A Gun for One Hundred Graves (1968)

This is How Movies Should Be Made

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

There is an amusing line in American-made western parody "Rustler's Rhapsody" that all Spaghetti westerns had great music. Composer Angelo Francesco Lavagnino spices up Umberto Lenzi's violent horse opera about revenge and robbery with a haunting orchestral score that lingered with me long after I'd watched "Pistol for a Hundred Coffins," with Spaghetti western stalwart Peter Lee Lawrence and "Red River" alum John Ireland. Although this 84-minute oater is ostensibly about revenge-as are all Euro-westerns--Lenzi and co-scenarist Marco Leto of "Dead Men Don't Count "and Vittorio Salerno of "Twenty Thousand Dollars for Seven," adapting Eduardo Manzanos' story, have slipped in some interesting characters that you rarely see in horse operas. Peter Lee Lawrence's protagonist Jim Slade is a Jehovah's Witness as well as a conscientious objector who lands himself in a Confederate hard labor camp because he refuses to bear arms. Similarly, John Ireland plays a swift-shooting gunslinger who quotes scripture from the Bible at every opportunity despite not being an ordained preacher. Twists such as these and some surprises in this otherwise formulaic sagebrusher marks "Pistol for a Hundred Coffins" as an above-average shoot'em up with a body count. Interestingly, Lenzi appears to have redressed the same western movie set town that Sergio Leone lensed "A Fistful of Dollars" in, and the villain is played with gusto here by another Spaghetti western regular Piero Lulli. No, the hero doesn't endure the brutal beating that the bad guys gave Clint Eastwood in "A Fistful of Dollars." Primarily, this western takes place in the frontier town of Galveston (nothing like the real-life Galveston) and it concerns a prolonged effort by Corbett (Piero Lulli) and his trigger-happy pistoleros to rob the local bank of $200-thousand dollars that has been set aside from farmers to buy seeds for planting. The loot is delayed, and Corbett and his men hover over the town on its arid, mountainous outskirts, while Slade (Peter Lee Lawrence of "For A Few Bullets More") continues his manhunt for the dastards that killed his family. Most good stories concern characters that change over the course of the narrative, and Jim Slade changes from a man who refuses to kill to one who does kill. Principally, this change is prompted because his blood kin have been massacred. Nevertheless, during this stage of his life, he remains steadfast in his refusal to drink whiskey.Mind you, Umberto Lenzi wasn't the consummate stylist that Sergio Leone was, but Lenzi was prolific in his output and ventured into horror epics, World War 2 actioneers, cannibal movies, police procedurals, etc., with sixty-five films to his credit under his own name and pseudonyms. "Pistol for a Hundred Coffins" doesn't dawdle and the film isn't without comic relief when everybody seems to be spun around by a bullet shrieking through them. Franco Pesce has a blast playing an old codger who embalms and buries the scores of corpses that pile up after each gunfight. One of the more curious subplots that "Pistol for a Hundred Coffins" contains is one that you don't see often see: a bunch of lunatics held in the city jail after their asylum has burned to the ground. At one point, this maniacs, among one who is Spaghetti western regular Eduardo Fajardo, break out and launch an uncoordinated assault on the townspeople with anything they can get their hands on to kill them. Sadly, I haven't seen the letterboxed version of this blood-splattered Spaghetti western, but it ranks as an above-average entry.

