The year is 1852, and bandits have chased Judge Fleming through the woods, gunning him down.

But before he dies, Fleming is able to pass a notebook to a friend named Gabriel Conroy, telling him it provides clues to a fortune.

Flash forward seven years, and Conroy and his men are still searching for the rich vein of gold they expected to find.

But a businessman named Damphy has gotten suspiciously rich — rich enough to control the law, rich enough to buy the women he wants.

Those women include an entertainer / singer named Julie and a dark-haired beauty named Dolores.

In fact, the latter marries Damphy to keep her family out of poverty.

Trouble comes when a newspaperman named York begins digging into Fleming’s death and when gambler Jack Hamlin, Dolores’ true love, returns.

Donatas Banionis as GabrielConroy, the prospector in Armed and Dangerous (1978)

Leonid Bronevoy as Peter Damphy, the land speculator in Armed and Dangerous (1978)

Review:

The first Western ever filmed in the Soviet Union is better than you’d probably expect.

Okay, the architecture looks a bit odd. Where there really churches that ornate in the Old West?

But the saloon singer, the gambler, the damsel in distress, the crooked businessman and the underdog do-gooder could inhabit any Hollywood Western.

Ah, but you’re also going to see some Spaghetti Western influences here. Just watch a character named Charlie chase his hat as someone keeps shooting it just out of reach.

The morale of the story: Money means power. Money can corrupt. But money doesn’t guarantee happiness unless you have more than anyone else around.

Ludmila Senchina as Julie Prudomme, the singer and entertainer in Armed and Dangerous (1978)

Maria Ploae as Dolores Damphy, Peter’s wife and Hamlin’s ex-lover in Armed and Dangerous (1978)

Directed by:
Vladimir Vaynshtok

Cast:
Donatas Banionis … Gabriel Conroy
Mircea Veroiu … Jack Hamlin
Ludmila Senchina … Julie Prudomme
Maria Ploae … Dolores Damphy
Leonid Bronevoy … Peter Damphy
Lev Durov … Lucky Charlie
Vsevolod Abdulov … Henry York
Ferenc Bencze … Shot Harry
Jan Schanilec … Julian Barreto
Aglis Masulis … Lawyer Starbottle
Grigory Lyampe … Seller of Secrets
Sergey Martinson … Mister Trott
Oleg Zhakov … Judge Fleming
Talgat Nigmatulin … Indian Joe

Runtime: 99 min.

aka:
Armed and Dangerous Time and Heroes of Bret Harte
Vooruzhyon i ochen opasen

Mircea Veroiu as Jack Hamlin, the gambler in Armed and Dangerous (1978)

Lev Durov as Lucky Charlie, one of Damphy’s men in Armed and Dangerous (1978)

Memorable lines:

Hamlin: “Fleming is dead. Let either the earth or God take care of him. You choose. There isn’t, wasn’t and won’t be any justice in this world.”
Conroy: “What about the murderers?”
Hamlin: “I’m sure they’re very old now and their wives are cheating on them. Their kids are losers. They’ve got debt and gout. What’s the big deal how the bastards will die? In their beds or on the gallows.”

Julie, of her latest love interest: “He’s too good for me. And I’m too bad for him.”

Dolores, to her bodyguard: “Can I speak at least to God without you around?”
Julian: “No you can’t, senora. Neither to God, nor to the devil. I’ve got orders not to leave you alone with any men.”