Spaghetti Westerns (11 page)

Although
Once Upon a Time
is more critically lauded than the
Dollars
trilogy, it is far less successful as a Spaghetti Western (a genre by now associated with fast action and much bloodletting) and bombed in America on its original release, while other Spaghettis continued to do fantastic business there. To some extent it was stylistically ahead of its time. It was also unusual for a Spaghetti Western to have a big-name international cast. Fonda, an actor Leone had been after since
A Fistful of Dollars
, was cast as Frank, a woman-and child-killing hired gun – an extreme variation on Lee Van Cleef’s ‘Angel Eyes’ from
The Good
,
the Bad and the Ugly
, except that, this time, there is a reason for the gunman’s activities. Now the shootist helps a slowly dying capitalist clear the way for his dream of a railroad to the Pacific.

Bronson played the mysterious stranger and, in so doing, gave the best performance of his career. For once, his stone-faced acting enhanced his portrayal; he’s silent for much of the film, happier playing on his harmonica than talking to the other characters. Robards was adequate as a Tuco-esque outlaw, providing the ‘trio’ aspect of the story that echoed the dynamic of
The Good
,
the Bad
and the Ugly
. But it was Jill and Mr Morton that really took the film beyond more established fare. For the first time, Leone cast an actress in a leading role and created one of the most memorable heroines in Western history. Cardinale’s Jill epitomised the nascent optimism of Leone’s post-
Dollars
West. It was a new West, a land that was now a nation evolving. From the wild expanse of the
Dollars
films, civilisation had finally caught up with the Spaghetti heroes and
Once Upon a Time in the West
showed them dealing with it. Harmonica can’t understand this new West and rides away (like Eastwood would have), with the body of another character caught out of time (Cheyenne) slung over a horse. Frank tries to become a businessman, but realises he can never adapt to Morton’s methods. He understands the power of guns but not the greater power of dollar bills. This is epitomised by the moment when Frank, outwitted by Harmonica at the auction, finds himself facing his own men. The tubercular Mr Morton adds another dimension to Leone’s fairy tale, though even he had his roots elsewhere – scriptwriter Donati had used similar characters in
The Good
,
the Bad and the Ugly
(a crippled prison-camp commander) and
Face to Face
(a wheelchair-bound businessman). Even though he is a despicable character, Morton’s death is one of the most moving moments in the Spaghetti Western genre – crawling towards a puddle of water in the middle of the desert, a pitiful substitute for the vastness of the Pacific.

Once Upon a Time in the West
was an attempt by Leone at a Western to equal Ford, Hawks, Walsh, Sturges and the other old masters. The fact that only Westerns by Peckinpah, George Roy Hill and Eastwood (Leone’s protégé) have made much impact on the genre since is testament to Leone’s masterpiece. Most significant, however, is the power of the set pieces and their synergy with Morricone’s score (which many rate as his finest) – a masterclass in musical and cinematic technique. The opening scene is a long, largely silent title sequence as three of Frank’s gunslingers (Jack Elam, Woody Strode and Al Mulock) wait at Cattle Corner station,
High Noon
-like, for the train with Bronson on board. The next scene is the massacre at the McBain ranch, where Fonda and his men stride towards the house and gun down the entire family, with Morricone’s harmonica and electric guitar theme jarring ominously on the soundtrack. The gang’s long duster coats became hugely influential and duster-clad gunmen have epitomised this film ever since. The scenes of Jill riding on a buggy through the desert, cut to Morricone’s soaring soprano piece, remain unique among Leone’s work. But it is the finale that really stays in the memory. The final duel between Frank and Harmonica begins and, in the arena of death, nothing that has happened in the film matters. Harmonica’s flashback to his brother’s death is breathtaking and its stunning presentation almost overshadows the gunfight. Under a huge sandstone arch, in the middle of a barren plain, Harmonica’s brother stands on Harmonica’s shoulders, with a rope around his neck, as Frank sneers. The rope around Tuco’s neck in
The Good
,
the Bad and the
Ugly
(which was usually the excuse for a joke) has been replaced with the ultimate nightmare, a hideous catch-22 – only Harmonica’s strength can keep his brother alive. It is one of the most powerful images in the history of cinema.

Once Upon a Time in the West
is an anomaly in the Spaghetti Western canon. Though it was made in Italy (Cinecittà Studios), the US (Monument Valley and Kayenta) and Spain (Almeria), and reuses many of the actors, locations and themes of Spaghettis, it is about as far removed from the genre in 1968 as a Hollywood Western. Leone himself reiterated this. He didn’t see this movie as a Spaghetti Western – the Spaghettis were lower-budget, made by ultra-violent copyists (which, to Leone, was anyone except him).
Once Upon a Time in the West
is an Italian Western, a cynical, violent and yet reverential cultural comment on a genre and a nation. In fact, over the years it has achieved the ultimate accolade and is now referred to simply as a ‘classic Western’, with no mention of pasta.

After being framed for the murder of his own wife and having spent five years in prison, half-breed Bill Kiowa recruits five notorious gunmen (including two-fisted O’Bannion and crooked gambler Colt Moran) to track down the real murderer – bandit Elfago. Elfago has teamed up with a band of vicious
comancheros
in Nevada to rob an army payroll. Kiowa and his men track them down, but Kiowa and O’Bannion are captured and beaten. They escape and the hunters are now the hunted, as Kiowa leads Elfago’s gang into a vast forest. One by one, they whittle the bandits down until Kiowa faces Elfago alone.

