zardoz-13 Not only did "Hands of a Gunfighter" constitute Rafael Romero Marchent debut as a film director, but also the Spaghetti western marked the first time that American actor Craig Hill made his initial movie in Europe after he had spent more than a decade searching for stardom. After a couple of roles in American movies and television, Hill returned to Europe and spent a little over 30 years starring in a variety of westerns, horror epics, and crime movies. Marchent's "Hands of a Gunfighter" doesn't qualify as a run-of-the-mill horse opera about a pistolero who has hung up his six-guns and settled down with a wife and a son. Dan Murphy (Craig Hill of "Siege at Red River") and his wife Miriam (Gloria Milland of "Hercules Against the Barbarians") are riding through a town in a covered wagon when the town lawman, Sheriff Rogers (Jesús Puente of "A Bullet for Rommel") takes a shot at Murphy with a rifle and kills Murphy's son. At this point, the narrative becomes muddled. Years elapse, and we learn that Murphy and Miriam are living the quiet life of a rancher with a son, Andy (Francisco José Huetos), but Andy isn't their son. Actually, Andy belongs to Sheriff Rogers, and one of Rogers' deputies come to get him and return him to his biological father. Andy has been living with Dan and Miriam long enough that he believes that they are his parents. Meantime, trouble brews between Murphy and the Castle brothers who own a ranch and cast a giant shadow in the community. The Castles are ruffians, and they pick on Dan and his friends, a young couple who have moved into a nearby ranch. The Castles have been trying to bait Dan into a fight, but he hasn't accommodated them. Eventually, after they murder and burn out the young couple, a reluctant Dan buckles on his six-shooter, and he gives them the opportunity that they have eagerly awaited. The problem is that they aren't prepared for the showdown, and they pay the consequences of years that they harassed Dan. One of the Castles, Davy (Piero Lulli of "My Name is Nobody"), discovers that he should never have bullied Murphy. The showdown between these two hombres is singular in the annuals of Spaghetti westerns. Dan brandishes two revolvers, and he loads one bullet into one of them. Afterward, he hands the shooting irons to a bystander and instructs him to shift them around so that nobody can possibly know which one contains a bullet. Murphy has him pitch the guns into the dust, and he gives Davy first go at choosing the loaded firearm. Predictably, Davy selects the wrong six-gun, and the hammer clicks six-times on each empty cylinder. Conversely, Dan takes the other revolver and shoots Davy dead on the spot. Meantime, Miriam has gone to visit Andy who believes that he will have a chance to see his father. When Dan arrives at Rogers' ranch to take Andy home, Rogers' ranch hands blast Murphy to pieces in a hail of gunfire. "Hands of a Gunfighter" isn't your average reformed gunslinger western, but it is an interesting variation on the theme. Composer Angelo Francesco Lavagnino provides another memorable orchestral soundtrack for this striking Euro-western.

Leofwine_draca HANDS OF A GUNFIGHTER is a standard Spanish spaghetti western made just before the boom in the genre really hit. It stars regular genre actor Craig Hill playing an ageing gunslinger trying to lead a peaceful life only to come up against a couple of outlaw brothers with murder in mind. Despite the low budget the film has some stylish moments and some dark, psychological themes in the plot that make it a film of more depth than the usual comic book-thin actioner. Speaking of action, there's plenty of it on offer here, and things build to a suitably iconic climax which is all about the visuals. It's not a perfect film, rough around the edges at times, and the lack of money is occasionally apparent in the cheap staging, but it does the job well enough for undemanding viewers.

