Prey of the Vultures (1972)

Peter Lee Lawrence is Danny O’Hara, an aspiring artist who also happens to be quite skilled with a six-gun.

His dad would prefer he grow up with a paintbrush in his hand. So he sells his ranch to finance Danny’s education.

But bandits attack the stage taking them east, and Danny is thrown during the chase. He catches up just in time to watch bandits gun down all the passengers, including his father.

Still, he’s able to spot clues that could help him identify those responsible, including a unique hatband, a strange pair of spurs and a distinctive gun grip.

Next stop: Black Point, where he befriends the sheriff’s daughter Janet (Orchidea De Santis) and lands a job cleaning stables.

He soon comes to suspect those responsible for his father’s death live and work in town. And he soon learns the identity of some of those involved.

Whenever he does, he posts a note outside the saloon, offering a $1 reward for their capture.

No one’s going to turn in a leading citizen for $1, of course. But those notes accomplish their mission: arousing suspicion and stirring up the band of bandits.

Unfortunately, that strange pair of spurs is hanging in the sheriff’s office. And Danny has fallen in love with his daughter.

Review:

The clues Danny spots, of course, are similar to the clues John Phillip Law uses to track down the killers of his family in 1967’s “Death Rides a Horse,” starring Lee Van Cleef.

This isn’t as well done as that film, but it’s noteworthy in that it was released in 1972, yet features none of the comic elements that had seeped into Spaghetti Westerns by that point.

It is something of a who-done-it, with the villains revealed one by one. Some will surprise you. Some you’ll likely figure out long before the reveal.

And it does feature super-sized action scenes, whether they make a whole lot of sense or not. That’s a trademark of director Rafael Romero Marchent.

Just check out the bandits’ climatic attack on the town. There’s certainly nothing subtle or sneaky about it considering the care the bandits have taken to keep their identities hidden to that point.

Directed by:
Rafael Romero Marchent

Cast:
Peter Lee Lawrence … Danny O’Hara
Carlos Romero Marchent … Lou Stafford
Orchidea De Santis … Janet Sullivan
Andres Mejuto … Sheriff Sullivan
Eduardo Calvo … Doc Jeremiah Dempsey
Alfredo Mayo … John Wolley
Dada Gallotti … Carol Wolley
Raffaele Baldassaree … Joe Porter
as Raff Baldassarre
Lorenzo Robledo … Mathathy Johnson
Luis Induni … Mr. O’Hara, Danny’s dad

Also with:

Emilio Rodriguez, Antonio Pérez Almorós, Maria Vico, Rufino Inglés, Francisco Braña, Antonio Orengo, Miguel del Castillo

Runtime: 93 min.

aka:
Un dólar de recompensa
Revenge of the Resurrected
Those Damned Pounds of Gold
The Artist is a Gunfighter

Music: Nora Orlandi

Memorable lines:

Female stage passenger expressing her concern: “Why’s this pass here called the robbers’ nest.”
Her husband: “Because up there, under the rocks, is where the robbers lay their eggs, for Pete’s sake.”

Blacksmith, when Danny shows up looking for work in a suit: “That’s right, I am looking for a stable boy. But not no fancy cupcake.”

Danny O’Hara, on why the stage passengers would be buried if no one got away: “Maybe the bandits just didn’t want the vultures getting at them.”
Janet Sullivan: “Men like that are 10 times worst than any old vulture, Danny. And vultures never bury their prey.”

Janet Sullivan, when Danny expresses remorse over Carol Woley dying so young: “Age doesn’t mean a thing to death.”

Gang member: “If what this resurrected fella says takes hold and starts eatin’ away at their good name (Woley and Davies), sure as flea bites the situation’s gonna get a mite touchy.”

Trivia:

Orchidea de Santis worked in theater, film and television, but this marked one of just two Spaghettis in which she appeared. The other was “Ringo’s Two Sons,” featuring the comedy team of Franco and Cccio in 1966.

Though he’d direct two Zorro-like films in the early 1980s, this marked the final Spaghetti for Rafael Romero Marchent. Carlos Romero Marchent, second billed here, is his younger brother.

Peter Lee Lawrence starred in three other Westerns directed by Marchent: “Awkward Hands” (1970), “Dead Are Countless” (1969) and “One by One Without Pity” (1968). Lawrence appeared in just one more Western, “God in Heaven … Arizona on Earth,” released later the same year. He died in 1974 at age 30.

Luis Induni as Mr. O’Hara, Danny’s dad, sharing his plans for the future in Prey of the Vultures (1972)

Peter Lee Lawrence as Danny O’Hara reveals another suspect in his dad’s death in Prey of the Vultures (1972)

Andres Mejuto as Sheriff Sullivan and Eduardo Calvo as Doc Dempsey discuss a mysterious death in Prey of the Vultures (1972)

Orchidea De Santis as Janet Sullivan comes up with a key piece of evidence in Prey of the Vultures (1972)