Raise Your Hands Dead Man! You’re Under Arrest (1971)

Aldo Sambrell is Capt. Lee Grayson, who has won a battle during the Civil War, then goes around killing the wounded and willing-to-surrender Confederate soldiers.

Among the very few he spares is Kid Johnson (Peter Lee Lawrence), and that’s because he’s wearing a medic’s band on his arm.

Grayson offers Johnson his pistol, encouraging the young man to put a wounded soldier out of his misery. When Johnson declines, Grayson suggests he learn how to use a gun.

Flash forward a couple of years, and Johnson has done just that. He’s a ranger, and he’s as deadly as they come for those unwilling to be arrested.

Then he returns to his hometown of Springfield. The railroad is approaching, and Grayson is forcing ranchers to sell their land to him at rock-bottom prices, planning to make a fortune when it arrives.

Pretending to be a perfume salesman, Kid Johnson figures to put a wrinkle in those plans. He has a fellow Ranger named Dollar (Espartaco Santoni) and a former Rebel comrade who’s now wearing a monk’s cossack (Franco Agostino as Padre Brown) to lend an assist.

Kid Johnson has a special interest in protecting the Carson family. He grew up with their daughter Nora (Maria Zanandrea). She’s now all grown up and looking mighty pretty.

Review:

An entertaining Spaghetti, one of Peter Lee Lawrence’s last and a film that was directed by Sergio Bergonzelli, but credited to Leon Klimovsky, according to multiple sites.

Aldo Sambrell is in fine form again at the vicious villain, who lost a hand in the war and is expert in identifying a foe’s weakness, then having his henchmen exploit it.

And the lead female role goes to Helga Line as saloon girl Maybelle. She doesn’t mind romancing Kid Johnson. In fact, she admits he’s a better lover than Lee Grayson. But it’s Lee Grayson whom she counts on for protection.

But the film could have been better if the film showdown was handled more seriously. Instead, it’s filled with clever little comic bits courtesy of Johnson’s sidekicks. Only they come off as more silly than clever.

In particular, things take a less serious turn whenever Espartaco Santoni’s Dollar character shows up on screen. The nickname came because a silver dollar once saved his life, he explains.

Directed by:
Sergio Bergonzelli
Leon Klimovsky (credited)

Cast:
Peter Lee Lawrence … Kid Johnson
Espartaco Santoni … Dollar
Franco Agostino … Padre Brown
Aldo Sambrell … Lee Grayson
Helga Line … Maybelle
Maria Zanandrea … Nora Carson
as Mary Zan
Tomas Blanco … Arthur Carson
Aurora de Alba … Mrs. Elizabeth Carson
Jose Canalejas … Spiro / Angel
Lorenzo Robledo … Ballor
Antonio Cintado … Sheriff
Rafael Cores … Porter
Alfonso de la Vega … Ranger captain

Also with: Giovanni Santoponte, Simon Arriaga, Luis Barboo, Rafael de la Rosa, Joaquin Parra, Bruno Ukmar, Giancarlo Ukmar, Miguel Del Castillo, Francisco Camoiras

Runtime: 92 min.

aka:
Su le mani, cadavere! Sei in arresto

Music: Alessandro Alessandroni
Song: “Free as a Bird” sung by I Cantori Moderni di Alessandroni

Memorable lines:

Rebel soldier: “You won, didn’t you? Please, captain, don’t kill us. Take us prisoners. Don’t be a bastard.”
Union captain: “I don’t want any prisoners. The jails in the north are too crowded already.”
Rebel: “I put down my gun.”
Union captain, firing two bullets into his body: “That was a stupid thing to do.”

Brown, pre-padre: “Gotta handle a gun the way you handle a lady. Hold her too loose, she gets away from you. Hold her too tight, she’ll misfire.”

Sando Kid: “You’re coming along now: Dead or alive.”
Outlaw: “Thanks for the invitation, kid. But I got a reputation for being anti-social.”
Sando Kid: “How about that?”

Padre Brown: “Around here, a good Christian keeps a gun handy. What’s the matter with you, boy. Wanna die young?”

Nora, Carson’s pretty daughter, presenting herself to Kid Johnson: “I grew up while you were away. Just for a surprise. Did I do okay?”

Trivia:

Helga Line appeared in more than 70 films between 1966 and 1976. She’d make her final Spaghetti appearance with a small role as a cantina owner’s wife in 1978’s “China 9, Liberty 37.” She had larger roles in “In a Colt’s Shadow” (1965), “Have a Good Funeral My Friend … Sartana Will Pay” (1970) and “Those Dirty Dogs” (1973).

According to IMDb, this is the only credited role for Maria Zanandrea, who plays Peter Lee Lawrence’s girlfriend. Aurora De Alba had played the role of a curvy seductress in 1968’s “Rattler Kid.” Here, she’s the wheelchair-bound wife of Carson, one of the ranchers desperately trying to hold onto his land.

Spaghetti Westerns officially directed by Bergonzelli included “The Last Gun” (1964) with Cameron Mitchell, “A Stranger in Sacramento” (1965) with Mickey Hargitay, “El Cisco” (1966) with William Berger and “A Colt in the Hand of the Devil” (1967).

Tomas Blanco as Arthur Carson, being pressured to sell his land by Grayson in Raise Your Hands Dead Man, You’re Under Arrest (1971)

Antonio Cintado as the sheriff forced to go along with Grayson’s scheming in Raise Your Hands Dead Man, You’re Under Arrest (1971)

Helga Line as Maybelle with a suspicious Angel (Jose Canalejas) and Grayson (Aldo Sambrell) in Raise Your Hands Dead Man, You’re Under Arrest (1971)

Peter Lee Lawrence as Kid Johnson with girlfriend Nora Carson (Maria Zanandrea) after a beating in Raise Your Hands Dead Man, You’re Under Arrest (1971)

Peter Lee Lawrence as Kid Johnson heads to the bedroom to get some information from Maybelle (Helga Line) in Raise Your Hands Dead Man, You’re Under Arrest (1971)

Union Capt. Grayson (Aldo Sambrell) presents Kid Johnson (Peter Lee Lawrence) with a six-gun for an act of ‘mercy’ in Raise Your Hands Dead Man, You’re Under Arrest (1971)