Ringo and His Golden Pistol (1966)

Carlo Savina’s music is the highlight, 10 September 2019

The Quick Pitch:  After bounty hunter Johnny Ringo kills his brothers, a Mexican bandit joins forces with a band of Apaches to seek his revenge. 

Overall, Ringo and His Golden Gun is a good, but not great, Spaghetti Western.  I may have gone in expecting way too much as the movie was directed by the great Sergio Corbucci.  His films Django, The Great Silence, and Companeros are among my favorites of the genre. Ringo and His Golden Gun doesn’t quite measure up to that standard.  Ringo and His Golden Gun is not as dark and brutal with the over-the-top violence found in many of Corbucci’s other films. It almost feels like a standard, run-of-the-mill American Western.  Not that that’s a bad thing, just not what I was hoping for. I found the first third of the film very entertaining – meeting Ringo and getting the basic story of what’s to come. But somewhere in the second act, things started to drag a bit.  The grand gunfight during the film’s finale should have been a highlight, but it lacked that something special to make it memorable. Most of the acting was solid, including Mark Damon as Ringo. Though I must admit that his ridiculous looking mustache and eyeliner made me chuckle a time or two.  Other positives of note include Riccardo Pallottini’s cinematography and, especially, Carlo Savina’s score. Savina’s work on Ringo and His Golden Gun is eerily reminiscent of Ennio Morricone. I’ve often said that if it weren’t for Sergio Leone, Sergio Corbucci would probably be better known. I’ll add to that by saying that if it weren’t for Morricone, Savina would no doubt be better known. 

6/10