Wanted (1967)

Giuliano Gemma plays Gary Ryan, who arrives in the town of Greenhill just as Mayor Gold is about to appoint his good friend Fred Lloyd to the position, despite the warning of one resident who says he’s crooked.

Turns out, Gary has already been appointed to the job. His first task: Guide a gold shipment to a nearby town with very little assistance. He accomplishes the mission, but only after fending off a gang of Mexican bandits.

No sooner has he returned to a hero’s welcome in Greenhill than he’s framed for a murder he didn’t commit. Freed from jail, he now has a new mission — proving his innocence. With a $5,000 price tag on his head, that doesn’t figure to be easy.

But he has some friends, including a gambler named Heywood, a friendly padre and a pretty young woman named Evelyn who has already seen two of her relatives killed at the hands of Lloyd and his allies.

She suspects the killings have something to do with the cattle rustling that is driving small ranchers to ruin. And Gary is directed to a man named Prescott, who might have the answer — and the branding irons — he’s looking for.

Problem is, the people who can help Gary solve the mystery keep turning up dead, or dying before they can help prove the truth.

Review:

Ferroni keeps the action coming fast and furious. Gemma turns in his usual solid performance. And the film looks great, helping make up for some gaps in a plot that could have used a little more development.

Evelyn and Gary wind up in love at the snap of a finger. And where are all these suffering ranchers we hear so much about?

In one of the battle action sequences, Ryan and company have rigged up their gold wagon to fend off the bandits — to the point where they’re able to detach its back half, loaded with explosives, to lure the Mexicans into thinking they’re about to seize the loot they’re after.

For a film that features so many killings, the ending is a bit of a surprise.

Directed by:
Giorgio Ferroni

Cast:
Giuliano Gemma … Gary Ryan
German Cobos … Marty Heywood
Teresa Gimpera … Evelyn Baker
Serge Marquand … Fred Lloyd
Daniel Vargas … Mayor Gold
Gia Sandri … Cheryl
Nello Pazzafini … Padre Carmelo
Benito Stefanelli … Bob Baker
Fuiro Meniconi … Jeremiah Prescott

Score: Gianni Ferrio

Title tune: “Wanted”

Memorable lines:

Gary Ryan: “Get in Heywood. From this point on, you’re my deputy sheriff.”
Heywood, the gambler: “You’re out of your head. You want to ruin my reputation?”

Gary Ryan: “One false move and we’re goners.”
Heywood: “I don’t think I like being a deputy.”

Fred Lloyd ot Gary: “You’ve already kept people waiting too long. The hangman
above all. I really enjoy a professional hanging. And it’s about time we had a
little entertainment, at your expense.”

Trivia:

Teresa Gimpera, who plays Gary Ryan’s love interest here, would go on to play one of Brigitte Bardot’s girl bandits in “Frenchie King.”

Serge Marquand plays the corrupt sheriff in this film. A year later he would appear as Captain Sun in the camp classic Barbarella.

This was the third of three Spaghettis made in a two-year span by the team of director Giorgio Ferroni and star Guiliano Gemma. It was preceded by “Blood for a Silver Dollar” (1965) and “Fort Yuma Gold” (1966). Ferroni directed his Westerns as Calvin J. Padget.