La più grande rapina del west

Plot synopsis:
A man dressed as a monk accompanied by a woman arrives to Middletown with a statue of St Absalom on a wagon. Jarret and his gang set fire to a hay wagon in the street and during the confusion they rob the bank, and place the gold coins inside the statue, which was parked by the window of the bank office. Then they ride off and disperse to avoid the pursuing posse.
The monk and his companion proceed with the statue to the insignificant town of Poorlands. Later the gang reconvenes there. When the sheriff tries to telegraph his suspicions he is shot, and Jarret takes control of the town and puts a guard with the telegraph operator to make sure that all incoming messages are acknowledged.
The man in monk clothes, who is called ”the priest” (Il Santo) objects that killings were not part of the agreement. Jarret’s plan, however, is to await an Indian guide who knows the way through the desert, and then kill everybody and burn the town to get rid of witnesses. However the guide does not arrive – because he was killed earlier in a fight with the Priest who had tried to pay him not to come. The Priest secretly continues a liaison with Jarret’s woman Mara (the woman on the wagon) and plans to take the gold. He thus supports Jarret against gang members who want it to be divided at once.
Billy Rhum, the brother of the sheriff, is locked up in jail but slips out, first to bury the body of his brother, and next to save his friend Mark, who has been caught trying to go for help. When the furious Jarret has all the citizens dragged out into the street and starts shooting people the telegraph operator attempts to send an alarm and is shot. ”The priest” (who no longer dress' as one) has become aware of Billy’s outings and offers him money to kill Jarret. When the gang check the statue they find stones instead of gold.
Now the posse approaches to investigate why the town telegraph has ceased acknowledging. All men are locked in and women, children and gang members appear as attending the funeral of the telegraph operator. Suddenly Billy Rhum appears as the sheriff, and suggests that the men of the town – that is Jarret and the gang – join the posse. When they have left, he offers the Priest to leave with Mara, but the two start a shoot-out over the money. They are joined first by Jarret and then by his men, who have turned back covered by the dust of the posse. Billy offers part of the gold to Jarret or the Priest if they kill the other. The rest of the gang perish in the fight and after Priest has saved Billy they join forces, while Mara and Billy’s girl friend Jenny fight over a gun in the saloon. Jarred barricades himself in the sheriff office and finds the gold hidden in boxes with dynamite. He starts throwing dynamite at his foes, but the whole office explodes and sends the gold raining over the citizens.

