William Shatner, later of Star Trek mega-fame, plays two roles, that of Johnny Moon and Notah. Twin brothers, they are half-breeds.

Notah came to hate the white race and leads the Comanche on rampage after rampage. Johnny wants to live in the white world, but finds it impossible because everyone blames him for his brother’s deeds.

Declaring “one of us must die,” Johnny Moon challenges Notah to a showdown in the town of Rio Hondo.

Once there, Johnny meets a sheriff (Joseph Cotton) stuck in the middle of a land-grabbing war between Grimes, a local businessman, and General Garcia, a Mexican rancher.

He also meets a pretty young blonde (Rosanna Yanni as Kelly), who’s been raped by Notah in an attack on a stagecoach.

Once she’s convinced her attacker wasn’t Johnny, she falls in love with him, then tries to convince him to flee for safety rather than sticking by his plan of forcing a showdown with his twin.

Johnny ignores her advice. After all, the sheriff needs help keeping a range war from breaking out. And he also has that date with Notah to keep.

Review:

Almost laughably bad, this Spaghetti doesn’t even offer an appealing soundtrack.

As for the plot, I mean, c’mon, scriptwriters. Why would Johnny challenge Notah to a showdown “in four days” rather than taking care of the issue right away? And why would a Comanche chief agree to a showdown in the middle of a white town when he’s despised by the whole white race?

In one particularly comic scene, Notah’s squaw (Perla Cristal) hurls a knife at a fellow Comanche who’s trying to warn the whites. Then she has her horse trounce on his back a few times for good measure, all the while shrieking like a banshee.

Of course, Shatner’s wooden acting — in two roles, no less — doesn’t help.

William Shatner as Johnny Noon in White Comanche (1968)

William Shatner as Notah in White Comanche (1968)

Directed by:
Jose Briz
as Gilbert Kay II

Cast:
William Shatner … Johnny Moon/Notah
Joseph Cotton … Sheriff Logan
Rosanna Yanni … Kelly
Mariano Vidal Molina … Gen. Garcia
Luis Prendes … Grimes
Perla Cristal … White Fawn
Luis Rivera … Kah To
Vicente Roca … Ellis
Barta Barrie … Mayor Bolker
as Bart Barry

aka:
White Lightning
E Venne I’Ora della Vendetta
Comanche Blanco
Hour of Vegeance

Score: Jean Ledrut

Runtime: 93 min.

Joseph Cotton as Sheriff Logan in White Comanche (1968)

Rosanna Yanni as Kelly in White Comanche (1968)

Memorable lines:

Johnny Moon: “Notah is well named. His liver is white, like his Yankee father. His heart burns blacker than the skin of his Comanche mother. He’s white bellied, like his name, the snake.”
Notah: “Notah’s brother talks like the white man he thinks he is. He’s afraid to be Comanche.”

Sheriff Logan to Johnny: “For someone who’s trying to live like a white man, you’re turning out to be one hell of a Comanche.”

Luis Prendes as Grimes in White Comanche (1968)

Mariano Vidal Molina as Gen. Garcia in White Comanche (1968)

Trivia:

William Shatner’s only Spaghetti Western, this was filmed while he was on hiatus from “Star Trek” (1966-1969). One might wonder if he ever regretted the decision.

Born in Argentina, Rosanna Yanni appears in two other Spaghetti Westerns — “Sonny and Jed” and “What am I Doing in the Middle of a Revolution.” Both were released in 1972.