Monday, August 31, 2009

Any Gun Can Play (1967)

This, Any Gun Can Play, is the first official movie of action specialist Enzo G. Castellari. There's nothing original here folks, but Castellari shows great skill here and makes a generic western much better than it would have been with a less competent director. George Hilton plays The Stranger, the mercenary in the west. One day he's on a train that's getting robbed by the fearless Monetero (Gilbert Roland) and his gang of thugs. They steal 300 000 dollars, but get's deceived by one of their own who hides the treasure before getting shot and killed. 

Clayton (Edd Byrnes), the bank man responsible for the money, of course want's it all back... and now The Stranger, Clayton and Monetero starts to deceive each other to get first to the treasure, friends in one seconds, enemies the second after...

It reminds a little bit of The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, but it's more of a light-weight version of it. George Hilton is a more nice guy-version of the Man with no name, and you can trust me that only the really bad and greedy will die. It's very stylish and never, never boring. Castellari fills his movie with nice camera movements, witty dialogue and fun characters. The action is of course great, and it's a lot of wild stunts going on. People falling from horses and houses, some acrobatics and spectacular Spencer/Hill-esque fistfights. 

Something I noticed was the city in the last part of the movie. I mean, just change the clothes and it will be the set of a peplum. It wouldn't surprise me if they just redressed one of those sets to make it look like a western-town instead.

Any Gun Can Play won't change your view of the world, but it's damn fine entertainment at least.

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