Shoot Joe, and Shoot Again (1971)

Rejected by his girlfriend for not offering a bright enough future, Joe Dakota (Richard Harrison) has a chance at a brighter future drop into his lap.

Ted Browne, a dying friend, passes him a map that shows the location of $100,000 in stolen money from a bank job that went bad.

Problem is, five former gang members who were jailed as a result of that botched robbery want their share of the loot now that they’ve busted out.

Led by Lou, they catch up with Harrison. And when he refuses to divulge the location of the gold or the map, they decide to hound him until he spills the truth.

When he escapes by blowing up his own cabin, they track him down again, this time blinding him in an effect to make him talk.

Figuring they’re getting nowhere and are likely to get nowhere now that Joe has lost his sight, Lou decides on a more devious means to get the information he wants.

After all, there’s a pretty blonde at the nearby saloon named Rosy (France Polesello) with a knack for wrapping men around her fingers.

And for the right price — say $10,000 — she’ll likely be more than willing to cheat a blind man out of his money and his future.

Review:

An odd film filled with good ideas and plot holes you could drive a stagecoach through.

For instance, the outlaw gang shows up in the opening scene dragging a large and strange-looking gold-digging machine down the middle of the street.

Alas, it’s not a gold digging machine at all. It’s a battering ram, designed to smash in the front doors of the town bank.

Neat idea, right? But why would the gang members intentionally draw attention to themselves just before a bank holdup?

Among other memorable scenes is our first meeting with Rosy, who is stretched out in bed, with nothing to cover her pretty body but strategically placed dollar bills.

When her lover Ted snatches them off her body because his former gang members show up, it’s the first of many trials for poor Rosy, who’s nearly raped twice, stripped and whipped, and swept down a river before the film ends.

That said, the film gets much more coherent once she “rescues” the newly blind Dakota Joe and agrees to guide him to the stolen money.

Directed by:
Emilio P. Miraglia
as Hal Brady

Cast:
Richard Harrison … Joe Dakota
Jose Torres … Lou
Franca Polesello … Rosy
Gasper “Indio” Gonzalez … Jack
Roberto Maldere … Ted Browne
Antonio Cantafora … Tab
Vittorio Fanfoni … Sam
Federico Boido … Chuck
as Rick Boyd
Paolo Magalotti … Sheriff

Also with … Giulio Baraghini, Claudio Trionfi, Corrado Olmi, Bernard Farber, Giulio Battiferri, Petar Martinovitch, Alberigo Donadeo

Runtime: 90 min.

aka:
Spara Joe… e così sia!
Joe Dakota

Music: Vasili Kojucharov

Memorable lines:

Blacksmith: “The work’s done. Now pay me that $20.”
Gold seeker: “You could come into partnership with us instead.”
Blacksmith: “I’m a man who likes to feel the cash. It’s something you can trust.”

Lou: “How about it sheriff? Did my machine find gold like I told you or didn’t it?”
Sheriff: “Yeah, too bad it turned out to be the wrong kind of vein, huh?”

Rosy, lying in bed with nothing but dollar bills covering her privates: “The weather’s so hot, it’s the only kind of dress I can bear.”
Ted, before adding a couple more bills to her body: “Well, I must say, it looks natural on you.”

Rosy, when Ted starts plucking the bills back off her body when he finds out a group of men have showed up at the saloon asking for him: “Ted, stop it! What are you doing?”
Ted: “I’m changing banks, Rosy. Sorry, but …”

Rosy, as she finishes a swim: “It’s a shame you can’t see me, Joe. I’m considered very beautiful. That goes for everything.”
Joe: “Then it is a shame.”
Rosy: “Men are very generous to me. Or they try to be. They pay whatever I ask. Even more. But I think I’m priceless.”

Bandit leader: “Cut out that damned yelling. He’s blind, but he’s still got his ears.”

Trivia:

* This was the only Spaghetti Western among six films directed by Emilio P. Miraglia, who made mostly thrillers, beginning with “Assassination” (1967), starring Henry Silva and Ida Galli and ending with “The Red Queen Kills Seven Times” (1972), which featured Maria Pia Giancaro and Sybil Danning.

* This marked the last of 30 film appearances for Franca Polesello. Most Spaghetti fans will likely recognize her as the blonde saloon girl who teams up with her dance and song partner Tanya Lompart to bail Burt Reynolds out of a jam in “Navajo Joe.” Her other Euro Western was “Twins from Texas” (1964). Another of her female leading roles came opposite Guy Madison in 1967’s “LSD Flesh of Devil.”