God in Heaven … Arizona on Earth (1972)

Peter Lee Lawrence is Arizona, who rides into a town run by Austin Styles (Frank Brana) with vengeance on his mind.

Styles ruined his father, prompting him to commit suicide. Now Styles is defacto ruler in the town of Colby.

He cheated his partners out of a copper mine, killing one, then framing his brother (Roberto Camardiel as Duffy) for the murder.

Now he’s chasing ranchers off the best land around because he thinks the copper veins run through their properties.

He also about to marry Catherine (Maria Pia Conte), the daughter of the slain brother, who won’t believe the stories about Styles’ evil deeds.

Arizona takes one look at the lovely young woman and decides he might put an end to that nonsense as well, the marriage and her disbelief.

He’ll find a willing party in Duffy, who now drinks too much and runs a whiskey distillery.

But there’s plenty of opposition to, including a sheriff who does Styles’ bidding, a large band of henchmen and a fellow hired gun named Towers.

Review:

A very well done later Spaghetti and one of Peter Lee Lawrence’s best Westerns.

He’s more believable than usual as a baby-faced gunman capable of dispensing justice, with his fists or with his six-shooter.

Camardiel, toting around an old gun named Daisy, turns in a solid performance as well.

And Maria Pia Conte absolutely lights up the screen every time she’s on it, and director Juan Bosch gives her more to do than most Spaghetti heroines.

We even get a bit of a love triangle. Though engaged to Catherine, Styles is shacking up with the older Nora Stevens, the wife of one of the ranchers he’s done wrong.

Bruno Nicoli’s score — also used for 1970’s “Have a Good Funeral My Friend … Sartana Will Pay” — helps make the film even more enjoyable.

Directed by:
Juan Bosch
as John Wood

Cast:
Peter Lee Lawrence … Arizona
Roberto Camardiel … Duffy
Maria Pia Conte … Catherine
Frank Brana … Austin Styles
Carlo Gaddi … Gene Towers
Luis Induni … Sheriff Cassidy
Dada Gallotti … Nora Stevens
Gaspar “Indio” Gonzalez … Bill
Jose Castillo Escalona … Warren
Gustavo Re … Dentist
Juan Torres … Charlie bartender
Franco Pesce … Sam the shopkeeper
Ricardo Moyan … Styles henchman
Jose Palomo … Antonio

Runtime: 90 min.

aka:
Una bala marcada
God Above, Arizona Below
Arizona on Earth

Music: Bruno Nicoli

Memorable lines:

Arizona, after sneaking in through a window to surprise an outdoor named Willie, who expected him at his hotel room door: “Good shooting, Willie. You sure killed that door.”

Duffy: “Can you use that hip-iron you’re carryin’?”
Arizona: “Well, those who said I couldn’t can’t say it no more. They’ve lost their voices.”

Austin Styles to Towers: “I like to train horses in my spare time. And the more you know of horses, the more you tend to distrust your fellow man.”

Catherine to Arizona: “If you give me a chance, I’ll show you that I can act 23, and not like a 2-year-old.”

Trivia:

* This marked the last of more than a dozen Spaghetti Westerns starring Peter Lee Lawrence. The same year it was released, he was diagnosed with brain cancer. He died two years later (1974) at age 30.

* In addition to five Spaghettis and a Zorro film, Maria Pia Conte’s other roles included a part in 1974’s “The Arena” (aka “Naked Warriors”). Citizens in Rome are bored and need a new form of entertainment. So instead of gladiators, they begin pitting female servants against one another, leading to the film’s catch phrase: “Wild Women fight to the death!” The film stars Pam Grier and Margaret Markov and some other familiar faces for Spaghetti fans – Rosalba Neri, Daniele Vargas and Vassili Karis.