Ringo, It’s Massacre Time (1970)

Mickey Hargitay is outlaw Mike Wood, a man fleeing the law but willing to work for rich landowner Don Juan Alonzo if the price is right.

Alonzo’s wife is mad and she’s plagued by strange visions. Problems is, those visions have come true in a series of mysterious deaths.

Alonzo is hoping Mike Wood can get to the bottom of those deaths.

Instead, Wood disappears himself right after finding a small doll in his wash basin one morning; the doll is known as a omen of bad luck.

Soon after, Ringo Wood (Jean Louis) arrives at the ranch looking for his older brother.

So does Stan Carroll, who is posing as a businessman. He’s really the sheriff of Tucson, and he’s a lawman on Mike Wood’s trail.

They try to get to the bottom of what’s happening at the Alonzo hacienda. Because people are still dying.

Alzono admits this: He’s being blackmailed by a man named Jose Barrera, presumably over family secrets. His mad wife couldn’t have children and hates his daughter Pilar (Lucia Bomez), who Alonzo says they adopted.

Jean Louis as Ringo Wood, trying to locate his older brother Mike in Ringo, It’s Massacre Time (1970)

Mickey Hargitay as Mike Wood, fearful of a bad omen he’s just found in Ringo, It’s Massacre Time (1970)

Review:

A crudely-made horror-Western in which characters keep frothing at the mouth and dying for apparently no reason.

Meanwhile, there’s a free-spirited daughter who loves to go riding with strangers who show up at her father’s hacienda.

She fell for Mike Wood. And within hours of meeting his younger brother Ringo, she’s warming up to him as well.

The story behind the film is more interesting than anything that happens on screen.

Mickey Hargitay was supposed to star, but disappears after the first 10 minutes. In real life, he had to rush back to Los Angeles because his son Zoltan had been mauled by a lion during a photo shoot for wife Jayne Mansfield.

Jean Louis was brought in to replace Hargitay and the script rewritten to explain his disappearance.

Omero Gargano as Don Juan Alonzo, looking for help solving mysterious deaths in Ringo, It’s Massacre Time (1970)

Lucia Bomez as Pilar, the free-spirited daughter of Alonzo who falls for both Wood brothers in Ringo, It’s Massacre Time (1970)

Directed by:
Mario Pinzauti
as Peter Launders

Cast:
Mickey Hargitay … Mike Wood
Jean Louis … Ringo Wood
Omero Gargano … Don Juan Alonzo
Lucia Bomez … Pilar
Anna Cerreto … Witch
Giovanni Ivan Scratuglia … Sheriff Stan Carroll
Armando Carini … Alvarez
Gualtiero Rispoli … Doc Sanchez
Altiero Di Giovanni … Sheriff

Also with … Bob Villar, Gloria Koerner, Salvatore Bugnatelli, Augusto Funari

Music: Felice Di Stefano
Songs: “Reward for Ringo” and “Sad Man”
by 5 Goldfingers

aka:
Giunse Ringo e …. fu tempo di massacro
Wanted Ringo
Revenge of Ringo
Reward for Ringo

Giovanni Ivan Scratuglia as Sheriff Stan Carroll, looking for Mike Wood in Ringo, It’s Massacre Time (1970)

Gualtiero Rispoli as Doc Sanchez, usually drunk and unable stop the mysterious deaths in Ringo, It’s Massacre Time (1970)

Memorable lines:

Stan Carroll: “There’s always a good market for men who shoot without thinking. And without talking about it afterwards.”

Gonzalez, the barkeeper, to Ringo Wood, about his brother settling his bar debt: “One day your big brother will be found. And I’m willing to bet he won’t be in any condition to pay.”

Ringo Wood, after someone has taken a shot at him and that someone winds up frothing at the mouth and dying: “This game is getting really serious, Pilar, and I don’t like it.”
Pilar: “What’s the matter, Ringo? This is the first time I’ve seen you really worried about something. Tell me, Ringo, please.”
Ringo: “I guess there are just too many things I don’t understand.”
Pilar: “At least one thing is clear. Someone is out to kill you. Or the both of us.”
Ringo: “That’s a brilliant observation.”

Ringo Wood, having killed some Mexican ambushers: “Reckon they’ll be working overtime in hell today.”

Armando Carini as Alvarez, the man who finds help for Don Juan Alonzo in Ringo, It’s Massacre Time (1970)

Anna Cerreto as the witch with a reason to want revenge in Ringo, It’s Massacre Time (1970)

Trivia:

* Filming took place in 1966, but the film wasn’t released until early 1970, making it one of the last released films in which Mickey Hargitay would appear.

* Zoltan was 6 when he was attacked by the lion at Jungleland Zoo. He suffered a skull fracture, a slashed left cheek and injuries and that required the removal of his spleen. He went through two surgeries, made a full recovery and was awarded $10,000 in an out-of-court settlement with Jungleland, according to a Jan. 22, 1972, report in the New York Times.

* Zoltan, sister Mariska Hargitay and brother Micky Jr. were also in the back seat of the car when their mother was killed in an accident at age 34 in June 1967. All three children came out of the crash with minor injuries.

* Mariska Hargitay went on to become an award-winning actress for her role as investigator Olivia Benson in the long-running TV show, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.” Like her mother, she now has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In fact, they’re diagonal from one another.

Pedro, the half-breed blamed for many of the problems at the Alonzo hacienda in Ringo, It’s Massacre Time (1970). Anyone know who plays this part?

Gonzalez, the owner of the tavern in Ringo, It’s Massacre Time (1970). Anyone know who plays this part?

Nancy, the waitress at the tavern where travelers stop in Ringo, It’s Massacre Time (1970). Anyone know who plays this part?

Jean Louis as Ringo Wood, wondering what Pilar knows about the deaths at the Alonzo hacienda in Ringo, It’s Massacre Time (1970)