Quella sporca storia nel west (1968)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Enzo G. Castellari

Writers:

Tito Carpi (writer) and
Francesco Scardamaglia (writer) ...

Release Date:

May 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Western

Plot Keywords:

Shakespeare's Hamlet | Spaghetti Western | Based On Play

Cast

Andrea Giordana	...	Johnny (as Andre Giordana)
Gilbert Roland	...	Dazio
Horst Frank	...	Claudio Hamilton
Ennio Girolami	...	Ross
Ignazio Spalla	...	Guild (as Pedro Sanchez)
Françoise Prévost	...	The Queen
Stefania Careddu	...	Eugenia
Manuel Serrano	...	Santana
Franco Latini
Giorgio Sammartino	...	Polomo (as Giorgio Sanmartin)
Gabriella Grimaldi	...	Emily / Ofelia
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Bartha
Franco Leo
Fabio Patella

Also Known As:

Johnny Hamlet (USA)
That Dirty Story of the West (International: English title) (informal literal title)

Runtime:

Germany:78 min | USA:91 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:16 (re-rating) | Norway:(Banned) (1969) (uncut version) | West Germany:18 (nf) | Sweden:15 | USA:PG

Company:

Daiano Film

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Red Dead Revolver (2004) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Find The Man

Western adaptation of Hamlet (sic!)

Based on an idea by Sergio Corbucci, Enzo Castellari directed this western adaptation of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" drama, as Django (or Johnny, depending on which dubbing you get in your country) avenges the death of his father. It is interesting to observe how the classical tragedy elements work in the context of a Mediterranean style western movie. Not yet 30 years old, Castellari was already very creative at little touches like the camera circling around Django's face in the scene at his father's grave, and should take this way further in "Keoma" a decade later.

"Quella sporca storia nel west" suffers a bit from the unconvincing cast: German actor Horst Frank with his blond hair does not look like he is a member of the same family as Gilbert Roland, the veteran actor Roland is too old to play Andrea Giordana's brother, whose mother is much too young to be the mother of any of them. But even if the audience won't buy this ensemble for a family, the cruelty of the old tragedy is working great for a tough western, and the visual qualities of the movie, also gifted with a thrilling musical score by Francesco de Masi, save the day and make it a must for the collection of every spaghetti western fan. Regrettably, Andrea Giordana did not make any westerns after this anymore, because the young man had talent.