Where the Bullets Fly (1972)

Antonio Sabato is Jackpot, who walks into a bar, borrows a six-gun and dispatches of a fast gun named Red Temple who had something to do with the death of Jackpot’s brother.

That’s enough to convince an old-timer named Pigsty that Jackpot is the man he needs for a difficult job — reuniting five pieces of a gold nugget to reveal the location of a gold mine.

The quest for those pieces involves a saloon owner who’s already dead, a powerful rancher named Heidgren, a Chicago gangster named Lucky Capone and a Mexican officer named Hotshoto.

Most of them are trying to collect all the pieces of the gold nugget as well.

As for Jackpot, he loses one partner when Pigsty’s heart gives out after a long night in the local bordello. But he picks up a far more attractive one in Madam Lulu Belle (Marisa Mell).

Lulu’s convinced a gold mine will lead to a full and happy life. Jackpot? Let’s say he’s not so sure.

Review:

A Spaghetti Western comedy filled with familiar faces that’s watchable because of two likeable leads and some genuinely funny moments.

Jackpot has a horse named Washington with a knack for nudging bad guys into the open during gunfights. Our hero plays a tune on Hotshoto’s chest full of medals in another scene.

And Lulu has to offer a free night at her bordello to the cowboys in town to get them to help rescue Jackpot from Hotshoto’s grasp, though Jackpot seems pretty good at getting himself out of jams.

That said, this isn’t the film to watch if you’re looking for Antonio Sabato, Franco Ressell, Lionel Stander or Fernando Sancho at their best.

Directed by:
Sergio Grieco

Cast:
Antonio Sabato … Jackpot
Marisa Mell … Madam Lulu Belle
Lionel Stander … Lucky Capone
Peter Carsten … Tom Heidgren
Fernando Sancho … Col. Hotshoto
Giacomo Furia … Gennarino
Franco Pesce … Pigsty
Esmeralda Barros … Pigsty’s girl
Franco Ressel … Red Temple
Tom Felleghy … Sheriff
Antonio Gradoli … Governor

Also with: Pasquale Basile, Brigitte Skay, Andrea Scotti, Nino Musco, Claudio Ruffini, Federico Boido, Elio Angelucci, Salvatore Baccaro, Franco Daddi, Giovanni Cianfriglia

Runtime: 96 (78) min.

aka …
Tutti fratelli nel West… per parte di padre
All the Brothers of the West Support Their Father
Miss Dynamite

Score: Riz Ortolani

Memorable lines:

Pigsty: “I’m gonna strike it rich some day, by cracky. Because I heard the voice, see. And it was the same voice that talked to Joan of Arc. You know, that girl over France got all fired up a few years back.”

Pigsty, on when he came West: “I hadn’t had my first dose of clap yet I was such a greenhorn.”

Pigsty: “Take Adam now. It’s a fact that he was never married to Eve. Which proves, of course, that all men are bastards no matter how you polish it.”

Lulu: “Of course, the mine exists. You don’t find a nugget like this in a garbage can.”

Lulu after a bedroom encounter with Jackpot: “If you do as well with a gun, man, that mine is as good as ours.”
Jackpot: “Who else is in on the great gold rush?”

Lucky Capone, in frustration: “Everybody dies before I get to them.”

Jackpot, on his plan for getting part of the nugget: “I plan to ask him (Lucky Capone), nice and educated like.”
Lulu: “Sure. The cemetery is full of educated bodies.”

Col. Hotshoto: “Let us not beat the bush around. It’s the gold I want, gringo.”

One of Lulu’s girls as they try to scare off a mob of gathering cowpokes: “Go cow poking! It’s free.”

Trivia:

Female lead Marisa Mell was an Austrian born beauty who appeared in more than 60 films, including three Spaghettis (“Last Ride to Sante Cruz” and “Ben and Charlie” being the others). IMDb quotes her as saying this: “I was never proud of my beauty, I was rather bothered by it. It was a tragedy. Every man wanted me, but no man wanted to keep me.” She died of cancer in 1992 at age 53.

This marked the only Spaghetti Western — and a rare comedy — among the nearly 40 films directed by Sergio Grieco. He was best known for a series of James Bond like films starring Ken Clark. He directed those under the name Terence Hathaway.