And God Said to Cain (1970)

Klaus Kinski plays Gary Hamilton, a man who has spent 10 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

When he’s finally pardoned, he has one thought on his mind: Revenge against the men who framed him.

Those men include the Santamaria brothers and a rich businessman named Acombar (Peter Carston).

He gained his wealth by robbing a stage full of Confederate gold during the war, then making it look like Gary committed the crime.

What’s more, he’s taken Gary’s lover, Maria, for his own.

And he plans to use his fortune to further the political career of his son, Dick, who arrives back in town on the same stage with Gary.

With only $10 to his name, Gary buys an old horse and a new rifle from an old friend.

He has a couple of other friends in town — a former doctor named Jonathan and a saloon girl named Rosy — but he’s still going to be greatly outnumbered as Acombar’s large band of henchmen try to coax him out of hiding.

He need not worry. Gary has no intention of hiding for long. After all, there’s a storm coming.

Klaus Kinski as Gary Hamilton, pardoned after 10 years in prison and determined to even the score in And God Said to Cain (1970)

Peter Carsten as Acombar, the man who framed Gary, welcoming his son home in And God Said to Cain (1970)

Review:

A straight-forward revenge Spaghetti with elements of horror mixed in. A tornado — which town residents do a remarkable job of predicting — is brewing just as Gary begins his quest for vengeance. And a church bells tolls as the death toll mounts.

In fact, fully two-thirds of the film is devoted to Gary’s night of revenge, leaving us little time to get to know this justice-dispensing ex-felon. Of course, the fact that’s he’s welcomed home with open arms and the fact that the “good folks” immediately side with him tells us he’s in the right.

Perhaps the most interesting plot development comes when Acombar’s law-abiding son finds out why Gary’s out for revenge, and then has to decide what to do about it.

Marcella Michelangeli as Maria Acombar, confronted with an old betrayal in And God Said to Cain (1970)

Antonio Cantafora as Dick Acombar, the son destined for a bright political future orchestrated by his fatherr in And God Said to Cain (1970)

Directed by:
Antonio Margheriti
(as Anthony Dawson)

Cast:
Klaus Kinski … Gary Hamilton
Peter Carsten … Acombar
Marcella Michelangeli … Maria Acombar
Guido Lollobrigida … Miquel Santamari
as Lee Burton
Antonio Cantafora … Dick Acombar
Giuliano Raffaelli … Doctor Jonathan
Luciano Pigozzi … Francesco Santamaria
as Alan Collins
Lucio De Santis … Jim Santamaria
Maria Luisa Sala … Rosy

Also with: Joaquín Blanco, Giacomo Furia, Furio Meniconi, Luigi Bonos, Marco Morelli, Franco Gula, Osiride Pevarello, Pedro Mendiconi, Mario Novelli, Conrado San Martin, Amerigo Santarelli

aka:
E dio desse a Caino
Cain’s Revenge
Satan of Revenge
Revenge at Sundown
Fury at Sundown
Shoot Twice

Score: Carlo Savina
Title song: “Rocks, Blood and Sand” sung by Don Powell
Runtime: 93 min.

Luciano Pigozzi (Alan Collins) as Francisco Santamaria, getting his orders from Acombar in And God Said to Cain (1970)

Guido Lollobrigida (as Lee Burton) as Miguel Santamaria during the search for Gary Hamilton in And God Said to Cain (1970)

Memorable lines:

Old man to Gary Hamilton: “You try to build something and, before you know it, along comes something — a tornado — and poof.”

Hamilton to the preacher: “If innocence is rewarded with prison, then I’ve earned the right to kill.”

Rosy: “I wouldn’t have wasted a minute explaining to that young scoundrel like you did. You don’t know that he’s any better than his father?”
Hamilton: “You have children. You know that our … our faults shouldn’t fall on them.”

Hamilton: “I killed him Father. Father? What am I doing calling you Father? And what am I doing talking to a man who believes in a forgiving God? I want you to know that Gary Hamilton has got a life sentence ingrained in his skin. Day after day, they convinced me that my place was inside. Life outside has no more meaning for me. Now it’s only revenge.”

Lucio De Santis as Jim Santamaria, trying to track down Gary Hamilton in And God Said to Cain (1970)

Giuliano Raffaelli as Jonathan and Maria Luisa Sala as Rosy offer advice to Gary in And God Said to Cain (1970)

Trivia:

A professional soccer player before turning movie director, Antonio Margheriti also directed 1975’s “Take a Hard Ride,” starring Lee Van Cleef and James Brown. He often worked under the name Anthony Dawson.

Prior to entering films, Marcella Michelangeli was a beauty queen and pop singer. She later married actor/director Lou Castel. In her only other Spaghetti, she was the female lead opposite Anthony Steffen in “Arizona Colt Hired Gun” (1970).

Gerrman-born Peter Carsten makes for a great villain here, but appeared in just two other Euro Westerns — “My Name is Pecos” (1966) and “Where the Bullets Fly” (1972). He racked up more than 100 screen credits between 1953 and 1998.

Franco Gula as the old man who sells Hamilton a rifle and a horse named Hurricane in And God Said to Cain (1970)

Marco Morelli as a priest, facing the wrath of Acombar over a church bell that keeps ringing in And God Said to Cain (1970)

Giuliano Raffaelli as Jonathan, a former doctor and Gary’s old friend in And God Said to Cain (1970)

Marcella Michelangeli as Maria, trying the old art of seduction in And God Said to Cain (1970)

Klaus Kinski as Gary Hamilton, examining his weapon of vengeance in And God Said to Cain (1970)

Peter Carsten as Acombar, reacts to hearing the name Gary Hamilton for the first time in years in And God Said to Cain (1970)