The Magnificent West (1972)

Gordon Mitchell is Martin, a town boss with Tucson under his thumb and a gang of hoodlums to force residents to bend to his will.

Into the area rides Texas Bill (Vassili Karis) and his elderly sidekick Pistola (Italo Gasperini).

First, Texas Bill intervenes when two of Martin’s henchmen try to coerce protection money out of a cantina owner named Sam.

Then, when he arrives in Tuscon, he interrupts the double hanging of brothers Lefty Jim (Lorenzo Fineschi) and Fred (Dario Pino).

Seems they’re among the residents who have established a new settlement in the hills, hoping to avoid Martin’s influence.

They realize they have neither the know-how or weapons to stand up against Martin and his henchmen.

But a night in jail with Texas Bill convinces them he might be the leader they’ve been looking for.

Review:

Just when I was thinking this might be a Gianni Crea film worthy of two stars, that ending happened.

To that point, Crea had played it pretty straight. Oh, Pistola and his donkey provide comic relief, but the overall mood of the film is pretty serious.

Then Martin and his men descend on the settlement to root out the “rebels.” They find the women hiding in church.

Ah, but they’re not women. They’re the men of the settlement wearing women’s clothing. And though armed with freshly stolen guns from a Martin convoy, they decide to duke it out — slapstick style — rather than shoot it out with the bad guys. My, oh, my.

Meanwhile, Martin’s has assembled the poorest shots in the West as part of his gang. Check out the jailbreak scene, in which Texas Bill and his five companions ride and linger in the middle of the streak while gunfire rains down on them from both sides. Nary a man or horse is wounded.

Fiorella Mannoia plays Mary, Sam’s daughter. She’s just 16 and fends off the lecherous advances of Martin, only to fall for Texas Bill.

Directed by:
Gianni Crea

Cast:
Vassili Karis … Texas Bill
Gordon Mitchell … Martin
Lorenzo Fineschi … Lefty Jim
Dario Pino … Fred
Italo Gasperini … Pistola
Gennarino Pappagalli … Sam
Fiorella Mannoia … Mary

Also with: Emilio Messina, Enzo Pulcrano, Sergio Scarchilli, Pino Mattei, Millo Raffa

aka:
Il magnifico west
My Name is Texas Bill
The Magnificent Texan

Music: Stelvio Cipriani

Memorable lines:

Martin: “How old are you?”
Mary: “Why do you want to know? Seventeen, next month.”
Martin: “Ah, what a beautiful age.”
Whereupon he tries to seduce her just after jailing her father.

Texas Bill, having been roused from his sleep by Mary, who was throwing pebbles onto his hat: “Never annoy a sleeping cowboy!”
She gazes affectionectly at him, begging for a kiss.
Texas Bill: “It could be dangerous. Little darling, you’re too young for that. You don’t know men and their loves.”
He caresses her face, then blows her a kiss.

Trivia:

Fiorella Mannoia also played the female lead in the same director’s “On the Third Day Arrived the Crow” (1973). She appeared in just seven films, but went on to become a singing sensation in Italy, scoring her first number one hit in 1987 and receiving the Targa Tenco award for best singer five times between 1988 and 2004.

Lorenzo Fineschi, playing Lefty Jim in this film, was usually cast in strongman roles. One of his earliest parts was in the James Garner Western “A Man Called Sledge” (1970). Here, he winds up shirtless and wearing a long skirt while duking it out with Martin’s own strongman.