Twice a Judas (1968)

Antonio Sabato is Luke Barrett, who regains consciousness on a barren hill next to a dead man and doesn’t remember anything about his past, how he got there or even who he is.

A man he meets in a saloon after walking to town fills in some of the holes in his memory. Turns out he and Luke have been hired to help kill a man — Luke’s own brother (Klaus Kinski).

The assassination is supposed to take place as that brother meets with homesteaders, hoping to convince them to sell him their land. Seems Luke’s brother is engaged in a land war with the local bank.

Unable to bring himself to kill his brother — and not understanding why he’d want to — Luke guns down the other assassin instead.

That lands him in jail, but his brother quickly sees that he’s freed. Though, strangely, the local doctor seems happier to see Luke than his own brother does.

And disturbing clues to Luke’s past keep cropping up.

His mother lives in their old family home with a single black servant; she’s half mad.

Luke is slipped a locket containing a photo of a woman he doesn’t recognize. He later learns the photo is of his wife Susan, who was supposedly gunned down by Union soldiers shortly after he left for the war.

And the name Dingus is carved on the stock of a rifle he found. It’s the same name his wife uttered to a friend as she was dying.

Antonio Sabato as Luke Barrett, arriving in town with a new wound and a lost memory in Twice a Judas (1968)

Klaus Kinski as Victor Barrett, surprised by his brother’s return in Twice a Judas (1968)

Review:

Here’s a good old-fashioned Spaghetti featuring a gunman suffering from amnesia, a mysterious locket, a special weapon and a much-delayed flashback sequence that pulls everything together.

Spaghetti fans probably won’t need too much time to figure out that Kinski is the villain of the piece. He is Kinski, after all. Still, some of the reveals are sure to surprise.

As for the plot, the land-grabbing part of the storyline seems a bit muddled. At one point, the bank is buying up land. At another, it’s bringing in more homesteaders.

But it’s a subplot that offers the opportunity for more action. And more chances for Kinski’s character to demonstrate how vicious he can be.

Oh, and that opening is particularly effective. The dead man Luke wakes up next too is covered in feasting buzzards. Luke wakes up just as they’re coming for him.

Jose Calvo (Pepe Calvo) as Dr. Russell, the man who knows all the Barrett family secrets in Twice a Judas (1968)

Franco Beltramme as Peter, Victor Barrett’s lead henchman in Twice a Judas (1968)

Directed by:
Nando Cicero

Cast:
Antonio Sabato … Luke Barrett
Klaus Kinski … Victor Barrett … aka Dingus
Jose Calvo … Doctor Russell
as Pepe Calvo
Franco Leo … Charlie assassin
Cristina Galbo … Saloon singer
Linda Sini … Saloon madame
Narciso Ibanez Menta … Murphy
Franco Beltramme … Peter
Damian Rabel … Sheriff
Emma Baron .. Mrs. Barrett
Claudia Rivelli … Susan Barrett
Carlos Ronda … McCullum
Maite Matalonga … McCullum’s daughter
Sergios De Vecchi … Henry
Antonietta Fiorito … Henry’s wife

Also with: Gastone Pescucci, Gianni Pulone, Giuseppe Sciacqua, Ettore Brosch, Gaetano Scala, Jose Palomo, Lina Franchi, Lucio Zarini, Ettore Bruson

aka:
Due volte giuda
They Were Called Graveyard
Shoot Twice

Music: Carlo Pes

Narciso Ibanez Menta as Murphy, the banker at odds with Victor Barrett in Twice a Judas (1968)

Damian Rabel as the sheriff, wondering what happened to his deputies in Twice a Judas (1968)

Memorable lines:

Old man who finds Luke: “If I was you, I’d get out of here mighty quick. Only dead men stay where they’ve been shot at.”

Man in black: “It’s not easy to trust a man like you. I don’t meet a man every day who takes money to kill his own brother.”

Murphy’s assistant: “They’re professionals, men who know what they’re doing. Men who shoot; then disappear.”

Luke Barrett: “I don’t even know who I really am.”
Doc Russell: “Sometimes, forgettin’ is the only way a man can survive, my boy.”

Murphy, the banker, upon seeing McCullum’s dead body: “This is murder, ordered by Barett.”
Sheriff: “I have no evidence, Mr. Murphy. Nobody will swear witness to what you say. Too many loose bullets flying around here.”

Murphy, the banker: “Barrett, you won’t make it. Believe me, because you’re fighting on the wrong side.
You’re going against progress. And I’m telling you nobody can stop progress.”

Cristina Galbo as the saloon singer who helps fill Luke in on his past in Twice a Judas (1968)

Antonio Sabato as Luke Barrett with Claudia Rivelli as his wife Susan in Twice a Judas (1968)

Trivia:

This marked the only film for Claudia Rivelli, who plays the part of Luke’s late wife, is only represented by a photo in a locket for most of the film and barely speaks in the flashback sequence in which she’s featured. It might have been the perfect part for Claudia, best known for appearing in photo novels.

Cristina Galbo, the saloon singer who fills Luke in on part of his past, was married to Peter Lee Lawrence from 1969 until his death in 1974 at age 30. Check out this comment she posted to the Westerns All’Italiana blog site, clearing up the circumstances surrounding his death. The film on which they met was “Ride for a Massacre” (1967), Cristina’s only other Spaghetti Western.

Emma Baron as Mrs. Barrett, welcoming Luke home in Twice a Judas (1968)

Franco Leo as Charlie, Luke Barrett’s partner in an assassination attempt in Twice a Judas (1968)

Klaus Kinski as Victor Barrett, offering his special brand of help to a homesteader in Twice a Judas (1968)

Antonio Sabato as Luke Barrett, ready to track down his wife’s killer in Twice a Judas (1968)