic to our hero, even though there’s a wanted poster offering a $5,000 reward for his arrest.

Directed by:
Giorgio Stegani

Cast:
Giuliano Gemma … Brent Landers
(as Montgomery Ford)
Ida Galli … Lucy Tillson
(as Evelyn Stewart)
Nello Pazzafini … Frank Dawson
(as Ted Carter)
Pierre Cressoy … Clayton Ranchester
(as Peter Cross)
Massimo Righi … Avery Ranchester
(as Max Dean)
Roberto Camardiel … Dr. Barfield
Jesus Puente … Sheriff Tex Slaughter
Jean Martin … Murphy
Monique St. Claire … Maude Clevenger
Germano Longo … Stan Clevenger

Score: Bendetto Ghiglia

Title tune: “Adios Gringo” performed by Fred Bongusto

Runtime: 100 min.

Memorable lines:

Sheriff Tex Slaughter: “It isn’t easy for a man earning $99 a month
to talk to a Ranchester. I’d prefer facing a whole tribe of Indians.”
Brent Landers: “Fighting Indians is easy. It’s being a man that’s difficult.”

Avery Ranchester to his father: “You leave me alone. You can play God with others. Not me.”

Bret Landers: “Is this all starting to make some sense to you now?”
Sheriff Slaughter: “Why don’t you keep quiet. I’m thinking.”
Doctor Barfield: “Thinking can be dangerous for him. Smoke starts coming out of his ears.”

Brent Landers to Lucy: “Before they get us, I’m going to make all of them spit blood, every one. With each of these last six bullets, I’m going to send six of them to hell.”

Triva:

An early role for Giuliano Gemma, who began working in films as a stuntman before director Duccio Tessari offered his acting roles. They would go on to work together in the successful “Pistol for Ringo” and “The Return of Ringo.” Gemma’s daughter, Vera, also went into acting.

The film was a huge hit in Italy, where it was the third highest grossing film of 1965. Topping that list: “For a Few Dollars More,” followed by “One Silver Dollar,” which also starred Gemma.

Oddly, the title tune, sung by Fred Bongusto, is about a cowboy named Ringo, though no one in the film is named Ringo.