Forgotten Pistolero (1969)

Nice SW from Ferdinando Baldi, 13 November 2015

Overall, Forgotten Pistlero is a solid Spaghetti Western – not great, but good enough. Like a lot of the SWs I've seen, the central theme in this one is revenge. The children of a man murdered by his wife and her lover want revenge. It may be a familiar set-up, but Ferdinando Baldi does an excellent job of building interest and tension right to the final moments. Baldi also throws in a lot of other bits that I've come to expect from an entertaining SW – mysterious strangers (Leonard Mann and Pietro Martellanza) with over-the-top gun skills, an impossibly beautiful heroine (played by Pilar Velazquez), a gang of cut-throat killers, and lots and lots of sweaty men. And the film's finale is about as downbeat as you'll find. It's not as dark as something like The Great Silence, but it's definitely not a happy ending. It stuck with me long after the movie ended. Good stuff.

A few other thoughts:

1. The music, while very good, is often derivative and very Morricone-esque. It will remind you of a dozen other scores - but that's not necessarily a bad thing. 

2. The acting is good, but no one really stands out. The highlight of the cast for me has to be Luciana Paluzzi of Thunderball fame. 

3. For what seems like a modestly budgeted SW, there are a couple of set-pieces that are exceptionally well filmed. For example, the waltz scene looks like it came out of a film with a budget far exceeding that of Forgotten Pistolero. It's gorgeous. The other is the film's finale. The burning building is another set-piece that's very well done. 

I'll give Forgotten Pistolero a rock-solid 7/10.

7/10