Minnesota Clay (1964)

Cameron Mitchell is Minnesota Clay, a former gunman serving a life sentence in a hell-hole of a prison.

He escapes to find Fox, the one man who can clear his name.

But when Clay returns to the town of Mesa Encanada, he finds that Fox has set himself up as sheriff and ruler of the town. And Fox has hired a band of gunmen to back him up.

What’s more, Fox is vying for control of the territory with the Mexican bandit Ortiz, who has his own private army.

The townsfolk are caught between the two, forced to pay Fox for protection, but stuck with Fox because living under Ortiz would likely be more deadly for gringos.

Clay’s situation is complicated by the fact that his grown daughter, Nancy, lives nearby.

She doesn’t know his identity; she thinks Jonathan, the man who raised her, is her father.

Oh, and then there’s the fact that Clay is losing his vision.

Cameron Mitchell as Minnesota Clay, a gunman losing his vision in Minnesota Clay (1964)

George Riviere as Fox, the man who now runs Minnesota Clay’s hometown in Minnesota Clay (1964)

Review:

This marked Corbucci’s first full-fledged attempt at a Western, and it doesn’t rank among his best, though there’s a very neat Spaghetti-style touch in the final shootout.

The other Spaghetti trademarks are here as well: double crosses, an evil town boss, a hero looking for revenge over a loved one who has died and taking on incredible odds in the process.

Trouble is, Cameron Mitchell, spouting tougher-than-nails one-liners, doesn’t have the flair or charisma of Franco Nero or the other actors who would star in Corbucci’s better films.

Ethel Rojo plays Estella, the pretty bandit girl who’d turn on anyone for a bag of gold. Albert Cevenini is Andy, a youngster full of gumption and little common sense. He has his eyes on Nancy.

Fernando Sancho as Ortiz, a bandit leader doing his threatening with a knife in Minnesota Clay (1964)

Ethel Rojo as Estella, who’s as faithful as the men she sleeps with in Minnesota Clay (1964)

Directed by:
Sergio Corbucci

Cast:
Cameron Mitchell … Minnesota Clay
George Riviere … Fox
Fernando Sancho … Domingo Ortiz-Mendoza
Diana Martin … Nancy
Alberto Cevenini … Andy
as Anthony Ross
Antonio Casas … Uncle Jonathan
Ethel Rojo … Estella
Gino Pernice … Scratchy
Jose Canalejas … Francisco
as Joe Kamel
Fernando Poggi … Tubbs
as Nando Poggi
Pietro Tordi … Bartender
Julio Pena … Doctor Stevens

Also with: Madelaine Dehecq, Simon Arriaga, Alvaro de Luna, Angel Menendez, Antonio Jimenez Escribano, Jose Manuel Martín, Guillermo Mendez, Fernando Sanchez Polack, Mario Morales, Jose Riesgo, Alfonso Rojas, Enrique Santiago, Joaquin Solís, Filippo Antonelli, Carlos Villafranca, Toni Fuentes, Manuel Pena

Score: Piero Piccioni

Runtime: 87 min.

Diana Martin as Nancy, the young woman who has never known her father in Minnesota Clay (1964)

Antonio Casas as Jonathan, the man who has raised Minnesota Clay’s daughter, letting her think her father was dead in Minnesota Clay (1964)

Memorable lines:

Doc Stevens: “Tell me, is it true you can kill a man without even looking at him?”
Minnesota Clay: “Yeah, I smell the bad ones.”

Clay to Fox, after Fox suggests they work together: “It hurts when I laugh.”

Fox’s man: “You ask too many questions. A man could get hurt asking too many questions.”
Clay: “I’ve been hurt by the best.”

Andy: “If you could only teach me. Teach me to shoot, Mr. Clay. I could learn.”
Clay: “The cemetery’s filled with guys who learned to shoot.”

Alberto Cevinini as Andy, the eager young man in love with Nancy in Minnesota Clay (1964)

Gino Pernice as Scratchy, one of the leaders in Fox’s band of henchmen in Minnesota Clay (1964)

Trivia:

Cameron Mitchell appeared in three Spaghetti Westerns, this film and “The Last Gun” in 1964 and “Eye for an Eye” in 1972. In between, he starred as Buck Cannon in the TV series “The High Chaparral.”

Apparently, there were two endings to this film. Most American prints feature the shorter film that ends with the final gunfight. A longer version exists that runs for about another four minutes. In it, according to review at Spaghetti Western database, Clay recovers from his wounds and rides off wearing glasses. Which he then flings into the air, shooting out both lens.

Corbucci and Sancho would become household names to Spaghetti Western fans. Not so for most of the leads in this film. Argentine-born Ethel Rojo appeared in one other Spaghetti, “Massacre at Fort Grant” (aka “Doomed Fort” 1964). So did Diana Martin, in 1966’s “The Taste of Killing” with Craig Hill.

Julio Pena as Doc Stevens (right), offering Minnesota Clay (Cameron Mitchell) some advice in Minnesota Clay (1964)

Fernando Sancho as the bandit leadeer Ortiz, talking business with Minnesota while Estella (Ethel Rojo) looks on in Minnesota Clay (1964)

Cameron Mitchell as Minnesota Clay, holding a bag of gold and weighing Ortiz’s offer in Minnesota Clay (1964)

George Riviere as Fox makes Estella swear on a Bible that she isn’t setting a trap for him in Minnesota Clay (1964)

Diana Martin as Nancy, forced to walk toward danger by the vicious Fox in Minnesota Clay (1964)

Cameron Mitchell as Minnesota Clay, reunited with Fox, the man responsible for his stint in prison in Minnesota Clay (1964)