ma-cortes Passable Tortilla Western well starred by the American Craig Hill and compellingly directed by Rafael Marchent . Cool Spaghetti full of fury , action, and portentous duels . This decent as well as enjoyable Paella Western owes a considerable debt to Leone and packs violence , shootouts , high body-count and it's fast moving and quite entertaining . It deals with a retired gunslinger named Don Murphy (Craig Hill) happily married to Laura Murphy (Gloria Milland) . Years before, on the run and trying to encounter a location to settle down, a Sheriff (Jesus Puente) accidentally shoots and murders their son . In retribution , Murphy takes Sheriff's own son . Nowadays , they live in a ranch next to a little town dominated by the powerful Carter Brothers (Lorenzo Robledo , Hugo Planco , Piero Lulli) led by John (Jose Guardiola) and their foreman (Luis Induni) . When he learns his friend Pat Davis (director's brother , Carlos Romero Marchent , who usually plays his films) is shot , Murphy seeks vengeance against the Carter brothers who cowardly killed him . Murphy is relentless in his vendetta , deadly in his violence .Spaghetti with Chorizo Western crammed with thrills , drama , shoot em' up , murders and lots of violence and action . An Italian-Spanish co-production full of emotion , exaggerated characters, shootouts and twists . The motion picture was well written by ordinary Joaquin Romero and professionally directed by Rafael Romero Marchent . Leone-style Western with nice performances and fine direction by Rafael Romero Marchent who creates some good action scenes and exciting set pieces . It's an exciting western with breathtaking showdown between the protagonist Craig Hill against Jose Guardiola and his brothers : Hugo Blanco , Lorenzo Robledo and Piero Lulli . The movie contains typical particularities Spaghetti , as is full of fury , sadism , bloodbaths , and close-ups of grime-encrusted faces . The notorious Spaghetti/Paella actor , Craig Hill is good in his usual tough role , here playing a former gunman , now farmer, become into a terrible avenger . His role is well performed , he plays as a relentless revenger , a violent veteran who seeks a bloody vendetta , an usual plot in Spaghetti/Paella Western . Craig Hill played a lot of Spaghetti such as "Seven Pistols for a Massacre" , "Rick and John¨ , ¨Conquerors of the West¨ , ¨Bounty hunter¨ , "I Want Him Dead" , "Fifteen Scaffolds for the Killer" , "Three Crosses of Death" , ¨Bury Them Deep¨ , and this "Hands of a Gunfighter" or ¨Ocaso de un Pistolero¨ , his first Western . His main enemy is rightly performed by Jose Guardiola as a cruelly baddie role is terrific, he subsequently would play similar characters . Furthermore, there appears usual Italian/Spanish Western support actors , a largely secondary cast plenty with Spanish/Italian secondaries , all of them ordinary in Chorizo western , such as Jesús Puente , Raf Baldassarre , Piero Lulli , Francisco Sanz , Jesus Guzman , Luis Induni , Hugo Blanco, Lorenzo Robledo , Rufino Ingles , Emilio Rodriguez , among others , though there sadly lacks the great Fernando Sancho . Adequate photography by Miguel Fernandez Mila , being necessary a right remastering because of the film copy is washed out , filmed on location in Las Rozas , Manzanares Del Real , La Pedriza , Madrid . And being accompanied by an agreeable musical score by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino , including catching leitmotif.The movie was produced in enough budget by Ricardo Sanz who financed various Paella Western such as "My Horse, My Gun, Your Widow" , ¨4 Implacables¨ , ¨Bala Marcada¨ and "I'll Kill Him and Return Alone" . Being professionally directed and in his own personal style by Rafael Romero Marchent . Rafael Romero Marchent was born on May 3, 1926 in Madrid, Spain. He is a director and actor, known for Garringo, Un Dolar de Recompensa , or Manos Torpes . Rafael Romero Marchent was brother of Joaquin Luis Romero , who was the first to shoot Westerns in Spain . At first, Rafael Romero began in films as an actor, but when his career began to wane, he preferred to spend time behind the camera . Rafael is an expert writer and director of Spaghetti Western as proved in ¨Two crosses on Danger Pass¨, Cry for revenge¨, ¨Two guns for two twins¨ and ¨Sartana Kills Them All¨ or ¨Un par Asesinos¨. While his brother Joaquin Marchent is deemed the Paella Western's best director , his first film was ¨El Coyote¨ and the sequel titled ¨Revenge of Coyote¨ shot in Mexico ; after that , he filmed ¨The shadow of Zorro¨ and ¨Revenge of Zorro¨, he went go directing Western as ¨ Riding to death ¨ , ¨Adventures in the West¨ , ¨Three good men¨, ¨Sabor Venganza ¨ and the most popular and violent ¨Condenados a Vivir¨ . Plus , he wrote for his brother Rafael Romero Marchent the followings Western : ¨Manos Torpes¨, ¨Ocaso Un Pistolero¨ , ¨Garringo¨ , ¨Dos Cruces en Danger Pass¨ and ¨Sartana Kills Them All¨. Rating : 6/10 .Passable and decent Chorizo Western , though contains some flaws and gaps ; however , it results to be entertaining .

