A Pistol for Ringo (1965)

Ringo has just been released from jail after being acquitted of murdering a member of the Benson family. When the sheriff hears this, and that the Benson’s have ridden out looking for him he takes off to try and prevent something bad happening. It seems that Ringo is handy with a gun and not too picky about shooting folks who threaten him. The sheriff is late and by the time he arrives Ringo has already killed the four men in self-defense. Still, he arrests him and tosses him in jail.

Ringo is still there when bandits roll into town and rob the bank while gunning lots of folks down. A posse sets off after them and the bandits end up surrounded at a fancy ranch between town and the Mexican border. One of the hostages is the sheriff’s fiancé, Miss Ruby. They surround the place, and the army is called for, but the sheriff knows that all the hostages will likely die so he hatches a plan. Send Ringo in to win the bandit’s trust and free the prisoners before the cavalry arrives. In exchange he will get thirty percent of the stolen money. The rest of the movie is Ringo playing the bandit leader, Sancho, manipulating him into what they hope is a fatal ambush.

This movie is a blast. It starts off with a gunfight before we even know what the heck is going on. Once Ringo and the bandit gang are established there is another huge gunfight with them robbing the bank and shooting up the town/locals. Then it switches gears a bit and we are treated to some excellent twists and turns and there are double, triple, and quadruple crosses! Sancho isn’t as clueless as we are led to believe… but then maybe Ringo knew that. This is that kind of movie and it is a lot of fun to watch. I’ll not go into more detail so I don’t spoil anything.

Giuliano Gemma is great as Ringo. He pulls of the sort of nice guy who will kill you if you cross him but would rather crack a joke unless he decides you are a danger to him then you die. It is a complicated character, sort of the murderous rogue. This sort of antihero is why I love Spaghetti westerns so much. We also get good performance from Fernando Sancho as the bandit leader Sancho. I remember him fondly from Minnesota Clay, another great Spaghetti western, and he is just as good here. There are also good performances from Nieves Navarro (Death Walks on High Heels, The Big Gundown, and several Emanuelle flicks) and Lorella De Luca (The Bloodstained Butterfly). Anytime I see some lovely ladies from Gialli I’ve watched it makes me happy.

The action sequences are executed nicely with lots of gun play, some stabbings, and fists are thrown around. They are spread evenly throughout the duration and are easy to follow who is who. We also get some decent explosions, and the sets are rather extensive. This looks like an expensive movie with a good budget. Toss in an excellent soundtrack from the legendary Ennio Morricone and you have a badass movie. I can’t believe that I hadn’t watched this until now, but it won’t be a one off. There isn’t a single bad thing I can say about the movie. I recommend you guys checking out A Pistol for Ringo.

 

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