The Man Who Cried for Revenge (1968)

Anthony Steffan is Davy Flanagan, a former Union officer who was part of an attempt to break out of a Confederate prison camp during the Civil War and suffered a blow to the head that left him with amnesia.

Then a bounty hunter shows up to collect a bounty on his head as a deserter. Davy manages another escape.

In the process, he discovers that the secret to his past might be found in the town of Dixon.

Once there, he’s scorned by townsfolk who have also heard of his desertion. In fact, rumor has it he deserted the Union army and became commander of a Rebel prisoner of war camp.

But he finds one man who professes to be his friend: Sam Kellogg (William Berger).

Of course, Kellogg also spirits Clay Hackett (Claudio Undari) out of town quickly because he’s living with Davy’s wife Lisa (Ida Galli). And he lures Davy into a trap that could lead to the gallows.

Ah, but Davy escapes yet again. Next stop: Goldfield, a town ruled by bandit Crazy Joe and his men. And this time, he’s taking Sam Kellogg along for the ride.

Review:

This is a film that starts promisingly enough. Add a snappy score and the presence of Steffan, Galli, Berger and Undari … well, all the makings are there for top-notch Spaghetti fun.

But the filmmakers seemed to run out of story after about a half hour, and the movie turns into an excuse to stage one gunfight — or fistfight — after another.

Bandit leader Crazy Joe, his second-in-command Dirty and whiskey runner / gun runner Armenian all seem to show up in the movie just to be gunned down.

That said, director Caiano stages an elaborate final showdown, full of cat and mouse antics — if you care by that point.

Ida Galli is once again the damsel in distress. The twist this time: Her plight and life with outlaw Clay Hackett has prompted her to turn to the bottle to get through each day.

Directed by:
Mario Caiano
as William Hawkins

Cast:
Antonio De Teffe … Davy Flanagan
as Anthony Steffen
Ida Galli … Lisa Flanagan
as Evelyn Stewart
William Berger … Sam Kellogg
Claudio Undari … Clay Hackett
as Robert Hundar
Jean Louis … bounty hunter
Mario Brego … Dirty
Rossella Bergamonti … whore
Fortunato Arena … Crazy Joe
Raffaele Baldassarre … Armenian
as Raf Baldassarre

Also with: Osiride Pevarello, Arnaldo Dell’Acqua, Riccardo Petrazzi, Claudio Ruffini, Renzo Pevarello, Rocco Lerro, Rinaldo Zamperla, Luis Barboo, Guillermo Mendez

Runtime: 100 min.

aka
Il suo nome gridava vendetta
A Name that Cried Revenge
Cry for Revenge

Score: Robby Poitevin

Memorable lines:

Sam Kellogg: “Then you have forgotten.”
Davy Flanagan: “The effect of a head injury. Because of that bullet, the past has no meaning. It begins in a white room of dying soldiers. Somehow, I got away. But I’ve been living another kind of death.”

Prison wagon guard: “A hellhole like Goldfield. I wouldn’t take my mother-in-law there.”
Prison wagon driver: “Send my mother-in-law in there, and she’d have them singing hymns in an hour.”

Crazy Joe to Lisa: “I taught Clay a lot of fine things. And for everything I taught him, I kept two more to myself.”

Sam Kellogg: “You want to explain to me why you wanted to ruin my shot?”
Clay Hackett: “Don’t you know. You could have killed Lisa. You’re better at using big words than you are at firing a gun.”

Sam Kellogg to Davy: “Let me finish you with one gentle bullet.”

Trivia:

* Ida Galli appeared in several films using her real name before seeing it to first Priscila Stelle, then to Evelyn Stewart for her first two Westerns (“Assault on Fort Texas” and “One Silver Dollar,” respectively). The second stuck thanks to the success of the Westerns she made with Giuliano Gemma.

* Said Ida in a 2016 interview: “I do not know who found them. I remember that as Evelyn the name to me was good enough. It turned out well, it is not that we have had to make a great looking, or that there were special reasons behind this pseudonym.”

* Anthony Steffen and William Berger would co-star again a year later in “No Room to Die,” directed by Sergio Garrone (as Willy S. Regan). Steffen co-wrote the script for that film.