This exciting western packs action , shootouts , drama , high body-count , twists and it is fast moving and quite entertaining . America Civil War , the ¨Jehova Witness¨ Jim Slade refuses to kill somebody in battle and being subsequently sentenced for two years in prison . Returning from the civil war where has been condemned to forced labor , Jim (Peter Lee Lawrence) meets his parents dead at their farm . It is said that the band under the lead of Corbett (Piero Lulli) who along with his hoodlums (Raf Baldassarre) have committed the crime . Oulaws are attempting to rob a bank at Galveston , but there is no cash because a transport with 200,000 dollars did not arrive yet . As the cutthroats to return soon and the Mayor (Julio Peña) is eager to find a new marshal and offers a valuable reward : 5,000 dollars , them Jim accepts the job . There also shows up a suspicious priest (John Ireland) who helps him in his risked adventures . Meanwhile , a bunch of insane people (Jaspe , Fajardo , Victor Israel) breaking out from their cage and going bersek . Agreeable Chorizo-Spaghetti Western mostly produced by Italy (Tritone) and Spanish important participation (Copercines) ; it follows the Sergio Leone wake , including close-up , zooms , choreographic duels and no being proceeded in American style . It's a thrilling western with spectacular outdoors and breathtaking confrontation between protagonist Peter Lee Lawrence against heartless Piero Lulli and his henchmen as Raf Baldasarre . Acceptable action sequences with rousing crossfire and spectacularly bloody shootouts including an enjoyable music by Lavagnino who composes a vibrant soundtrack in Spaghetti style , as well as a colorful and evocative cinematography . A ¨Pistol for a hundred coffins¨ is an Italian-Spanish co-production with shootouts , thrills , action , fights , go riding and many other things . Being filmed in Spanish places located on outskirts Madrid and Poblado Hoyo De Manzanares replacing Almeria . It drags at times , balancing ups and downs ; turning out to be entertaining enough . Charismatic performance for the whole casting . Peter Lee is fine as a pacifist due to his religious conscience who becomes into a violent gunfighter , as he goes for vendetta but things result out to be more complicated than he originally thought . Peter ravages the screen , he jumps , bounds and leaps , hits and runs , besides receiving violent punches , kicks , and ultimately takes place a breathtaking showdown . The notorious German actor , Peter Lee Lawrence was the hero in many Spaghetti Westerns where he found his niche , here is good in his usual tough role . Peter may be a name best remembered by some Spaghetti Western aficionados , but in his day , from the mid-'60s to the early '70s , Lee Lawrence was one of the most popular actors of the genre —at the time cheap B movies , now revered cult classics- . The handsome , Bavaria-born , —actually called Karl Hyrenbach- began working in films as his uncredited debut in Sergio Leone "For A Few Dollars More" (1965) . His short cinematographic history can be enclosed in nine years of Italo-Spain co-productions . Particularly Paella/Pasta Western as ¨In Giorno Della Violenza¨, ¨Johnny Kid¨, "More Dollars for the MacGregors" , ¨Sartana¨ ,¨Garringo¨ . But he also made thriller-drama as "Giorni D'amore Sul Filo Di Una Lama" (1973) , where he played with his long time partner , the blond actress Erica Blanc , ¨Killer Calibro 32¨ , adventure as ¨Black beauty¨, ¨Tiger of Kyber¨, and Italian horror as "Bacio Di Una Morta" (1974). Unlike fellow Spaghetti star Clint Eastwood , however , Peter never became a top international box-office attraction . Support cast is frankly decent . Fantastic performance by the always great Eduardo Fajardo in a nutty role , famous for ¨Django¨ he subsequently would play similar characters ; furthermore , the slimy , menacing outlaw played by Ralf Baldassarre , here in his regular role as bandit and in a cruelly baddie character . There appears the habitual secondaries in Spanish/Italian Western such as : Frank Braña , Alfonso Rojas , Jesús Guzmán , Andrea Scotti , Ivan Scratuglia ,Rafael Hernández , José Marco , Miguel del Castillo , Gloria Camera as Saloon girl and Franco Pesce in his ordinary role as undertaker . Very nice cinematography by Alejandro Ulloa , including good sets, filmed on locations Seseña , Toledo , Manzanares , Madrid , La Pedriza, and Lazio, Italy . Composer Angelo Lavagnino composes a nice soundtrack , well conducted , this turns out to be one of the most memorable parts of the movie , as it's plenty of enjoyable sounds and haunting musical background with agreeable leitmotif . The motion picture was well written and produced by Eduardo Manzanos Brochero who ordered to built a Western town in Hoyo De Manzanares called 'Golden City' , it resulted to be the location in which was shot lots of Westerns produced and directed by Spanish and Italian and occasionally American people . This Western town called ¨Golden City¨ in Hoyo De Manzanares (Madrid) was made with sets by two great production designers , Cubero and Jose Luis Galicia , and it is today sadly disappeared . There was filmed several Westerns as ¨Fistful of dollars¨, ¨Welcome Padre Murray¨ , ¨Brandy¨ , ¨Dead man ride¨, various Zorros and this one . Eduardo Manzanos started producing ¨Il Coyote¨ and ¨The Jiusticia De Coyote¨ by Joaquin Romero Marchent . After that , he produced in his company Copercines ¨Vengeance of Zorro¨ and ¨L'Ombra Di Zorro¨ (1962). This picture was professionally directed by Umberto Lenzi , though with no originality , coping the usual theme : ¨Revenge¨ . Lenzi was a nice craftsman who directed another Western titled ¨Tutto per Tutto¨ with Mark Damon and he made all kinds of genres .

For the 1968 poll on ICM,I decided that I would watch a number of Italian films from the year. A fan of his since Spasmo introduced me to the Giallo genre,I was thrilled to find one of the two Spaghetti Westerns auteur Umberto Lenzi had made was in 1968,which led to me opening the 100 coffins.The plot:Prepared not to take sides during the Civil War, Jim Slade is sent to jail for two years. Just before he is freed,Slade learns that outlaws have killed his family. Picking up a pistol once out,Slade gets a list of the outlaws who killed his family. Tracking the first ones down easily,Slade discovers that the final outlaw wants to take a town he rules down with him.View on the film:Made just before his Giallo era,director Umberto Lenzi & cinematographer Alejandro Ulloa load up on elements which would dominate Lenzi's unique style,as ultra-stylised whip-pans are shot with a scatter-gun energy by Lenzi,with the camera riding on Slade's bullets of revenge. Toning down his usual liking of violence,Lenzi displays a sharp eye for "space",where the lone sound of Angelo Francesco Lavagnino's light Jazzy score builds anticipating to Slade's shootout with an outlaw.Initially looking like an episodic revenge tale, Marco Leto/Eduardo Manzanos Brochero and Vittorio Salerno get Slade to put his revenge Western pistol down by getting him involved in the gritty local politics of the town,which along with giving the flick a neat line in gallows humour,also sets the town up to give Slade and the viewer an excellent twist of the gun. Joined by a stern John Ireland as town leader Douglas, Peter Lee Lawrence (who died of cancer just 30 years old in 1974) gives a wonderful performance as Slade,who masks Slade with an eerie look of false calm,which cracks as Slade opens the hundred coffins.

Normally, because of my love for the spaghetti western genre, I can accept any shortcomings that can be found in the movies. But with "A Gun For One Hundred Graves", there were so many that at times I found the movie tough going. I saw the complete version, but even then there were times when linking footage and even entire scenes of explanation seemed to be missing! What makes it further odd is that there's material that could have easily been edited out without harming the narrative, from the band of lunatics to the hero's Jehovah Witness beliefs. The cast does its best with the material, with John Ireland giving the best performance. But the movie so feels like it was made up as it was going along, that I can only recommend this to die hard spaghetti western fans, and even they find the experience hard to sit through.