Hate for Hate (1967)

Antonio Sabato is Miguel, a young Mexican who longs to go to New York to study art.

John Ireland is Ben Cooper, and his art is robbing banks, He just happens to steal the money Miguel planned to withdraw in order to finance his trip.

And so the two men meet … and become friends when Cooper returns the $510 Miguel had in the bank. As for the rest of the stolen money, well, that’s the focus of the plot.

The double-crossing partner Cooper thought he killed (Mirko Ellis as Moxon) isn’t really dead.

And when Cooper’s thrown in prison, Moxon visits his wife Maria and daughter Juana in an attempt to find the loot, then takes them captive when he can’t locate it.

Upon breaking loose, Cooper suspects Miguel of betraying a promise to whisk his family safely south of the border.

When he learns that’s not the case, the two men team up to hunt down Moxon.

All the while, Cooper is ravaged by malaria, suffering spells that affect his sight.

Review:

There’s great photography. There’s a decent score. There’s a smart opening, with Cooper and Moxon pulling a bank job.

At one point, Cooper has to pretend to be a bank clerk when he’s interrupted by an elderly female customer, with whom he flirts.

When he heads back into the bank office, Moxon has killed all of the bank employees, against Copper’s orders. You told me not to shoot, replies Moxon, putting away his knife.

But the film fizzles after that. It’s a film as pretty as Antonio Sabato, but lacks the grit and tension that could have made it something special.

Fernando Sancho has a secondary role, as a businessman for whom Miguel works, mining gold until he has enough of his own to pursue his real dream of becoming an artist.

Directed by:
Domenico Paolella

Cast:
John Ireland … Ben Cooper
Antonio Sabato … Miguel
Fernando Sancho … Coyote
Nadia Marconi … Juana
Mirko Ellis … Moxon
Gloria Milland … Maria
Piero Vida … Sorito
Antonio Iranzo … Fulton
Dada Gallotti … Mrs. Driscoll
as Alba Gallotti
Cesar Ojinaga … Mendez

Also with: Gianni Di Benedetto, Bruno Arie, Donato Baster, Mario De Simone, Osvaldo Genazzani, Luigi Perelli, Emilio Sancho, Sergio Scarchilli

aka:
Odio per Odio

Score: Willy Breeza

Runtime: 96 min.

Memorable lines:

Ben Cooper, when he finds partner Moxon in a room filled with dead bank tellers: “I thought I told you no killing.”
Moxon, holding a bloody knife: “You told me no shooting.”

Coyote: “Mendez.”
Mendez, falling, fatally wounded by Coyote: “No, Coyote, no.”
Coyote: “You are a traitor, so I kill you once more.”

Trivia:

The first foray into Spaghetti Westerns for handsome Antonio Sabato. A year earlier, he appeared in “Grand Prix” and was nominated for a Golden Globe as Most Promising Newcomer.

John Ireland had been in the movie business 20 years before heading to Italy to appear in a series of Spaghetti Westerns. He married Joanne Dru after they met on the set of the 1948 Western classic, “Red River.”

Dada Gallotti’s role is a minor one as the pretty wife of a trading post owner. She has the bad habit of cuddling up with every new young male clerk her husband hires.

This marks the lone credit, Spaghetti or otherwise, for Nadia Marconi, who plays John Ireland’s daughter.

The nosy old man whoses testimony sends Ben Cooper and Miguel to jail in Hate for Hate (1967). Does anyone know who plays this part?

Mrs. Ferguson makes a $1,000 deposit in the bank Ben Cooper (John Ireland) is robbing in Hate for Hate (1967). Does anyone know who plays this part?

The judge who sentences Ben Cooper and Miguel to prison in Hate for Hate (1967). Does anyone know who plays this part?

Mirko Ellis as Moxon, left scarred from his falling out with Ben Cooper in Hate for Hate (1967)

Nadia Marconi as Juana, helping Miguel when he’s being held by Moxon’s men in Hate for Hate (1967)

Antonio Sabato as Miguel, balking a following Coyote’s ordeers in Hate for Hate (1967)