Bandidos (1967)

Reknown sharpshooter Richard Martin (Enrico Maria Salerno) is on a train attacked by two outlaw gangs, a band of Mexicans led by Vigonza and a band of cowboys led by the notorious Billy Kane (Venantino Venantini).

When bandits start dying though most of the guards on the train have been killed, Kane figures Martin is aboard and calls him out. Kane outdraws Martin, disarms him, then cripples him by putting one bullet in each of his hands.

From that point on, Martin recruits young gunmen to work in a traveling shooting show he runs. It’s a way to make a living. It’s a way to find a young student capable of killing Billy Kane when the two men meet again.

But the young guns keep dying until Martin takes a youngster named Ricky Shot (Terry Jenkins) under his wing.

Eventually, Shot learns the truth. Martin was Kane’s teacher, too. They won shooting tournaments together, performing side by side in a shooting show like no other.

Then Kane decided he could make more money robbing, killing and plundering. And Martin decided it was his duty to hunt him down and eliminate the monster he helped create.

Of course, Ricky Shot has a secret of his own. He was on the same train as Martin. But he got booted off just before the bandits hit.

Problem is, his saddle was still aboard, and his knife wound up in the stomach of one of the train’s engineers. He was convicted of murder. Now he needs Kane for a different reason, to clear his name.

Review:

Great looking Spaghetti, filmed with a flare not found in many of the non-Leone Westerns.

There’s one scene in which a dying member of Billy Kane’s gang holds an entire saloon hostage while he dies, and contemplates taking some of the saloon girls with him.

In another, Vigonza and his men set a trap for Billy in another saloon. One of Vigonza’s men shoots a hole in the brim of his own sombrero, so he can keep an eye on Billy while pretending to be asleep.

And, during the final showdown, Ricky Shot and Billy take turns plucking pieces off a chess board with their six-shooters. Director Dallamano and his cameramen also make imaginative use of mirrors and mirrored images throughout the film.

In terms of performances, the best comes from Enrico Maria Salerno, who’s been robbed of the effective use of his hands and has to find another way to even the score with his old pupil.

Cris Huerta plays Vigonza, the Mexican bandit who is also out for Billy Kane because the area is too poor to support two outlaw gangs. Maria Martin is an aging saloon madam, an old friend of Martin’s and a new friend of Ricky Shot.

Directed by:
Massimo Dallamano

Cast:
Terry Jenkins … Ricky Shot
Enrico Maria Salerno … Richard Martin
Venantino Venantini … Billy Kane
Cris Huerta … Vigonza
Marco Guglielmi … Kramer
Maria Martin … Betty Starr
Massimo Scarchielli … Nuno
Giancarlo Bastianoni … Sam
Ennio Pagliani … Clem

Runtime: 95 min.

aka:
Crepa tu … che vivo io
You Die … But I Live

Score:
Egisto Macchi
Song: “La ballata del treno”

Memorable lines:

Richard Martin: “You better kill me, Billy. But do it quick, for your own good.”
Billy Kane: “I guess I’d better. Because only beginners leave witnesses. I never do. Ain’t wise. I don’t like to have my picture up on walls and have people shoot me in the back to get a reward.”

Kramer to Richard Martin: “I say we should have put those holes in your head instead of messin’ up those hands.”

Kramer, ordering the saloon girls around as he lies dying; “If I’m going to hell, I want some company.”

Billy Kane to Ricky Shot: “You can have Bastard Sam, too. They wanted to lynch him, because he shacked up with a 10-year-old girl.”
Bastard Sam: “Wasn’t my fault. I thought she was 12.

Ricky Shot: “As soon as I turn him into the sheriff, I’m going to my folks’ ranch. Martin, why don’t you come with me?”
Richard Martin: “I don’t fit into bedroom slippers. I’ve tried them. I’ll stick to my old boots.”

Billy Kane, after he and his men have gunned down several defenders in the town where they’re robbing a bank: “Guess that’s the end of the heroes.”

Trivia:

Terry Jenkins, who plays Ricky Shot, appeared in just three movies. One of those was “Paint Your Wagon,” with Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin.

This is the only Spaghetti Western made by director Massimo Dallamano, aka Max Dillman. He served as Sergio Leone’s chief cameraman on the first two films in the “Dollars” triology.