Find a Place to Die (1968)

Pascale Petit is Lisa Martin, a young woman whose husband is trapped under a wagon after fighting off bandits desperate to get at the gold he’s been mining.

She heads to the nearby town of Eagle’s Nest and latches onto the one American there, Joe Collins (Jeffrey Hunter). He finally agrees to help save her husband with the help of a gunrunner named Gomez.

But it will take more than two bastards to accomplish this job, he proclaims. After all, the territory between the town and the mine is ruled by Chato and his gang of bandits.

Collins recruits a gunfighter named Paco and a strongman named Fernando to ride along. And the group is soon joined by the Rev. Riley.

The question is: Are the men interested in saving a husband, or making Lisa their own, then stealing the gold?

Jeffrey Hunter as Joe Collins, the former officer leading the attempt to rescue Paul Martin in Find a Place to Die (1968)

Pascale Petit as Lisa Martin, shocked at the end of her nighttime swim in Find a Place to Die (1968)

Review:

Better than average Spaghetti, with Pascale fetching in the lead role and Hunter turning in his best effort in a Euro Western. A decent score certainly doesn’t hurt.

The plot is reminiscent of “Garden of Evil,” the 1954 Western starring Gary Cooper, Susan Hayward and Richard Widmark.

Just don’t think too hard about who’s got the gold. One minute, Chato’s gang is attacking our not-so-merry band to get it. The next, he’s riding off with the loot.

Gianni Pallavicino (Gordon York) as Gomez, the gunrunner who talks Collins into the rescue attempt in Find a Place to Die (1968)

Nello Pazzafini (Ted Carter) as Fernando, a member of the rescue party in Find a Place to Die (1968)

Directed by:
Giuliano Carnimeo
as Anthony Ascott

Cast:
Jeffrey Hunter … Joe Collins
Pascale Petit … Lisa Martin
Gianni Pallavicino … Gomez
as Gordon York
Reza Fazelli … Paco
Nello Pazzafini … Fernando
as Ted Carter
Adolfo Lastretti … Rev. Riley
as Pete Lastrett
Daniela Giordano … Juanita
Piero Lulli … Paul Martin
Mario Dardanelli … Chato
Anthony Blond … Bobo

Also with: Umberto Di Grazia, Anthony Blond, Seraphino Profumo, Gaetano Scala, Bruno Arié, Calogero Azzaretto, Artemio Antonini. Alberigo Donadeo, Pietro Ceccarelli, Remo Capitani, Franco Scala

aka:
Joe … cercati un posto per morire!

Score: Gianni Ferrio
Song: “Find a Place to Die”
by Jula de Palma

Runtime: 88 min.

Adolfo Lastretti (Pete Lastrett) as Rev. Riley, the religious man with a six-gun in Find a Place to Die (1968)

Mario Dardanelli as Chato, leader of the band of Mexican bandits in Find a Place to Die (1968)

Memorable lines:

Lisa Martin, trying to convince Collins to ride to her husband’s rescue: “You said you had been an officer. There must be some honor left in you. Some decency. Some principle.”
Joe Collins: “You can save the fine talk for the gentlemen who sat at my courtmartial. And for the fine Texas Rangers who have been hunting me like a coyote ever since I shot a man who’s better off dead than alive. You want to ask them about Joe Collins, go ahead. They’ll tell you Joe Collins hasn’t got any principle.”

Joe Collins: “Two bastards aren’t enough, Gomez. We’ll need at least four.”
Gomez: “Of bastards, we can take our choice. I know them all.”
Collins: “I don’t doubt it.”

Juanita, to her lover: “You know, Paco, you will be working soon. They’re looking for two (more) bastards.”
Paco: “And I’m bastard number one, huh?”

Joe, after Paco picks off one of Chato’s men: “Good work.”
Paco: “It’s my business.”
Paco, after Joe picks off one of Chato’s men: “Good work.”
Joe: “It’s my hobby.”

Lisa: “I’m sorry I caused all this killing. All this madness.”
Joe: “Madness and greed were in men’s hearts a long time before you came along, Mrs. Martin.”

Reza Fazelli as Paco, Juanita’s man and a member of the rescue party in Find a Place to Die (1968)

Daniela Giordana as Juanita, envisioning a brighter future with Paco in Find a Place to Die (1968)

Trivia:

Jeffrey Hunter played in two other Spaghetti’s, including “Christmas Kid” (1966). He died at age 42, a year after this film was released, after suffering a stroke at his home and fracturing his skull in a fall.

This marked the lone Spaghetti appearance for pretty Pascale Petit, who was 30 at the time and appeared in dozens of European films. She was apparently working in a hair salon when discovered by the wife of French director Raymond Rouleau.

Jeffrey Hunter as Joe Collins, hoping to escape a dangerous journey with his life in Find a Place to Die (1968)

Piero Lulli as Paul Martin, the trapped miner in the Sierras in Find a Place to Die (1968)

Adolfo Lastretti (Pete Lastrett) as Rev. Riley with Lisa Martin (Pascale Petit) as she comes upon a disturbing sight in Find a Place to Die (1968)

Pascale Petit as Lisa Martin, a woman relying on strangers to rescue her husband in Find a Place to Die (1968)

Daniela Giordano as Juanita, tired of playing music for pesos in Find a Place to Die (1968)

Pascale Petit as Lisa Martin and Jeffrey Hunder as Joe Collins as trouble approaches in Find a Place to Die (1968)