Ballad of a Gunman (1967)

Bandits under El Bedoja (Alfio Caltabiano) rob a stagecoach in order to set up a bank robbery in Allentown, and both go off without a hitch.

But the bandits soon have a pair of problems.

The first is a gunman named Rocco (Anthony Ghidra), who’s out to settle some sort of old score with the gang’s leader.

The second is a dressed-all-in-black bounty hunter named Hud (Angelo Infanti), who’s also quite skilled with a six-shooter.

And those problems combine forces and become a bigger obstacle when Rocco and Hud realize they’re wearing similar mementos on a chain around their necks.

Further complicating matters is a dark-haired beauty named Maruja (Monica Tueber). She’s been kidnapped by the bandit’s brother Chiuchi, but El Bedoja wants her for his own.

Review:

Alfio Caltabiano not only plays the bandit leader here, he also directed the film and wrote the script.

And he keeps the action coming fast and furious. The opening bank robbery, in particular, is rather neatly staged.

But lots of the other ingredients here seem more like lost opportunities.

We never really get to know the heroine. There’s a scene with a wagon wheel Rocco is to be tied to while the bandits throw darts at him, but it’s barely used.

And Dante Maggio provides momentary comic relief as a dynamite expert who assists our heroes, but disappears from the film as quickly as he arrives.

Directed by:
Alfio Caltabiano

Cast:
Dragomir Bojanic-Ghidra … Rocco / Blackie
as Anthony Ghidra
Angelo Infanti … Hud
Alfio Caltabiano …. El Bedoja
as Al Northon
Mario Novelli … Chiuchi
as Anthony Freeman
Dante Maggio … Explosion
as Dan May
Monica Teuber … Maruja
as Monika Teuber
Lanfranco Ceccarelli … Allentown sheriff
Hermann Nehlsen … Banker
as Hermann Nelson
Ellen Schwiers … Maruja’s mother
Pietro Ceccarelli … Toro

Other cast members: Ivan Scratuglia, Peter Jacob, Dragomir Stanojevic, Fernando Sanchez Polack, Giovanni Cianfriglia, Nicola Balini

Runtime: 97 min.

aka:
Ballata per un pistolero
Pistoleros

Music: Marcello Giombini
Song: “Ballata per un pistolero
by Peppino Gagliardi

Memorable lines:

Stage driver: “Get that mule out of the road. I’m in a hurry. Move him, or I’ll run him down.”
El Bedoja, tossing his sombrero aside. “No, don’t you try that. Because my mule don’t much like violence, senor.”

Stage passenger: “I don’t usually carry money.”
El Bedoja: “That’s bad. Then you lost an opportunity to buy your life.”

Hotel manager: “I’ll be damned, it’s Lucas.”
Customer: “Who’s this Lucas?”
Hotel manager: “He’s no one to tangle with. Unless you want a brain full of bullets.”

El Bedoja to rich businessman Marshall, as he robs the bank: “This money was all yours, but you don’t need it. Paradise is for poor folks. Now they will let you in.”

One of Bedoja’s men: “We’ve come for the prisoner. We’re going to play darts with him.”

Bedoja to Maruja: “Stop being so hard to get along with. Or must I beat you until you act like a lady.”

Trivia:

It wasn’t unusual for Alfio Caltabiano to play roles in the films he directed. He’d later do the same in “Man Called Amen” (1972) and “They Still Call Me Amen” (1973).

Caltabiano also had a bit part in the 1959 classic “Ben Hur” playing the part of Jesus Christ carrying his cross, though he’s seen only from behind.

This marked the film debut of Monica Teuber and her only Spaghetti Western.