Sentence of God (1972)

Cris Avram plays a bounty hunter named Minnesota whose only interested in big bounties, meaning outlaws worth more than $10,000.

Antonio Sabato is El Santo. He’s wanted, but has a much smaller price on his head, just $3,000. And he’s on a mission to find the killer of his father.

The two men have this in common: They’re both looking for an bandit leader named Corbancho. And they wouldn’t mind getting their hands on $400,000 in gold he has stashed somewhere.

So Minnesota and El Santo become partners — though not exactly friends — with the understanding that Minnesota can have the reward and they’ll split the gold.

They might even get an assist from a dark-haired beauty named Sorita (Pilar Velazquez), who they’ve rescued from Corbancho’s camp.

Sheriff Sam Hunter is looking for Corbancho too, under orders from a banker named Barrett who’s outraged over the amount of money the bandit and his men have stolen from him and his pretty wife Janet (Erika Blanc), who keeps close tabs on his finances.

Review:

You look at the year this was released, and your expectations aren’t very high. By 1972, lots of the Spaghetti Westerns being made were cheap knockoffs or groan-worthy comedies.

So you’ll likely be pleasantly surprised by this film, which owes lots to the Sergio Leone and Sergio Corbucci classics that preceded it. A gold watch plays a key part. So does a unique crucifix worn around a lady’s neck. There’s also a character tormented by migraines.

And check out the method by which Corbancho hangs some of his enemies. It’ll likely remind you of Leone’s masterpiece. Though turning those hangings into a game certainly seems unique.

Add two beauties in Erika Blanc and Pilar Velazquez to brighten the screen and a plot that owes more than a little to “For a Few Dollars More” and you have a late Spaghetti well worth watching.

Directed by:
Roberto Bianchi Montero
as Roberto B. Montero

Cast:
Antonio Sabato … El Santo, Roy McFallon
Cris Avram … Minnesota, Jeffrey Lorigan
Erika Blanc … Janet Barrett
Paolo Gozlino … Sheriff Sam Hunter
as Paul Stevens
Pilar Velazquez … Sorita
Jose Jaspe … Corbancho
as Jose Rivas Jaspe
Beni Deus … Barrett (the banker)
Franco Marletta … Deputy
Jose Canalejas … Jericho
Nino Musco … Hotel clerk
Victor Israel … Warden

Runtime: 88 min. (94 min.)

Score: Carlo Savina

aka:
I senza Dio
Thunder Over El Paso
The Godless Ones

Memorable lines:

Barrett to the sheriff, after his wife tallies the cost of Corbancho latest bank robbery: “That’s about $100,000 bucks of mine he took this year. And it’s only the 5th of March. I’ll be stony-ass broke by May or June. Money doesn’t grow on trees, you know. Corbancho better be dead or in jail in the next seven days, or I’ll wanna know why he isn’t. And I don’t care a damn how you do it.”

Minnesota to El Santo: “Just as well you’re only worth $3,000. It’s my custom to leave anything under $10,000 to beginners.”

Minnesota: “They call me Minnesota. Amongst other things.”

El Santo: “Corbancho, I heard you were looking for a cook. So I thought I’d come by and cook your goose for you.”

Trivia:

Roberto Bianchi Montero, often using the pseudonym Robert White, had more than 60 directing credits at the time of his death in 1986. His other Spaghettis included “Durango Is Coming, Pay or Die” (1971) starring Brad Harris, “Two Faces of the Dollar” (1967) and “Ranch of the Ruthless” (1965).

Cris Avram was born in Romania, but befriended French actress Marina Vlady when she was making a film there. She helped him flee to Paris and he enjoyed a busy film career until dying of cancer in 1989 at age 57. This marked his largest Spaghetti role though he also appeared in “Viva, Django” (1971), “Holy God, Here Comes the Passatore!” in 1973 and “California” with Giuliano Gemma in 1977.