Tags: western, violence

Review:
Mediocre Italian Western with Spaghetti all star cast and full of shots , action and fun. Acceptable but middling Western with typical Spaghetti actors as Gerge Hilton and Hunt Powers . A good example of Latino western genre from Italia . It deals with a nasty band under Jarret (Walter Barnes) , being formed by Santo ( Jack Betts or Hunt Powers) , his girlfriend (Sarah Ross) and other hoodlums (Rick Boyd , Salvatore Borghese , Mario Brega). Santo poses as a fake monk , including the San Bernardo's sculpture, to carry out the bank heist . They are wanted ¨Dead or alive¨ , north of the border . The gang arrives in Porland , a little town now dominated by Jarret and his underlings . After robbing they wait for an Indio who is supposed to lead them across the desert to Mexico . The false priest who has his own schemes murders Indio so that the outlaws can't leave the little town . They kill a good Sheriff (Enzo Fiermote) who is Billy's (George Hilton of Sartana series ) brother . Then Billy who is in prison hears his brother was murdered in a gun-down . Billy goes out to avenge his brother and breaks out from jail by a secret corridor to encounter brother's assassin . As Billy , helped by Mark (Jeff Cameron), seeks vengeance against Jarret , while his hoodlums kill , mistreat and harass townspeople . Two nasties attempt to rape a young girl (Katia Christine) but she is helped by Santo . At the end takes places a spectacular gun-down between Billy , Santo , both of whom join forces , against Jarret and his hoodlums .Offbeat Spaghetti Western that follows the Sergio Leone wake , but it is also proceeded in American models . It's an exciting western with breathtaking gunfight between the protagonist George Hilton against the heartless Walter Barnes and his hoodlums . George Hilton and Jack Betts as starring couple are fine, they ravage the screen, shoot , hit and run and kill . This movie is a lot of fun to watch . It's an acceptable story with a touch of peculiarity, some likable characters, and an amazing music score . The picture is a tale of justice and revenge, as a man escapes after his prison and looks for vendetta . The basic plot is ordinary spaghetti western fare, but what makes this movie stand out is its style . atmospheric musical score by Luis Bacalov who subsequently won Academy Award for ¨The Postman and Pablo Neruda¨, but here he rips off from Ennio Morricone's Once upon a time in America¨ . Badly photographed , the picture deserves a necessary remastering , as the film-copy is worn-out . Appears as secondaries the habitual in Italian Western such as Rick Boyd , Luciano Rossi, Bento Stefanelli, Umberto Raho ; Mario Brega , Sergio Leone's customary , and the always sympathetic Salvatore Borghese ; furthermore a Eurotrash Goddess as Erika Blanc as Saloon girl. The film packs violence , shootouts , high body-count and it's fast moving and quite entertaining . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing some shoot'em up , cat-fights between Sarah Ross and Erika Blanc , brawls or stunts every few minutes. There is a very odd implementation of shots in the camera work during some particular scenes as the film approaches its climax , as in the final gunfights full of shots and explosions and of course lots of zooms . The movie gets the usual Western issues, such as avengers antiheroes , violent facing off , exaggerated baddies , soundtrack with Morricone influence , among them . The sense of pacing is such that his film can be counted on to move quickly and smoothly . Good production design creating an excellent scenario with luminous outdoors, dirty and rocky landscapes under a glimmer sun and fine sets . Interior scenes filmed in Italy , Elios Studios and outdoor sequences with barren exteriors filmed in Almeria , Spain , as usual . This motion picture is professionally directed by Maurizio Luzidi . Although Maurizo couldn't be deemed an "A"-list director, his movies had a professionalism and a verve that many of those made by his fellow B directors lacked . He was a fine editor and also filmed detective thrillers , Giallo , comedy and even a horror film or two . He directed two Western more as ¨Saddle tramps¨ with Bud Spencer and ¨Pecos¨ with Robert Woods , and even made films with international cast as ¨Sweet people¨ with Roger Moore and Stacy Keach and ¨The last chance¨ with Elli Wallach and Ursula Andress . His greatest conquest was the edition of ¨Don Quijote¨ by Orson Welles . Rating : 5,5 . Acceptable , passable but average .. Do we need a real plot?. A gang under Jarret (Walter Barnes) robs a bank and is helped by Santo, a monk. After the robbery they wait for the native Indio who is supposed to lead them through the desert to Mexico. Santo who has his own plans kills Indio so that the bandits can't leave the town. That's the end of the plot and more or less the start of the film. Now the bad guys mostly kill each other with the exception of those killed by Billy (George Hilton) who is the brother of the killed sheriff and imprisoned for drinking. Hilton and Betts aren't bad but the rest of the cast hardly deserves to be mentioned. The muddle that is going on once on a while shifts into comedic waters which are soon left again.Score is mediocre, sets are average at best. The really many bonus scenes on the DVD are symptom of heavy editing. It seems that every country got a slightly different version. The German DVD is acceptable for the low price.4 / 10 (reviewed for the sake to have a review). Not very well done at all. I normally love spaghetti westerns, but I have to admit that this one was kind of tough to sit through. It has an acceptable opening sequence, kind of comic in nature, and is followed by a weirdly comic (but infectious) opening credits song. However, just about all of what follows is done in a very serious tone. I could have lived with that change in tone had this seriousness been well done, but it really isn't. What follows is a rapid introduction of new characters and motivations that had me downright confused. It also didn't help that there is almost no action until the climatic sequence, which contributes heavily to the movie's main flaw of being extremely boring. Even if you are a fan of George Hilton, this is one pasta western that you'd be better off skipping.. Hallelujah For George Hilton!. Fake monk Hunt Powers travels around with a hollow wooden saint, filling it with stolen loot from elaborately staged bank robberies. Meanwhile, slacker George Hilton fistfights for fun and free drinks. When Powers' gang kills Hilton's sheriff brother and takes over the town, he's forced to take them on with help from Powers himself!Things start off on a comedic note, before dramatically shifting to a darker, more violent tone, once the villains begin their standoff, then back to comedy in the last minute. It's tone is pretty uneven, to say the least.On a whole though, there's plenty of action and suspense, with a few neat story touches here and there and some familiar European faces like Mario Brega and Erika Blanc.You really can't go wrong with a western starring George Hilton. He has the right spirit, charisma, timing, and physicality to make just about anything he's in worth watching.