Ringo's Big Night (1966)

A Major Disappointment

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

In Brazil has this kind misunderstood,the name of movie here is "the Big Night of Ringo" but the main actor William Berger must to be called Ringo instead Jack Balman specially because is a dubbed version,so it's so easy call him Ringo,anyway apart from little mistake and the unbelievable scene that Balman escape from the prison using a bed and trouser,what a bizarre scene!!!...The movie itself is quite likable for a spaghetti,the final is bit moralistic but works,the widescreen format was preserved and amazing restoration!! Resume: First watch: 2017 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 6

Ringo or Jack Balman (Austrian actor resident in Italy named William Berger) is a tidy and rapid gunfighter . At the beginning take place a series of stagecoach robberies between Silver City and Tombstone . There occurs the theft of a passenger whose $ 200 had them hidden in their clothes . A 200-grand in stolen booty is at stake and Ringo gets blamed . Ringo is detained and imprisoned in Silver City , but he escapes and goes to Tombstone to discover the guilty . In Tombstone meets a saloon girl (Adriana Ambesi) that ties to her bed to get for information . He finds out a group of powerful local people (Spanish secondaries: Eduardo Fajardo , Jose Bodalo , Francisco Moran , Jorge Rigaud) carry out the robberies , as the Mayor , the sheriff , the saloon owner and shop keeper .This acceptable Western contains an interesting but twisted plot , violence , double crosses , shoot'em up and results to be quite entertaining , though drags at times , balancing in ups and downs . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing some violence , crossfire or stunts every few minutes . The movie gets the usual Western issues, such as avenger antiheroes , violent facing off , exaggerated baddies , soundtrack with Morricone influence , among them . It's a thrilling western with breathtaking confrontation between the protagonist William Berger against the heartless enemies formed by a Spanish all-star-cast such as Eduardo Fajardo , Francisco Moran , Jorge Rigaud , Armando Calvo and the great Jose Bodalo of Django . There is a very odd implementation of shots in the camera work during some particular scenes as well as a lot of twists and turns , as the film approaches its climax , as in the final and the unusual conclusion . Austrian William Berger in his first Western , is fine , as he ravages the screen , hit and run and kills . Fair-haired Austrian leading man Berger appeared in many Spaghetti westerns between 1966 and 1987 such as "Sartana in the Valley of Death" , "They Call Him Cemetery" , "Fast hand" , ¨Noose for Django¨, "Jaider's Gang" , among others . He also played several Western as a secondary actor as he had got fame and fortune with his unforgettable co-starring in ¨Sabata¨ as the banjo man , ¨Face to face¨, ¨Keoma¨ , ¨California¨ and ¨Tex¨. He had a reputation for being a rebel and a vociferous anti-establishment figure . Berger's career was also at times interrupted by drug abuse . La Grande Notte di Ringo" is predominantly an Italian film rather than a Spanish one , but the Spaniard participation is important , as here appears a lot of Spanish secondaries , ordinary players in Spaghetti/Chorizo or Paella Western such as Armando Calvo , Paco Morán ,Antonio Molino Rojo , Antonio Moreno and of course the always excellent Eduardo Fajardo . Colorful cinematography by usual Emilio Foriscot , he creates a magnificent scenario on the little town and barren outdoors , dirty landscapes under a shimmer sun ; being filmed on location Manzanares Del Real , La Pedriza , Colmenar Viejo (Madrid) and Lacio (Rome) . The music original by Carlo Rustichelli composes an agreeable Spaghetti soundtrack , being well conducted and including a splendid leitmotif ; it's full of enjoyable sounds and emotive score The motion picture was professionally written and produced by Eduardo Manzanos Brochero and his production company ¨Copercines¨ . Eduardo Manzanos started producing ¨Il Coyote¨ and ¨The Jiusticia De Coyote¨ by Joaquin Romero Marchent with Abel Salazar and Gloria Marin . After that , he produced with his company Copercines ¨Vengeance of Zorro¨ and ¨L'Ombra Di Zorro¨ (1962) by Joaquin Marchent with Frank Latimore . Eduardo Manzanos built a Western little town in Hoyo De Manzanares (Madrid) with sets by Jaime Perez Cubero and Jose Luis Galicia , today almost scrawny or sadly disappeared ; the village was called ¨Golden City¨ where filmed several Western as the classic ¨Fistful of dollars¨ and ¨For a fistful of dollars more¨ ; furthermore there was shot : ¨Welcome Padre Murray¨ , ¨Brandy¨ , various Zorros and this one . Manzanos Brochero produced various films for Marchent brothers as Joaquin Romero Marchent : ¨Cabalgando Hacia Muerte¨ , ¨Three good men¨; and Rafael Marchent : ¨Quien Grita vengeance¨, ¨Two crosses in Danger Pass¨ ; and for Italian directors as ¨Sabor Odio¨ by Umberto Lenzi¨ , ¨Winchester 1 between 1000¨ by Primo Zeglio , ¨At the end of the rainbow¨ by Aldo Florio and ¨Taste for vengeance¨ or "Cowards Don't Pray" and this one . "Ringo's Big Night" was compellingly realized by Mario Maffei , he is an assistant director , known for Rufufú , Girl with a suitcase , Boccaccio 70 , Inglorious bastards , among others .

Normally I enjoy spaghetti westerns a lot, but this one was at times very tough to sit through, so I can only imagine what non-western fans would think of it. The movie does have a few good ideas that could have potentially paid off, but the execution is more often than not lacking. After the opening action sequence, you have to wait more than a half hour before the next real action sequence. The movie is extremely slow-moving and filled with too much talk to engage western fans. Even the music score, usually the highlight of a spaghetti western, is very lacklustre. Animal lovers might want to especially avoid this movie since there is some treatment of horses at one point that might anger them.Oh, and despite what the title says, there's no character in the movie by the name of "Ringo".

200,000 dollars are stolen in a stagecoach robbery, and soon two strangers are arrested: John and Jack. They are innocent (well, at least in this case) and because John has a broken arm, Jack decides to break out of jail alone, prove who the real bandits are, get hold of the money, kill the bad guys (whoever they may be) and return to John. Simple plan, difficult to carry out, though! In Tombstone, Jack cannot trust anybody, but he's got a few clever ideas to impress the enemies (he pretends he can shoot a hole through a coin, but exchanges the coin secretly because he actually missed) and doesn't hesitate even to tie the saloon girl (hot: Adriana Ambesi) to her bed for information. Yet he finds that the stagecoach robbers are well prepared to hide their true identities...This was the first Italian western for William Berger who was to continue in the genre for many films until the 1980s. The character he portrays, Jack aka Ringo, is a typical blond hero type at first glance; but if you take a closer look at Ringo's problems with the law, especially with sheriffs, that is foreshadowing the more twisted characters Berger was to play later, for example in 'Sabata'. Eduardo Fajardo ('Django') is a perfect villain as always; in one scene, he uses a pistol disguised as a door-handle, I haven't seen this anywhere else before. Carlo Rustichelli's music enhances the action, and director Maffei (who was usually working as an assistant or second unit director) shows the necessary craftsmanship to put this together. The result is not outstanding in any way, but a solid low budget western without major flaws.