Thanks for the memories!

Pretty Good

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Scott has a lowly job in the town of Clifton, mainly clearing up people's rubbish, and is treated with disinterest and sometimes contempt by the seemingly righteous citizens of the town. Into which town rides the mysterious Frank Talby and everything starts to be shaken up as two main plot strands emerge; the taking under his wing of Scott by Talby and Talby's efforts to get back the $50,000 dollars he claims is owing to him. It starts off slowly establishing character then moves up several gears to the gripping climax.Giuliano Gemma as Scott is good and Lee Van Cleef as the ambiguous (Is he a hero or a villain?) Talby is even better. Although playing in an Italian western was so familiar to him Van Cleef still manages to give a compellingly nuanced performance. Walter Rilla as Murph is the best of the supporting actors. The rest of the cast are typical Italian western actors in that they don't look quite right as American cowboys but have oddly fascinating faces. To bolster the film are a splendid music score by Riz Ortolani and the gorgeous cinematography by Enzo Serafin in Technicolour and Techniscope., making the landscapes particularly beautiful. Each shot could be framed as a work of art. A spaghetti western not to be missed.

Scott (Gemma) isn't yer usual Western hero. He's literally the son of a whore, he owns a stubborn mule, not a horse, and his gun is made of wood! Worse still, the people of the town of Clifton treat him like the crap he has to slop out every day (that's right, he's the town's sanitation guy!). The only guy who treats him well is the guy who owns the stable he sleeps in. Then one day a guy called Talby (Van Cleef) shows up, and he's all attitude. Looks like he's an old gunslinger with a beef regarding the more established gentleman of the town, and he's also taken Scott in as an apprentice. Scott turns out to be insanely fast with a gun, so Talby starts giving him lessons in being a gunslinger, the second of which is 'trust nobody' which results in Talby robbing Scott and leaving him in the desert.Is Talby an elderly muse helping out a downtrodden guy or is he a murderous monster out to settle down before someone plugs him and is only using Scott as protection? As Scott turns from downtrodden guy to feared gunslinger, it's clear that Talby is a murderous monster (especially when he flat out murders a guy). Scott starts developing loyalty problems as his new employer and his old employer start having conflicting views on how the town of Clifton should be run.Just like other 'young gunslinger and mentor' films (Death Rides a Horse, starring Lee Van Cleef, For A Few Dollars More, with Cleef, Beyond The LAw, with Van Lee Cleef, The Grand Duel, with DJ Cleef Lee Van), this one concentrates a lot on the relationship between master and apprentice, but this one has a more sinister tone as you're not sure if Gemma is going to become a victim of Cleef's power grab or not.There's a lot to this film too. There's a vengeful barber, and an awesome duel between Van Cleef and a hired killer where they ride towards each other and have to load a musket rifle before firing and a musical number! Gorgeous looking too. Before watching this and The Price of Power I'd only watched Tonino Valeri's My Dear Killer, a so-so Giallo, but his Westerns are really strong.And well done Gemma, another fine film

The musical score, cinematography, and strong performances make this particular western a great story that goes beyond the standard thematic gunslinger opera. This is an epic western filmed by a camera crew that let's the scenery interact with the performances. The music is great, and the opening credits have the hook that set the mood and the film delivers it with full fury. Lee Van Cleef gives his best performance on film. A many layered character study with humor and depth, the audience is rewarded by great on screen chemistry between Gemma and Cleef. A must see for anyone who is a fan of westerns, or the writing style of Elmore Leonard and Larry McMurtry.

Day of Anger (1967) is considered a top 20 by most fans and critics. I definitely agree this is a great SW movie with good music and acting by Lee Van Cleef, and Gemma. The story is great about a simple man with dreams to have respect and to own his own colt, but unfortunately Scott Mary (Gemma) is treated like dirt by the townspeople of Clifton and verbally and physically abused and it is a revenge style theme about a man name Talby (Van Cleef), who gets out of jail and goes to collect 50,000 from Wild Jack, who in return was lied and double crossed by some of the good old folks of Clifton so Talby goes to collect and helps mentor Scott, who becomes a side kick. It all changes when Talby kills someone close to Scott and then he gets a reality check and faces off with his mentor. Movie is overall fast paced with good action and story.