James Garner plays Luther Sledge, an outlaw who has a fateful meeting with an old man (John Marley) after a shootout in the bar.
The old man is an ex-inmate. In the neighboring cell was a safe where mine owners routinely stored a $300,000 gold shipment. The old man still dreams of that gold.
Sledge wants that gold. Problem is, the shipment is guarded by 40 soldiers and a Gatling gun.
Since taking it from them seems impossible, he decides to try to steal it from inside the jail.
But first, one of his gang members (Dennis Weaver as Ward) will have to turn Sledge in for the bounty on his head.
Once inside, the plan is simple, but the odds still long.
Sledge and his gang figure to set all the other inmates free, then make off with the gold while the prison guards are busy rounding them up.
If they escape with the gold, they’ll likely have to deal with a sheriff named Ripley who’s on their trail.
James Garner as Luther Sledge, preparing to lead his gang on a dangerous mission in A Man Called Sledge (1970)
Dennis Weaver as Erwin Ward, expressing concern about Sledge’s planned heist in A Man Called Sledge (1970)
Review:
A Spaghetti with a mostly American cast and Bronx-born actor-turned-director Vic Morrow at the helm. The result is better than average, but somehow not quite as good as you’d expect.
Laura Antonelli is lovely as Sledge’s lover Ria, but given little to do except look lovely.
Marley turns in a fine performance as the gold-hungry old man anxious to recapture just a bit of his youth. Garner spends most of the film scowling, except when he’s looking at Ria.
There’s a catchy title tune and a memorable game of poker that sets the stage for the final showdown between the remaining members of the Sledge gang.
Claude Akins as Hooker, one of Sledge’s men in a tight spot in A Man Called Sledge (1970)
John Marley as the old man, tempting Sledge (James Garner) with stories of a fortune in gold in A Man Called Sledge (1970)
Directed by:
Vic Morrow
Cast:
James Garner … Luther Sledge
Dennis Weaver … Erwin Ward
Claude Akins … Hooker
John Marley … Old Man
Laura Antonelli … Ria
Wayde Preston .. Sheriff Ripley
Ken Clark … Floyd
Tony Young … Mallory
Paolo Barbara … Jade
Altiero Di Giovanni … Kehoe
Lorenzo Fineschi … Toby
Bruno Corazzari … Bice
Franco Giornelli … Joyce
Also with: Herman Reynoso, Steffen Zacharias, Laura Betti, Remo De Angelis, Didi Perego, Lorenzo Piani, Mario Valgoi, Vic Morrow, Riccardo Garrone, Fausto Tozzi, Angelo Infanti, Franco Balducci, Tiberio Mitri, Allan Jones, Barta Barry, Orso Maria Guerrini, Giovani Di Benedetto, Luciano Rossi
aka:
Sledge
Music: Gianni Ferrio
Song: “Other Men’s Gold,” sung by Stefan Grossman
Runtime: 93 min.
Laura Antonelli as Ria, Sledge’s girl, fearful for his plans to rob a gold shipment in A Man Called Sledge (1970)
Wayde Preston as Sheriff Ripley, smelling trouble in his town in A Man Called Sledge (1970)
Memorable lines:
Sledge: “Old Man, how long has it been since you’ve had a hot meal, some whiskey and a woman.”
Old Man: “All in one night? Not for a long time.”
Sledge: “Well, if your heart will stand it, you’re coming with me.”
Hooker, about the gold train: “I sure don’t like the idea of those guards being professionals.”
Sledge: “Forget it. They haven’t used those guns in 10 years. They ain’t professionals. We are.”
Sledge: “Now we’re going in there (the prison). And we’re coming out with that gold. Or we ain’t ever coming out.”
Guthrie: “He killed Joyce and you say he’s right?”
Sledge: “His life wasn’t his anymore. It belonged to the man who caught him cheating. If you don’t know that, you’d better learn it.”
Sledge: “Hate don’t belong in a card game. But, Old Man, I’m going to take every grain of gold you’ve got in front of you.”
Sledge to the sheriff: “Don’t believe all that crap about your tin star. You bleed just like we do.”
Bruno Corazzari as Bice, trying to crack the prison safe in A Man Called Sledge (1970)
Riccardo Garrone as warden of the prison where the fortune in gold is stored in A Man Called Sledge (1970)
Trivia:
Born in 1907, John Marley had a long and undistinguished film career until landing some noteworthy roles in the 1960s and 1970s, including as Jane Fonda’s father in “Cat Ballou” (1965), Ali MacGraw’s dad in “Love Story” (1970) and, most famously, as a bedmate to a horse’s head in “The Godfather” (1972). He died in 1984 at age 76 following open heart surgery.
This marked the only Spaghetti for Dennis Weaver and James Garner, who was about to land his role in “Rockford Files,” the second popular TV series in which he would star. The first was as gambler Bret Maverick in “Maverick,” which ran from 1957 to 1962.
Vic Morrow began his film career in “Blackboard Jungle” (1955). He died in 1982 at age 53 when a helicopter landed on him in a freak accident during the filming of “Twlight Zone: The Movie” (1983). “A Man Called Sledge” was one of just two movies he directed.
This marked the only Western for Laura Antonelli, who made her credited screen debut in 1966’s “Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs.” Vincent Price plays the lead role, a mad scientist using bikini-clad robot girls to do his bidding.
Tony Young as Mallory, an outlaw unlucky in poker in A Man Called Sledge (1970)
Lorenzo Piani as Guthrie, a member of Sledge’s gang in A Man Called Sledge (1970)
Altiero Di Giovanni as Kehoe, a member of Sledge’s gang in A Man Called Sledge (1970)
Vic Morrow, director, in a cameo as scout for the gold train in A Man Called Sledge (1970)
Laura Antonelli as Ria, Sledge’s girl, finding herself in the wrong hands in A Man Called Sledge (1970)
James Garner as Luther Sledge puts Sheriff Ripley (Wayde Preston) under the gun in A Man Called Sledge (1970)
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