No Room to Die (1969)

No Room to Die (1969) poster Someone is running peons across the border to provide cheap labor for ranchers in the United States, and the U.S. Army wants it stopped.

Turns out the someone is a respected businessman named Fargo (Riccardo Garrone), who discovers money can’t buy one thing he wants the most, the love of the lovely, Maya (Nicoletta Machiavelli).

Two bounty hunters — Johnny Brandon (Anthony Steffen) and Everett Murdock (William Berger) — arrive on the scene to help the Army solve the case.

When they figure out Fargo, he offers to pay them $20,000 each to ride off into the sunset.

But it’s a sunset filled with double crosses, and the uneasy alliance between these two bounty hunters simply complicates matters.

One simply wants the loot; the other wants a measure of revenge for the Mexicans whose lives have been ruined.

And both will have to cheat death more than once to get what they want.

Antonio de Teffe (Anthony Steffen) as Johnny Brandon in No Room to Die (1969)

Antonio de Teffe (Anthony Steffen) as Johnny Brandon in No Room to Die (1969)

William Berger as Everett Murdock in No Room to Die (1969)

William Berger as Everett Murdock in No Room to Die (1969)<

Review:

There’s an attention-grabbing opening in which the villains, threatened with discovery of their human trafficking, sacrifice an entire wagon load of peons. There’s a pretty well staged three-way showdown at the finale.

In between? The film manages to fall flat despite the presence of Steffen, Berger and Machiavelli. Despite the fact the Berger is armed with a six-barreled shotgun. Despite the fact that Steffen turns a shovel he was using to dig his own grave into a weapon at one point.

Machiavelli is wasted. She’s never allowed to smile. She never even seems in dire need of being rescued.

Meanwhile, director Sergio Garrone sets Brandon and Murdock up for one ambush after another, during which they dispatch so many of Fargo’s henchmen, that you think he can’t possibly have more. Yet he always does.

Oh, and each burst of action is announced with a snippet of music that quickly becomes very annoying.

Nicoletta Machiavelli as Maya with Jose in No Room to Die (1969)

Nicoletta Machiavelli as Maya with Jose in No Room to Die (1969)

Riccardo Garrone as Fargo in No Room to Die (1969)

Riccardo Garrone as Fargo in No Room to Die (1969)

Directed by:
Sergio Garrone

Cast:
Antonio de Teffe … Johnny Brandon, Django
as Anthony Steffen
Wiliam Berger … Everett Murdock, Sartana
Riccardo Garrone … Mr. Fargo
Nicoletta Machiavelli … Maya
Mario Brega … Brandon’s partner
Gilberto Galimerti … Carl Smart
Emilio Messina … Manuel Santana
Amedeo Timpani … Sheriff
Mariangela Giordano … Jose’s wife
Giancarlo Sisti … Buck Sullivan
Claudio Ruffini … Capt. Stone
Alejandro Barrera Dakar … Fargo’s man

Also with: Franco Ukmar, Giovanni Ukmar, Sandro Scarchilli, Angelo Susani, Renzo Pevarello, Roberto Messina, Franco Pasquetto , Paolo Figlia, Bruno Arié, Giglio Gigli, Fred Robsham, Teodoro Corrà, Giorgio Dolfin, Romano Milani, Giulio Mauroni, Gabriele Torrei

aka …
Una lunga fila di croci
Noose for Django
Hanging for Django
Una larga fila de cruces

Score: Vasil Koujucharov, Elsio Mancuso

Mario Bregas as Brandon's partner in No Room to Die (1969)

Mario Bregas as Brandon’s partner in No Room to Die (1969)

Mariangela Giordano as Jose's wife in No Room to Die (1969)

Mariangela Giordano as Jose’s wife in No Room to Die (1969)

Memorable lines:

Johnny Brandon: “I just hope this isn’t a wild goose chase. You sure that’s their hideout.”
Brandon’s partner: “Sure as God made little green apples.”

Johnny Brandon: “Santana, I’m here to take you in. Dead or alive.”
Santana: “Gringo, you are really crazy. There are too many of us, even for you.”

Murdock to Fargo: “I’d get rid of her (Maya).”
Fargo: “Are you kidding? She’s going to be my wife.”

Maya to Farbo: “You’re mad. And it’s such a waste!”

Alejandro Barrera Dakar as Fargo's man in No Room to Die (1969)

Alejandro Barrera Dakar as Fargo’s man in No Room to Die (1969)

Amedeo Timpani as the sheriff in No Room to Die (1969)

Amedeo Timpani as the sheriff in No Room to Die (1969)

Trivia:

Riccardo Garrone, who plays the rich villain in this film, was the brother of director Sergio Garrone, who directed several Spaghetti Westerns as Willy S. Regan.

Mario Brega plays Brandon’s partner. He was working as a butcher before he got into acting. His large 6-foot-4 frame ensured him a series of character roles in Spaghettis, including in Sergio Leone’s Dollars trilogy.

Claudio Ruffin as Capt. Stone in No Room to Die (1969)

Claudio Ruffin as Capt. Stone in No Room to Die (1969)

Emilio Messina as Manuel Santana in No Room to Die (1969)

Emilio Messina as Manuel Santana in No Room to Die (1969)

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