California
Tags: western, revenge, violence

Plot synopsis:
A deserter who had been an Army lieutenant, Jonathan Trumbo is hired to guide a wagon train bound for California during the California Gold Rush. When a woman named Lily Bishop is accused of cheating at poker in a saloon, farmer Michael Fabian invites her to join the wagon train over Trumbo's strenuous objections. Trumbo, too, accuses of her of cheating at cards after losing to Lily, an insult she promises not to forget.
Lily leaves with Booth Pennock, a ruffian who injures Trumbo with a whip before departing. Lily ends up in Pharaoh City, running a saloon. The town is controlled by Pharaoh Coffin, a former slave trader who opposes the law and order of California approving statehood. Trumbo turns up and gets involved in a saloon brawl. Lily orders him never to set foot there again, but Trumbo wins the place in a poker game.
She mistakenly takes Pharaoh to be an honest man and moves onto his hacienda. Coffin's men beat up Trumbo, who is rescued on the trail by Mexicans and vows revenge. When his wounds heal, Trumbo returns and becomes a spokesman for statehood advocacy. Coffin's hired men kill Fabian for similar beliefs, causing Lily to finally see Coffin for the crazed villain he is. Trumbo forms a posse and corners Coffin, who is descending into madness. Lily shoots him. Trumbo, in love with Lily, promises to return to the Army to atone for his desertion, hoping someday to return to her.

Review: Guiliano Gemma in a sinister Western.
No wonder that California isn't as popular as so many other Spaghetti-Western.
IMO California is one of the last real Spaghetti Western but the filmmakers didn't want to do a typical Western.
Somehow it reminds of one of the many 50's Western flicks but with a darker a more sinister story.
Maybe you can compare California with Keoma or The great Silence.
Also like in these Movies it isn't so easy to say who really the hero is.
Is it Guiliano Gemma as California, who hates his old name and has enough from all that Killing and Shooting?
His opponent is Raimund Harmsdorf a German actor and is best known in supporting roles in so many B-Movies or German TV Shows.
In California Harmsdorf has a fairly good role and he did some fine acting.
He is a ruthless Bounty Hunter who kills Confederates Soldiers for Money.
Unfortunately politics changes and he is getting an Outlaw.
Sorry but the figures aren't simply Black and White in this drama and there are no funny jokes of Guiliano.I wasn't quite happy with this melodramatic Organ 70's like Music.
Towns and people seemed to be destroyed by the war and this world has nothing to do with the beauty as you can see in Once Upon a Time in the West.
Some Scenes are taking place in a Ghost Town.
A travel at the end of the American Civil War and then a Vendetta as it we have already seen in so many contributions to the Genre.
But it wouldn't be a typical Spaghetti Western if this Vendetta wouldn't be different.
California (1977) hasn't a lot in common with Gemma's first western A Pistol for Ringo (1964).For me this melodramatic western was a big surprise.
The storyline and the figures are fine written.
It's not a Feel Good Movie or just another action loaded Hero Tale of the West.
Director Michelle Lupo did a good job and it was his last serious western too.
Buddy goes West (1981)is more a Comedy than a Western.
One year later Lucio Fulci master of Giallo and Horror directed a Spaghetti Western with a similar look: Silver Saddle (1978).
Guiliano Gemma is the main cast again but Fulci's Movie isn't so sinister and dark than this one.
IMO these two Movies were the last Highlights of the Spaghetti Western Genre and then this fascinating Genre ended..
Notable , decent Spaghetti/Paella Western co-produced by Spain and Italy , being shot in Almeria , as usual.
Twilight Spaghetti/Chorizo Western with dark scenarios , atmospheric cinematography by Alejandro Ulloa , good musical score in usual Spaghetti style and being professionally directed by Michele Lupo .
This entertaining , engaging as well as violent movie is crammed of pursuits , fist-fights , punches , kicks , killings , overwhelming stunt-work and lots of shots .
After the Civil War , Michael "California" Random (Giuliano Gemma) , is released from Union prison along with a young Confederate soldier (Miguel Bose) .
Both of whom , California and his partner William , go to Missouri .
And being attacked by a nasty group of bounty hunters (Romano Puppo , Robert Hundar as Eric Plummer , and several others) led by Rope Whittaker (Raimund Harmstorf) .
