Arizona Colt

With a sub-genre like spaghetti westerns that produced around 600 movies in a span of just over 10 years, you're going to see familiar faces popping up over and over again. But with the spaghettis and as many stars as the genre produced, no one was in more Italian westerns than Spanish actor Fernando Sancho. This new wave of westerns had all sorts of vicious bad guys, and Sancho specialized in just those roles, typically playing a variation on a Mexican bandit chief, like in 1966's Arizona Colt.

Leading his ruthless band of outlaws -- the Sidewinders -- bandit chief Gordo Watch (Sancho) busts out a large group of prisoners from a poorly guarded prison. He's looking to fill out the ranks of his gang, offering the released prisoners a simple offer...join or die. All except the offer except one, a gunfighter by the name of Arizona Colt (Giuliano Gemma), who escapes before he can be shot down. Arizona taunts Gordo, betting he can't exact his revenge. Gordo and his gang are planning a robbery in the nearby desert town of Blackstone Hills, but Arizona seems to have other ideas. Even when the town turns on him for being just like the bandits, he must now decide to help the town or turn his back on them.

As was pretty typical of Sancho's parts in spaghetti westerns, he plays the stereotypical over-the-top bandit chieftain. He's outfitted in a ridiculous-looking, bright red general's outfit, bandoleers strapped across his chest, and that permanent squinty eyed glare. His Gordo has his band of equally menacing bandits, always laughing at their leader's actions. He's got a bit of that maniacally evil bandit that's so familiar in spaghetti westerns, but he's never intimidating here, more comedically funny than I'd like in my villain. Gordo throws bad one-liner after another, randomly shoots his victims out of the blue, and in general is pretty nutty. It doesn't quite work though.

Those problems go more toward the movie as a whole, not just Sancho as the villain. 'Arizona' doesn't know what it is in terms of a spaghetti western. It's too light and fluffy to be truly dark and cynical, and when it does try to be darker, it's too late. Gemma's Arizona backflips out of a tree to dispatch some bad guys, and for a second I thought I was watching an acrobatic gymnastic western like Sabata (which I actually like). As for the kill count, it's significant. Watch every Gemma kill in the movie HERE with obvious spoilers of course. This movie has some of the most ridiculous-looking deaths ever, gunshot victims spinning around like crazy before falling to the ground, loud, pained screams to boot. At one point, a wave of bandits just runs without actually shooting at Arizona, almost inviting him to kill them. He obliges if you were curious.

This is the second spaghetti western I've seen starring Gemma (that I can remember at least) after Day of Anger.  Where other spaghetti stars like Eastwood, Van Cleef, even Franco Nero, had that rugged anti-hero look, Gemma leans more toward the pretty boy. I didn't dislike his Arizona Colt, but I wasn't a huge fan of his either. There are some interesting elements to the story and character -- he cheats at cards for one -- but he's too fun-loving and at times gullible. Spaghetti western anti-heroes are at their best when they're mean. Arizona might be more at home in a comedic western -- like the Trinity movies -- but in this entry that bounces back and forth between comedy and dark, he feels out of place.

What else? With 600 movies, just like recurring roles for actors, you're going to see some similar storylines popping up, but this stretches it a little bit.  'Arizona' was released in 1966, just two years removed from Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars.  Did director Michele Lupo think viewers would forget that movie? Part of the final showdown between Arizona and Gordo is a blatant rip-off of Leone's much-better movie, from the explosive, dynamite opening to Arizona's "trick" once the shooting actually starts. It was a lazy effort, only partially saved by the shootout between Arizona and Gordo in a darkened barn full of empty coffins.

There were some positives to take away. Composer Francesco De Masi's score is used a little too much with virtually no quiet moments, but at least the score is a memorable one. It switches from soft, soothing Mexican-themed samples to bigger and louder as needed. The theme song (listen HERE) is pretty awful too, so bad it is memorably good. In the supporting cast, Corinne Marchand is Jane, the saloon owner's daughter, Nello Pazzafini is Kay, Gordo's right hand man, and Roberto Camardiel is Whiskey, a dynamite-toting, whiskey-guzzling bandit who can "smell" money. Not a strong effort in the spaghetti western department, but I've seen worse. You can watch the full movie HERE at Youtube.

Arizona Colt <---trailer (1966): **/****