Cervi’s Western is a classic example of an Italian adaptation of
The
Magnificent Seven
, as Halsey’s half-breed recruits a band of gunmen to help him take revenge. Even more interesting are their adversaries – a gang of
comancheros
led by a samurai-
bandido
armed with a machete. Like the inferior
The Five Man Army
(1969), this was coscripted by Dario Argento. Features shared by the movies include the presence of Spencer (as a gunman in each quintet) and the character of a samurai swordsman – Tetsuro Tamba in
Army
, Nakadai here. Nakadai appeared in Masaki Kobayashi’s
The Human Condition
trilogy (1959-61), as well as playing the villain in action films like
Yojimbo
and
Sanjuro
(as Unosuke the gunslinger and Muroto the swordsman respectively). In fact, the famous silent standoff at the end of
Sanjuro
is recreated by Cervi with a static 20-second duel shot in the finale.

Once Halsey (here billed under the pseudonym ‘Montgomery Ford’) has recruited the gunmen and set off after Elfago, the movie moves up a gear, resulting in a well-paced chase. Half-breed Kiowa knows Indian tracking techniques; he purposefully leaves clues for Elfago’s scouts to follow (hoof prints, broken branches). The quintet’s slow, deliberate progress becomes more ominous as they allow the
comancheros
to catch up with them for the showdown. The main title theme by Lavagnino consists of equal parts
Navajo Joe
and what sounds like someone hiccupping in an echo chamber. The film isn’t helped by Halsey’s derivative outfit (exactly like that of Franco Nero’s gravedigger Django), but is saved by Berger (as cocky gambler Colt Moran) and Nakadai’s excessive performance. In the end, the five heroes ride away together, leaving the way open for a sequel that never happened. In this respect, the fact that all five survive causes the finale to fall flat, though the cold, misty, autumnal settings (mudflats, the desolate Madigan Post way-station and the eerie forest, filmed at Caldara di Manziana in Lazio) give the movie an excellent backdrop. Inexplicably, some prints run the opening scenes in the wrong order, beginning with the title sequence (with Kiowa riding through the hills) and then showing his exit from prison. As such, in this garbled version Kiowa rides into town before he’s been released.

Though not living up to its imaginative title, this is still the only Spaghetti to be name-checked in
The Simpsons
(though under its alternate title) – erstwhile announcer and perennial link-man Troy McClure claims that you may remember him from such films as
Today We Kill
,
Tomorrow We Die
.

During the Mexican Revolution, Polak mercenary Kowalski is hired by a mine owner, Garcia, to escort silver from his mine in Sierra Palo, Mexico to safety in Texas. But peasant mineworker Paco and his cohorts take control of the mine and join up with Kowalski to get rich from the Revolution. Kowalski teaches Paco some elementary tactics as their band cuts a swathe through Mexico, and Paco soon becomes a popular leader of the Revolution. But Garcia wants revenge and employs Curly, a gringo hired-gun, to trap and kill Kowalski and Paco. Garcia, with an army detachment and artillery, attacks Paco’s headquarters in Santa Rosita. Although it’s a massacre, Kowalski, Paco and Columba (Paco’s girl) escape. Curly catches up with them and is killed in a duel in a bullring. Garcia captures the Polak and Paco but, before they can be executed, they escape into the desert. The Polak wants to renew their partnership and join another revolution, but Paco is determined to continue fighting alongside his comrades in Mexico, so they go their separate ways.

This is the first of Corbucci’s political Spaghetti trilogy that continued with
Compañeros
(1970) and
What Am I Doing in the Middle of a
Revolution?
(1972). All three are entertaining Mexico-set adventures incorporating the paraphernalia of modern warfare – machineguns, grenades, motor cars, lorries, motorbikes (with sidecars) and biplanes – to excellent effect. Corbucci juxtaposes this gadgetry with the lowly peasant characters and their rural roots – a simple country existence to contrast with all the sophisticated hardware on display. In each of the movies there is a European character (a Polish mercenary, a Swedish gun-runner or an Italian stage actor) who becomes involved in the Revolution, either intentionally (as in
Compañeros
) or purely by accident (the other two).
A Professional Gun
is the best of the trio and was hugely influential when it came to the Mexican Revolutionary cycle of Westerns (both Italian and American) in the late sixties and early seventies – big movies with big stars blowing big chunks out of the Mexican countryside.

A Professional Gun
is more intelligently put together than the wave of imitators that appeared in its wake. It was co-written by Luciano Vincenzoni (
For a Few Dollars More
,
The Good
,
the Bad and
the Ugly
,
Death Rides a Horse
) and again features a trio of characters – two good (Kowalski and Paco), one bad (hired-gun Curly). It was based on a story partly written by Franco Solinas, who contributed to
A Bullet for the General
and
The Big Gundown
.
It has an apt score by Morricone and Nicolai that incorporates Mexican-flavoured fiestas and darker, whistled themes. But the best aspects of the movie are the great-looking settings and the cast. Franco Nero (previously Corbucci’s anti-hero par excellence in
Django
) was cast as the duster-wearing, bewhiskered Polak, Kowalski, whose motto (when asked where his allegiances lie) is ‘I’m on my side’. In an early sequence he visits an arms dealer and buys himself a Hotchkiss machinegun (it would be ridiculous for Nero to appear in a Corbucci movie without one) and is the epitome of cool throughout. Apart from his calm professionalism (unmoved by any threatening situation), he strikes matches for his cigarettes on, among other things, a whore’s bustier, a lynched man’s boot, the back of a businessman’s hat and a bandit’s toothy grin. Nero had made three Westerns between
Django
and
A Professional Gun
(
Texas Addio
[1966],
Massacre Time
[1966] and
Man
,
Pride and Vengeance
[1967]) as well as an aborted attempt at cracking Hollywood with the Lancelot role in the musical
Camelot
(1967), but
A Professional Gun
gave him his best Western role and was a box-office smash. It was also Corbucci’s most successful Western in the States when it was released there by United Artists in 1970 under the title
The
Mercenary
.