Roberto Miali arrives in Templeton posing as Sterling Ascot, a well-off businessman with $20,000 in his satchel who’s looking to buy a ranch in these here parts.
In truth, he’s Jerry Kingio, a young man looking to avenge the death of his older brother 15 years earlier.
And since his buddies Guy and Tyler Stiles have failed to identify the man he’s after, Jerry decides to use that $20,000 to lure the guilty party out of hiding.
He quickly begins to suspect town leader Jack Collins, who has sold him a ranch in a part of the countryside besieged by bandits. Or perhaps Ringo, leader of those bandits.
While his primary quest is revenge, Jerry also finds town to romance a pretty girl named Peggy, who looks better in blue than pink.
The good: The film starts quite stylishly, Stelvio Cipiriani delivers a rousing score and the film features two bits off odd gun trickery, including one at the film’s climax that you won’t see coming.
The bad: All the style is the world wears thin as the number of poorly choreographed fistfights and cat and mouse games among the barren hills outside Templeton begin to mount.
The wasted: Poor Aurora Batista barely gets to talk in her role as Peggy. And, in her biggest scene, she’s nearly raped by one of Ringo’s men after he finds her bathing nude. She then watches her attacker and Jerry duke it out, seemingly totally unconcerned about what might happen to her if Jerry doesn’t prevail.
Directed by:
Albert Cardiff
as Alberto Cardone
Cast:
Roberto Miali .. Sterling Ascot / Jerry Kingio
as Jerry Wilson
Adriano Micantoni … Jack Collins
as Mike Anthony
Aurora Batista … Peggy
Teodoro Corra … Tyler Stiles
Hector Boilleaux … Guy
Spartaco Conversi … Ringo
as Spean Convery
Umberto Salomone … Sam
as Humbert Salom
Roberto Danesi
Valentino Maochi
Runtime: 87 min.
aka:
20.000 dollari sul 7
Score: Stelvio Cipriani
Memorable lines:
Sterling Ascott: “Vengeance sometimes comes at a high price. And, remember, I’m willing to pay.”
Jack Collins: “I’ve got one (a ranch) pretty far out of Templeton. Might be just what you want. But you’ll have to keep your eyes open. You see, there’s a band of desperadoes who often raid the countryside and destroy everything in sight.”
Sterling Ascott: “Imagine there’s a pile of straw hiding a rat, but there’s no fire to make the pile burn.”
Guy: “Why burn the straw?”
Ascott: “Because we need a fire if we’re gonna make certain rat come out of his hole.”
Trivia:
Albert Cardiff was assistant director on “Ben-Hur”, “The Mongols” and a number of other action films. He was second unit director on “El Condor ” and “Barbarella.” This was one of nine films he directed.
Can you be typecast by titles? If so, Robert Miali (Jerry Wilson) was. He appeared in just nine films. Two of his other Spaghetti Westerns besides “$20,000 on the Seven” were “Seven Dollars on the Red” (1966) and $1,000 on the Black” (1966).