Ringo del Nebraska

Plot synopsis:
New Mexico, 1866. A man riding alone on horseback is gunned down by several gunmen. The man is revealed to be Donato, one of Marty Hillmann's ranch hands.Soon after the opening killing, a laconic drifter (Ken Clark) arrives at the remote Hillmann ranch where he asks the owner Marty Hillmann (Alfonso Rojas) if there is any work. Introducing himself as Nebraska, the drifter subsequently impresses Hillmann with a display of gun fighting. Hillmann determines that Nebraska is the kind of man he needs on the ranch, and so he hires him to do odd jobs. A little later, Nebraska meets Hillmans beautiful young wife Kay (Yvonne Bastien), and they are clearly attracted to each other. However, Nebraska is devoted to his employer and he rejects Kay's advances.Meanwhile, a criminal named Bill Carter (Piero Lulli) is established as the villain of this story. Carter basically controls the entire nearby town with help of hired thugs, and he is determined to kill Hillmann and take Kay as his lover. Finding Donato's dead body, Hillmans first though is to blindly rush off and kill Carter, whom he knows to be responsible for the crime. However, Nebraska urges Hillmann caution because Carter will be waiting for him. Nebraska suggests that they wait and plan things out. Hillmann agrees and both he and Nebraska ride into town to report the incident to Burt, the local sheriff who has been disgraced by his alcoholism. Using the fact that Carter's men have stolen Donato's horse as evidence, Burt puts the two men who killed Donato in jail, all the while knowing that he is endangering his own life by opposing Carter.Later that night, as they ride home to the ranch together, Hillmann and Nebraska become good friends as they talk about their lives and how Nebraska ended up as a drifter. Hillmann is impressed by Nebraskas intelligence and resourcefulness, and promises to be loyal to him. At that moment, Hillmann is shot by an unseen assailant. The assailant is none other that Bill Carter himself. But the need to get his wounded friend back to the ranch prevents Nebraska from going after the culprit.The next morning, Carter's men are set free when another one of Carters men arrives at the jail with bail money for them. When Burt uncovers some evidence against them, he is shot and killed. Meanwhile, Nebraska leaves the ranch to look for Burt, unaware that the sheriff has been killed. Taking advantage of Nebraska's absence, Carter and his men show up at the Hillmann ranch. By this point, Hillmann has already died from his wounds, and Carter is anxious to retrieve the money thats owed to him. In transpires that Kay and her father had conspired with Carter to rob a bank in El Paso. However, Kay and Hillmann double crossed Carter by running off with the money. Pretending to be married, the criminal couple have been hiding out in New Mexico, and now that their hiding place has been discovered, and with Hillmann out of the way, Carter is ready to reclaim the only two things that interest him: the money and Kay. The money is quickly discovered partly buried on the property, but before the bandits can escape with it, they are thwarted by the sudden appearance of Nebraska. In the climatic gunfight, all the thugs are quickly dispatched, and the subsequence fight between Nebraska and Carter ends with the former being killed.Nebraska hands the stolen money to the new sheriff, who seems only too happy to keep the money for himself. Shaking his head, Nebraska mounts his horse and rides off, alone once again, leaving behind Kay who is alive and well, but facing a lonely, sterile future.