rmahaney4 Made early in the Eurowestern boom of the mid-1960s, Ocaso de un pistolero (1965) is yet another underrated Spanish western that is actually a decent B-western of surprising psycho-social realism. The westerns written and directed by Spaniards tend to be very different in terms of technique, tone, and thematic preoccupations from those made by Italians. Like most Spanish westerns, this movie is more crudely made than their Italian westerns, but as the movie progresses there are actually a number scenes which are evocative if rough-hewn such as the Carter Brother's funeral, the sequence in they stalk their victims and in turn are hunted, and especially the movie's final scene. As such, it is much better than contemporary films like Tierra de Fuego (1965) or I Tre del Colorado (1965). If you enjoy Eurowesterns, it is worth giving this movie a chance on it's own (limited) terms.Ocaso de un pistolero (1965) was written by Joaquin Marchent and directed by his brother Rafeal. Together they were responsible for many of the best "Paella westerns." The story is told economically and skillfully, with two partially independent story lines dovetailing in the psychological deterioration of Dan Murphy and not in the usual series of (unneeded) plot complications. Where these "Paella westerns" match the Italian examples of the genre is in their own unique conception of the relationship of the individual and their society, one presumably rooted in the Franco regime and the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War. Violence is a brutalizing contagion, resorted to by the protagonists out of necessity to protect something they value, but resulting in their corruption and ambiguous destruction. Their actions are motivated by good intentions, but in a world where the law is a tool available to anyone who can seize it each act only results in the confirmation of the inevitable final condemnation. Violence corrupts them and they become like those the brutalized them. The powerful individual may be killed (and usually is), but power itself is a raw enveloping force and physical presence that will collapse on the protagonist regardless, annihilating them. By the end, the protagonist must be destroyed as well in an ambiguous exorcism. Personally, I find some of these "Paella" westerns" fairly effective because of this recurrent desperate drama.In contrast, the Italian movies tend to have subtexts of resurrection and revolution, leaving them with a strange optimism only thinly disguised beneath overt, cynical gestures. Though westerns declined as a genre in Italy in the early-1970s, many of their themes were taken up in the popular crime movies of the time. It is in these movies that a similar disillusionment can be seen.In this movie, the filmmakers do a surprisingly good job imitating a low-budget 1950s American B-western with only a small amount of the usual surreal pre-Leone pastiche. Yet, the Iberian western underneath slowly rips through the facade, force and violence rending the image. The basic plot involves a gunman named Dan Murphy (Craig Hill) and his wife (Gloria Milland). Years before, on the run and attempting to find a place to settle down, Sheriff Rogers (Jesus Puente) accidentally shoots and kills there son, Andy. In retribution, they steal Roger's own son. They raise the boy as their own, naming him Andy. At the wedding of a neighbor, Roger's deputy finds Murphy. The same evening, the Murphy gets into a fight with the Carter brothers, the local criminal bullies. These threads are pulled and Murphy's life begins to unravel.Much of the movie seems to be focused on the contrast between the institutions of law and the insoluble problems of justice. Murphy is seeking justice for the murder of his child and, later, of his friends. The Carter's are seeking justice for the death of their younger brother. The town's sheriff is simply an impediment to justice and is denounced, then murdered.The movie seems to modeled after American westerns such as The Gunfighter (1950) and The Fastest Gun Alive (1956), in that it centers on a famous gunman attempting to escape is reputation. In the conflict between Murphy and the Carters, the movie seems to be recreating that between Earp and the Clantons in My Darling Clementine (1946). The overarching "gothic family" plot is a favorite trope that recurred in a number of Eurowesterns such as Pistolero dell'Ave Maria, Il (1969) or Tempo di massacro (1966).The dubbing is terrible. The theme music by Angelo Lavagnino was reused in number of low-budget Eurowesterns. While unspectacular, but it does have a strange "lounge Morricone" vibe to it, being a laid-back deguello.