Blood Calls to Blood (1968)

Fernando Sancho is Sancho Rodriguez, leader of an outlaw band intent on stealing the valuable Diamond of the Virgin of Light tiara from atop the Madonna at a monastery near the town of Diego Suarez.

They succeed, but the bloodless theft turns into a massacre in which all the priests are killed, including a new arrival, Father Louis Willoughby (German Cobos).

That prompts threats of vengeance from Louis’s far-less-law-abiding brother Andrew (Stephen Forsythe).

And he might get help from love-stricken Mary Anne (Lea Nanni), a tomboyish traveling salesman.

But Rodriguez faces a bigger threat from within the gang, though he’s barely aware of it.

His lover Carmen (Antonella Judica) will cuddle up with anyone if it increases her odds of winding up in possession of the tiara and escaping after she does.

If that means slipping information to Andrew Willoughby about the gang’s whereabouts or conspiring with the local cavalry captain or even flirting with other gang members to cause factions in the group, so be it.

Review:

An odd little Western that begins with a flamenco dance, followed by a light-hearted square dance in the middle of the saloon and has you thinking this might be a comedy. Until the massacre at the monastery proves it isn’t.

Director Luigi Capuano should have focused less on the dancing and given us more scenes that made us care about the fate of his central characters.

Bottom line: A film with two unique female characters and a fairly original plot — by Spaghetti standards — should have been better.

But Sancho is too jolly a bandit to be completely despicable, Forsythe isn’t very convincing as the hero with a mercenary streak and Mary Anne’s goes wide-eyed the moment she sets eyes on the handsome stranger.

That leaves Antonella Judica’s conniving Carmen to carry the piece. There’s even a spirited catfight near the end that proves key to the film’s resolution.

As a subplot, we have a gang member named Pedro who helps plot the theft of the precious tiara. His motivation: a better life for himself, his pretty wife Rosita and their unborn baby.

Directed by:
Luigi Capuano

Cast:
Fernando Sancho … Sancho Rodriguez
Stephen Forsythe … Andrew Willoughby
Antonella Judica … Carmen
Lea Nanni … Mary Anne
Vittoria Solinas … Rosita
Francesco Porzi …. Pedro
Franco Fantasia … Captain Roy
as Frank Farrell
German Cobos … Father Louis Willoughby
Joaquin Blanco … Angel Face
as Rick Palanse
Silvano Zuddas … Jose
Luciano Bonanni … Guard Dog
as Lucki Bonanno
Claudio Ruffini … Diego
Andrea Fantasia … Remendado
Arnaldo De Angelis … Manuel
Yuma Gonzalez … Guadalupe

Runtime: 97 min.

aka:
Sangue chiama sangue

Music: Francesco De Masi (as Frank Mason)

Memorable lines:

Andrew Willoughby to his brother Louis: “We needed a priest in the family to even the scales.”

Pedro: “I thought we weren’t going to kill anyone.”
Sancho Rodriguez: “That’s true, but I am not the one to blame. Those fools. Those crazy fanatics would not stick to their praying. They think they can make war on us. We had to protect ourselves, else we would be dead.”

Bartender,as Mary Anne watches Carmen flirt with Andrew Willoughy: “It seems like you’re acting a little jealous. I bet you’re in love. Puppy love, heh?”
Mary Anne: “Me in love with a broken down cow puncher? Whoever wants me is going to have to cover me in gold.”
Bartender: “Then I’m afraid, in Diego Suarez, you’ll always be a virgin.”

Andrew Willoughby: “Crying for the dead doesn’t bring them to life.”

Trivia:

The part of Rosita is played by Vittoria Solinas, younger sister of Marisa Solinas. Vittoria appeared in just five films; this was her only Spaghetti. Marisa starred in “Killer Adios” and “Colt in the Hand of the Devil” and had roles in “Blindman” and “Garter Colt.” Google their names and you’ll find photos of the lovely sisters hanging out together in Italy.

According to IMDd, this was the only credited screen role for saloon seductress Antonella Judica. Lea Nanni, the sharp-shooting tomboy here, also appeared in “Pray to God and Dig Your Grave” and a couple of Zorro films.

This movie came near the end of director Luigi Capuano’s 41-film career. In fact, he’d direct just one more, 1971’s “Zorro, Rider of Vengeance.” That was one of his three Zorro films. His other Spaghetti was 1967’s “The Magnificent Texan,” starring Glenn Saxon. Capuano died in 1979 at age 75.