Tags: western

Review:
solid, unpretentious spaghetti western, Ken Clark is excellent.
This review is of the pan-and-scan AIP-TV version of this film, called SAVAGE GRINGO.
I taped it off TV about 20 years ago.
I liked it then, and I like it now just having re-watched it.
The few references to this film I've seen note that Mario Bava took over the direction from Antonio Roman, who is solely credited on the copy I have of this film, and then fault the film because it has few if any distinctively Bava touches in it.
If you are looking for an Italian western that is to the genre what HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD is to sword-and-sandal films, look elsewhere, as you won't get it here.
With so many Italian westerns having so many odd cinematic techniques used in them, SAVAGE GRINGO is actually quite conventional.
Perhaps Bava simply just did a professional job on this and did NOT see it as an auteur piece on which he would put his personal stamp or with which he would make some statement about life and art.
He had already worked with Ken Clark previously in ROAD TO FORT ALAMO/ ARIZONA BILL (a film which DID have a number of Bava touches to it)--perhaps that was one reason he was asked to complete this film?
In any event, Clark is fantastic in this role.
He is tall and athletic and one of the better American actors to work in the spaghetti western genre--it's a shame he only made two.
His character NEBRASKA is fascinating although enigmatic, and creates a warmth and passion in the role.
He's also VERY quick with a gun and it's exciting to see him come out of the woodwork in the blink of an eye and blow someone away.
Personally, I don't have a problem with his motivations never being clearly stated--isn't that a little bit like real life?
While we have a feeling that Nebraska will win in the end, we don't really know HOW he will get to that point or what barriers he will face along the way, so I don't see that as causing any lack of suspense.
The suspense is caused by wondering how the situation got to the point it did--who exactly is Kay?
Why does she point out that she's not married to Marty, and if not, what exactly is going on here?
How did this Bill Carter get to be running things?
What's Nebraska's perspective on this?
In a way, the film plays against our expectations of what we expect from other films.
Judged solely as a spaghetti western, NOT as a Mario Bava film, I've got to give this an above average rating.
It's not wildly original, but like an old genre western with Johnny Mack Brown or Charles Starrett (we always know the ending of one of their films in advance, don't we?), it moves quickly, has a lot of fistfights and gunplay, and has the right attitude.
And Ken Clark is superb in a rare Western appearance.
I have a French language version of the previous Bava-Clark western, Arizona Bill.
I'll have to watch it again now (got it 10+ years ago) after seeing this one, and I've got the DVD of ROY COLT...
(Bava's 3rd and final western) on order..
SAVAGE GRINGO (Antonio Roman and, uncredited, Mario Bava, 1966) **1/2.
I managed to acquire this rare Spaghetti Western just in time for my ongoing Bava retrospective: in fact, I opted to start with it since this was one of only three titles I had never watched before.
I wish I had the time to read through Tim Lucas' chapter on the film in his long-in-coming (and, thus, appropriately massive) Bava biography – especially given his uncredited contribution here when, reportedly, he actually replaced Roman quite early into shooting!
Anyway, this is one of four Spaghetti Westerns made by this cult figure and, having now checked out all of them, I can safely say it is the most satisfying (if still far from a key work for either director or genre); obviously, while Bava tried his hand at most any type of film within the "Euro-Cult" stable, he was clearly at his most comfortable (or, if you like, inspired) when handling fantasy/horror/thriller elements!
Apart from the trademark inventive camera-work, one thing which alerts one to Bava's involvement is the presence of both hero and villain: one is the star of his previous Spaghetti Western entry, THE ROAD TO FORT ALAMO (1964; which was pretty decent in itself), i.e. brawny Ken Clark (hence, the U.S. moniker for this is more than a bit misleading!) and the other, Piero Lulli, would play a major role in one of the director's best films – KILL, BABYKILL!
Though usually one of the main assets, the score for this one is no great shakes – nor is there a particular emphasis on violence (nevertheless, the action set-pieces are above-par for the course); what we do get is a reasonably engaging (if thoroughly unsurprising, even in making the heroine out to be something of a conniver) plot which keeps moving, thus allowing one little time to ponder on its potential shortcomings!.
this was directed by Mario Bava!.
Stranger Clark helps a rancher and his beautiful wife (Bastien) against a ruthless bunch of cowboys.
Cardboard western with little action and suspense and a leisurely paced plot.
Still not that bad.
Legendary Mario Bava's direction is utterly conventional (he replaced film's original director Antonio Román), he obviously made this without much ambition.
Score by Nino Oliviero dominates this tame spaghetti western.
Román was credited with the direction for more than twenty years until Bava's involvement was made known.
Still, some believe this to be Bava's best western (his ROY COLT wasn't much better anyway)..
Absolute predicable...even so watchable!!.
My brother gave me this movie in DVD-R by internet download in nearly fine footage quality,the plot is absolute predicable as said in the title,even had been directed by Mario Bava the picture didn't have great atractive,worth to see by the gorgeous Yvonne Bastien with several sexy scenes showing a plenty twins mellons actually she looks like Susan Hayward.....Ringo Nebraska is an usual western from spaghetti's land...but watchable!!!Resume:First watch: 2018 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD-R / Rating: 5.5.
A familiar plot, but solid execution.
RINGO OF NEBRASKA is a spaghetti western chiefly of interest for being directed by Mario Bava, in an uncredited role after the original director was fired for being too slow.
This film's pretty conventional, although it does have a sunny aspect and likable characters which makes it an easy watch for fans of the genre.The story is nothing simple, charting the efforts of a ruthless landowner to get a farm off a couple who refuse to budget.
Thankfully, Ringo rides into town and soon takes out the bad guys in a series of fist fights and latterly, shoot-outs.
Ken Clark is a square-jawed hero type and Yvonne Bastien makes for a very attractive and feisty heroine.
Other familiar faces likes Howard Ross and Frank Brana show up periodically and the film as a whole is quite fast-paced and enjoyable despite the familiarity of the set-up.