Shoot the Living … Pray for the Dead (1971)

Paolo Casella plays John Webb, a fast gun who kills the man hired to lead the Hogan gang to Mexico in hopes of taking his place. His price: half of the $100,000 the gang has just stolen from a bank in Phoenix.

Meanwhile, Hogan (Klaus Kinski) has problems that go beyond the need for a new guide. One of his men, Reed, is determined to take over control of the gang. The Texas Rangers are hot on his trail. And Webb succeeds in convincing him there are other traitors among those he considers friends.

The trouble continues after the Hogan gang heads off toward Mexico with Webb leading the way and two women in tow — Sandy, who yearns for a life
away from the loneliness of the Western prairie; and Eleanor, who’s used to trading on her beauty in order to live the most comfortable of lives.

Little by little, the traveling party is whittled down. And, as it is, Webb’s true intention becomes clearer. It’s not gold he’s after.

Review:

An interesting failure that can best be described as tedious. Director Giuseppe Vari has ambitious notions, telling his 94-minute tale with basically just two sets — the Jackal Ranch where the outlaws and the innocents meet, and the trail to Mexico.

Kinski turns in a half-crazed performance, but that’s nothing new. He is around for the whole film this time. The presence of four females in fairly substantial roles helps. There’s also Daisy, the mother of Hogan’s son, and Marianna, a floozy who arrives at the way station by stage.

It would help more if any of the innocents were so likeable that you’d hate to see them die.

Directed by:
Giuseppe Vari

Cast:
Klaus Kinski … Dan Hogan
Victoria Zinny … Eleanor
Paolo Casella … John Webb
as Paul Sullivan
Dino Strano … Reed
as Dean Stratford
Patrizia Adiutori … Sandy
John Ely … Dick
Anthony Rock … Oswald
Dante Maggio … Jonathan
Fortunato Area … Sam
Anna Zinneman … Marietta
Adriana Giuffre … Daisy
Aldo Barerito … Greene
Goffredo Unger … Skelton

aka:
Pray to Kill and Return Alive
Renegade Gun
To Kill a Jackal
Prega il morto e ammazza il vivo

Score: Mario Migliardi
Songs: “Who is that Man?” and “I’m Your Pony”
sung by Ann Collin

Runtime: 94 min.

Memorable lines:

Gang member 1: “Daisy’s late. I told you she would be.”
Reed: “She likes to be late, just like the boss.”
Gang member: “What the hell does that mean?”
Reed: “What the hell do you think it does, Cobra?”

Oswald: “It’s cheap for a woman like you to be behaving this way. Like a tart.”
Eleanor: “But, darling, I am one. That’s what happened when I fell in love with your bank account.”

Dan Hogan: “Gold changes everything. It makes the weak become powerful. This is how it will be for my son and me.”

Eleanor: “You’re not like other men. You’re an animal, and I like you. Dan, I like you.”
Dan Hogan: “Shut your mouth, you stupid bitch. Get it from your husband. He’s paying for it, isn’t he?”

Trivia:

Considering his rugged good looks and large role in this film, Paolo Casella appeared in surprisingly few films, including just three Spaghetti Westerns. His others: Rough Justice (1970, also starring Klaus Kinski) and Return of Shanghai Joe (1975).

Adriana Giuffre, the actress with the smallest part in this film, is the one with the largest Spaghetti resume. Here, she plays Daisy, the woman who delivers the wagon of gold to the Hogan gang. She appeared in seven Spaghettis, including an uncredited role as Silence’s mother in a flashback sequence in “The Great Silence.”