See if this plot sounds at all familiar. A group of men protect a small town from a band of outlaws, helping them with weapons and a bit of teaching to defend themselves. Nah, couldn’t be.
The titular star is Giacomo Rossi-Stuart(billed as Jack Stuart) who plays Norman Sandel. He has the requisite good looks and blonde hair, but only minor acting skills. A bland, rather neutral expression on his face most of the time.
The standout is Dan Vadis as Ramon, the outlaw leader. He had the commanding presence thae Rossi-Stuart lacked to go with dark brooding looks.
As the film opens, Norman and his father are taking a break for lunch when they see a rider coming, slumped in his saddle. A neighbor, they get him down, only to have him killed by two other riders, masked, that managed to get on top of them without being seen. His dying breath mentions a Colonel Cook. The two killers are there to take Norman’s father with them and kill Norman. Norman gets them, but not before they kill his father.
Norman heads for town to find two of his father’s friends, Frank(Daniele Vargas, billed as Dan Vargas) and Logan(spaghetti veteran José Torres). They and his father served during the Civil War with Colonel Cook. The three men head to Cook’s home, Danger City, to find out what it was all about, picking up Dick Regan(Riccardo Garrone), a whiskry drummer whosr wagon had broke down and was then robbed by bandits while he hid. For me, he was suspicious from the start. He wore a short gun and was very good with it. We learn later he was more than just a drummer.
They arrive at Danger City only to find it apparently deserted. It’s not long before they learn it’s full of women and children. Ramon’s band had killed or taken prisoner all the men. When a young woman, Rosy(Rosy Zichel), Ramon’s girl friend who’d grown tired of his cruelty, arrives, they learn what’s up. Rumor had it that Cook had ten grand somewhere and Ramon wanted it. It went all the way back to the war. The townsmen, Cook included, he’d taken prisoner, were being tortured for information.
With Rosy’s help, Norman sneaks in and rescues Cook, who’s mind seems stuck in the Civil War.. They never make it clear whether he was already in that condition or it was the result of the torture inflicted on him. He refuses to tell them where the money might be, having promised Lee it would be used o buy arms for the South. Ramon wants the money and has promised to wipe out the town if he doesn’t get it.
The final sequence takes out most of the major players.
Not a terrible western. More than one reviewer noted that rookie director Giuseppe Vari might have done a better job with the script with a few more years of experience. That script, by the way, might have profited from another draft or two. It was by Sergio Garrone(as Willy Regan) and Vari.