God Made Them … I Kill Them (1968)

Someone has been relieving the Wells City Bank of some serious deposits and town leaders decide to send for a $1,000 per week expert named Slim Corbett (Dean Reed) to sort out the mess.

Corbett starts by insulting all the leading citizens of town in an effort to see what he can stir up, besides the affections of a couple of local beauties named Doris and Dolly.

He soon becomes suspicious of the sheriff, and his suspicions are confirmed when he spots the lawman at the scene of a stage holdup.

Of course, it’s the very stage that was carrying a small fortune in federal funds to Wells City.

But who’s behind the thievery? Don Luis del la Vega, the richest man around? The mayor, perhaps? Maybe even the bank president or his assistant?

One thing is certain. Corbett’s snooping is making them nervous. So nervous, he’s framed for the stage holdup.

Until a Mexican handyman named Job proves he couldn’t possibly have stolen the gold. Freed from jail, Corbett resumes his search for the real culprit.

Review:

So-so Spaghetti starring Dean Reed in a James Bond sort of role. He makes the ladies swoon with a smile and rides around in a wagon complete with its own liquor compartment and a humidifier to keep his cigars fresh.

Martell overacts badly in his role as the villain of the piece, though his lethal cane is a neat touch and his use of it to torture Job is one of the film’s most memorable scenes.

Another comes when Corbett is ordered to toss away his gun. Instead, he tosses it over his own shoulder, spins, catches it and does away with the bad guy in the coolest fashion possible.

Of course, one of the film’s flaws is that we never have to fret too much about our hero. He’s pretty much invincible, whether he’s shooting his way through an ambush or taking on an army of henchmen at Don Luis’ villa.

As for the film’s trio of lovely ladies — Linda Veras, Anges Spaak and Rosella Beramonti — they’re given little to do except fawn over our hero.

Directed by:
Paolo Bianchini

Cast:
Dean Reed … Slim Corbett
Pietro Martellanza … Don Luis del la Vega
as Peter Martell
Agnes Spaak … Doris
Piero Lulli … Sheriff Lancaster
Linda Veras … Suzanne
Ivano Staccioli … Judge Kincaid
Fidel Gonzalez … Job
Rosella Bergamonti … Dolly
Bruno Arie … Dark
Giuseppe Alizeri … Stearson
Piero Mazzinghi … Mayor Toland
Appio Cartei … Cobb, banker
Giovanni Ivan Scratuglia … Don Luis’s man
as Ivan Giovanni Scratuglia

Also with: Franco Ukmar, Clemente Ukmar, Giovanni Ukmar, Giancarlo Ukmar, Robert Norek

Runtime: 90 min.

aka:
Dio li crea… io li ammazzo!
God Forgives … His Life is Mine

Music: Marcello Gigante
Song: “God Creates Them, I Kill Them” performed by Dean Reed

Memorable lines:

Don Luis: “Today, I’ve taken delivery of a large herd of horses and I had no chance to change before coming here. So you might notice that my perfume is more heavy than usual. Are you finding it unpleasant, Senor Corbett?”
Slim Corbett: “The whole town stinks. A little more won’t hurt.”

Mayor Toland: “Go to hell, Corbett.”
Slim Corbett: “Looks like I’m here already.”

Sheriff Lancaster, giving a warning to Don Luis: “There ain’t anyone west of the Missouri who can take me. Just try drawin’. And I’ll let daylight through you faster than you can wink. It’s goin’ to be a great pleasure to blast you innards out.”

Trivia:

* A political activist with left-wing leanings, Dean Reed and director Paolo Bianchini reportedly participated in the first anti-Vietnam War protest organized in Italy shortly after completing this film and were both arrested by police. That’s according to a post on the Spaghetti Western Database.

* A major star in South American, the Soviet Union and Germany, Reed was found dead in his car in a lake near Berlin, Germany in June 1986. He death was ruled a suicide but fueled speculation because of his politics. He was 47. Here’s a link to his obituary in the New York Times.