Ringo from Nebraska (1966)

Alfonso Rojas is Marty Hillman, a New Mexico rancher having trouble holding onto a “wife” who doesn’t love him and land coveted by powerful Bill Carter (Piero Lulli).

Then a stranger named Nebraska (Ken Clark) with a quick gun comes riding through and agrees to work for Hillman.

When they find one of Hillman’s other hands dead on the slopes near the ranch. Nebraska tracks the guilty parties to the nearby town of Belton and finds them hanging out with Carter.

The sheriff reluctantly throws Carter’s men into jail, promising to investigate. Before he can, Marty Hillman is bushwacked and left with a nearly mortal wound. And since Carter’s men seem to have an airtight alibi for the early killing, Nebraska is now a suspect in both shootings.

Meanwhile, back at the Hillman ranch, curvaceous redhead Kay Hamilton might chafe at life with a man she hasn’t married and doesn’t love.

But she also realizes she’d be much worse off in the hands of Bill Carter, who wants to make her his “toy.” She far prefer to wind up in the strong arms of the handsome stranger named Nebraska.

Review:

A straight-forward, action-packed Western with an opening that will remind you more of “Shane” than a standard Spaghetti. Think about it. A stranger rides through and quickly takes a liking to and comes to the defense of a small rancher under seige.

Of course, the person really under seige is Yvonne Bastien as Kay Hamilton. Carter and his men are constantly showing up at her ranch while the men are away or her husband is incapacitated to threaten her.

Turns out Carter wants to do more than get his hands on that shapely body. Marty Hillman, Bill Carter and Kay Hamilton have a shared past, and there’s $50,000 at stake as a result.

Nebraska knows none of this. But he keeps saying he’s “curious” to see how it all plays out. Turns out he has a bit of a surprise for Carter and his henchmen.

Spaghetti fans will notice lots of familiar faces in this film. Frank Brana plays one of Carter’s gunmen. Livio Lorenzon plays a sheriff who drinks to much and cowers under Carter’s control.

Directed by:
Antonio Roman
and Mario Bravo

Cast:
Ken Clark … Ringo / Nebraska Jim
Piero Lulli … Bill Carter
as Peter Carter
Yvonne Bastien … Kay Hamilton
Renato Rossini … Lou Felton
as Red Ross
Alfonso Rojas … Marty Hillman
Antonio Gradoli … Brack
as Antony Gradwell
Paco Sanz … Doc Parson
Livio Lorenzon … Sheriff Burt
as Charles K. Lawrence
Angel Ortiz … Hank Dewey
Jose Canalejas … Elmer Dawson
Frank Brana … Dickson
SImon Arriaga … Tedder
Alfonso de la Vega … Fern Hollander
Rafael Vaquero … Joe

Runtime: 84 min.

aka:
Ringo del Nebraska
Gunman Called Nebraska
Savage Gringo

Music: Nino Oliviero
Song: “Cuando se muere el sol” sung by Vittorio Bezzi + 4+4 di Nora Orlandi

Memorable lines:

Marty Hillman: “Don’t forget one thing. You have to be the ever-loving wife. Devoted to her husband. Filling the house with sweetness and light. Everyone’s gotta think so. And that includes Bill Carter.”
Kay Hamilton: “I hate you!”

Marty Hillman: “Who the blazes are you?”
Nebraska: “A man ridin’ a horse.”

Marty Hillman: “How do you feel about working for me?”
Nebraska: “Are you interested in my work? Or my gun?”

Jay Hamilton, of Carter: “He thinks of me as a toy. Just like a prize he might win at a shooting gallery. It’s a pretty story, isn’t it?”

Gunman to Carter, as Kay brandishes a pistol: “If you want to look after Kay yourself, I don’t mind. But you’d better keep your spurs on.”
Carter: “I like them lively.”

Nebraska: “Who knows where I can find Bill Carter?”
Sheriff Brack: “What do you want with Bill Carter.”
Nebraska: “I want to put a bullet in his brain. I want to stop him before he murders anybody else, sheriff.”

Nebraska: “You must be tired, Kay.”
Kay: “Of course, I tired. Tired of throwing myself at you like this and being refused. All I want now is you. You.”

Bill Carter to Kay: “You’re pretty, yeh. But I don’t trust ya.”

Bill Carter to Kay, showing her his wrist: “You remember makin’ that mark there? You did it with your teeth. When you were 16. Well, now things are different. I’ll tie you up like a dog til you learn to eat out of my hand

Trivia:

Wondering about Yvonne Bastien? She has an interesting story. Born in Argentina in 1933, she appeared in a number of films there between 1945 and 1950. She wound up marrying an Argentinian official who was imprisoned following a coup there in 1955; he died shortly thereafter. She moved to Spain, married Antonio Roman, the director of this film, and resumed her career as an actress and singer. Her only other Spaghetti Western was a bit role in 1965’s “Fury of the Apaches.”

This was the only Spaghetti Western directed by Roman, who started the project. Mario Bravo was brought in either to help him because of his unfamiliarity with the genre or take over direction. Accounts on that differ.

Ken Clark had small parts in a quartet of Hollywood Westerns, including “Love Me Tender” (1956) before heading to Italy to star in a number of sword and sandal flicks. He wound up in three Westerns as well, playing the head here and in “Road to Fort Alamo” (1964) and a supporting role behind James Garner and Dennis Weaver in 1970’s “A Man Called Sledge.”

The title “Gunman Called Nebraska” is probably best for this film. There’s not a Ringo anywhere in the script. Later, it was reissued in Italy with the title “Preparati a morire Ringo del Nebraska c’è Sartana.” You guessed it. There’s no Sartana in the film either.