Giuliano Gemma, billed as Montgomery Wood, plays Ringo, a quick-on-the-draw hombre with an angel face who drinks only milk and has this nasty habit of winning gunfights, then landing in jail until proclaimed innocent by reason of self defense.

He’s holed up in jail one day when Sancho and his gang ride into town and rob the bank. Sancho is wounded in the escape, and the wound aborts the gang’s plan to cross the border to the safe haven of Mexico.

Instead, they’re forced to take refuge on a sheep ranch. The ranch just happens to belong to Major Clyde and his daughter, Ruby, the sheriff’s fiance. And the bandits are threatening to kill one hostage each morning and night until the sheriff and the posse give them safe passage to Mexico.

Naturally, the sheriff’s concerned for the safety of his lovely bride-to-be. He could call in the cavalry, but the bandits would probably kill all the hostages if he does. One member of the posse suggests sending in Ringo to infiltrate the gang. Ringo agrees, for 30 percent of the stolen loot.

Review:

Great fun in a non-Leone fashion. And the real fun begins once Ringo is inside the ranch. He plays one side against the other, constantly seeking a higher portion of the stolen money as his reward.

Decent script, nice touch of humor, a score by Ennio Morricone and more than a few unexpected plot twists put this film a mile ahead of many of its churn-them-out Spaghetti counterparts.

Major Clyde, for instance, falls for a pretty, young female bandit, much to his daughter’s dismay. The daughter catches the eye of Ringo, and vice versa, but they don’t ride off into the sunset together, as they surely would have in an American Western.

Giuliano Gemma (Montgomery Wood) as Ringo in A Pistol for Ringo (1965)

Fernando Sancho as Sancho in A Pistol for Ringo (1965)

Directed by:
Duccio Tessari

Cast:
Giuliano Gemma … Ringo
as Montgomery Wood
Fernando Sancho … Sancho
Nieves Navarro … Dolores
George Martin … Sheriff
Antonio Casas … Maj. Clyde
Lorella de Luca … Ruby
as Hally Hammond
Manuel Muniz … Timothy
as {Pajarito)
Jose Manuel Martin … Pedro

aka:
Una Pistolero per Ringo
Ballad of Death Valley
Ringo the Killer

Score: Ennio Morricone
Title tune: “Angel Face” performed by Maurizio Graf

Runtime: 99 min.

Lorella De Luca (Hally Hammond) as Miss Ruby in A Pistol for Ringo (1965)

Nieves Navarro as Dolores with Antonio Casas as Maj. Clyde in A Pistol for Ringo (1965)

Memorable lines:

Sancho to bank owner: “Sorry to withdrawal all your money, but it didn’t seem safe in a holdup. We’ll find a new place to deposit it.”

Ringo: “You know, we got an old saying in Texas. All men are created equal. It’s the six-gun that makes them different.”

Ringo: “No thanks. No liquor, Tim. It deadens the eye and makes the hand shake. I’d rather have a glass of milk. I thought I heard some cows mooing around here.”
Sheriff: “You want to keep in shape, Ringo, so you can go on with your killing?”
Ringo: “No, so I can go on living, sheriff. That’s a lot harder.”

Sancho, after shooting a bank clerk: “The doctor says if you get over-excited, it can be bad for your health. It can even kill you.”

George Martin as the sheriff in A Pistol for Ringo (1965)

Manuel Muniz (Pajarito) as Tim in A Pistol for Ringo (1965)

Ringo: “Oh, you’re hurt. That’s a mean looking wound. If we don’t get that bullet out immediately, he’s going to get gangrene. And if you get gangrene, you’re most likely going to have this arm taken off.”
Dolores: “We have to get him to a doctor. Where can we find one around here?”
Ringo: “You’re lucky I come along. I can fix it up for you.”
Sancho: “You?”
Ringo: “In San Antone, I used to work for a barber who was surgeon on the side. I helped him operate on 12 or 15 horses.”
Sancho: “Wait a minute. I’m not a horse. Understand.”
Ringo: “I’m not a doctor. So that makes us even.”

Ringo to Pedro, one of Sancho’s men: “Dead, huh? Well, they say early to bed, early to rise gets you dead between the eyes.”

Rudy to Ringo: “When you were little, what did you do for amusement? Tear the wings off butterflies?”