After that , it happens a hanging and Michael California decides to return the belongings to his family : father Mr Preston (William Berger) , mother Mrs Preston (Dana Ghia), daughter and help them against outlaws .
Meantime , Michael falls in love for a beautiful woman , Helen Preston (Paola Bose) .
But she is captured and later on , California sets out in pursuit the kidnappers and seeks vendetta against the cutthroats .
Charming Chorizo-Spaghetti Western co-produced by Spain , Italy and follows the American models regarding the twilight Western , as well as Sergio Leone style .
This Western is a superior outing because it displays violence , thrills , emotion , shoot'em up , brawls , intrigue , riding pursuits and many other things .
There is plenty of action and violent events in the movie , guaranteeing some shots or stunts every few minutes .
This sinister picture is a tale of justice and revenge , as a soldier carries out a hard mission to execute a merciless vengeance when his friend is hanged and his girlfriend is kidnapped .
The basic plot is typical spaghetti western fare , but what makes this movie stand out is its style .
The lighting-paced storyline slows down at times , but frenetic fight/action sequences make up for it .
The starring called Michael California is stunningly played by Giuliano Gemma .
Gemma as a brave and two-fisted Confederate military is terrific .
Gemma , along with Anthony Steffen and Gianni Garco , results to be one of the greatest stars of the Spaghetti genre .
Gemma in his beginning worked as stunt-man , practiced many sports in his life, boxing , gymnastics, such as is well proved at the movie .
Then the director , Duccio Tessari, gave him the first role as protagonist in the film " The Titani" and the first spaghetti western films where he often worked under the name of Montgomery Wood , playing Western as ¨A pistol for Ringo¨, subsequently the would play similar role in other Spaghettis , as ¨The return of Ringo¨ and others as ¨Adios Gringo¨, ¨Arizona Colt¨, ¨The price of power¨ , ¨Day of anger¨ and later ¨California¨.
However, his first big opportunity came with the important Italian director, Luchino Visconti in ¨El Gatopardo¨ this was followed by important roles in "Angelica" , ¨Tenebre¨ , ¨Young Lions¨ and ¨The master touch¨.
In the movie appears habitual support actors as Spanish people : Miguel Bose , Paola Bose , Diana Lorys , as Italian secondaries : Chris Avram , Enzo Fiermonte , Franco Fantasia , Alfio Catabiano , Alberto Dell'Acqua , Ottaviano Dell'Acqua , Roberto Dell'Acqua , Tom Felleghy , and , of course , the ordinary Robert Hundar .
They are a lot of secondaries from B Italian series seen in several genres as Spaghetti Western and Peplum .
It's a co-production Spanish-Italian and shot on location in Almeria , Spain , and Lazio , Rome .
There are many fine technicians , as nice assistant direction , excellent production design by Carlo Simi , Sergio Leone's regular , and atmospheric cinematography by Alejandro Ulloa , he creates a magnificent scenario on the interior ranch and barren outdoors , scrawny villages as well as dirty landscapes under a glimmer sun .
Adequate and sad music original by Gianni Ferrio in Spaghetti style .
The musician composes a nice Spaghetti soundtrack and well conducted and including splendid leitmotif ; it's full of enjoyable sounds and emotive score .This is one of the last and best Spaghettis and was compellingly directed by Michele Lupo who made all kinds of genres .
Lupo directed Giuliano Gemma , his fetish actor , in several films as ¨Master touch¨ with Kirk Douglas , ¨Stay away¨ with Amidou , ¨Arizona Colt¨ with Fernando Sancho and Nello Pazzafini and ¨California ¨ with William Berger and Romano Puppo.
This is an acceptable entertaining juvenile that will appeal to Western buffs .
Rating : essential and fundamental watching for for Giuliano Gemma fans.
Rating : Above average Pasta Western .
Well worth seeing ..
So dark even William Berger isn't smiling.
Dark, moody, angry, filty, windy, dusty, bloody Spaghetti Western that highlights the plight of the Confederate army following the end of the Civil War. Why would that be dark?Guiliano Gemma is one such soldier.
Gemma doesn't want anything to do with anyone, but ends up travelling with a young guy called Willy, who earned himself a medal for valour during the war and is now looking forward to heading home to his family.It's not easy when everyone hates you.
They also keep crossing paths with a bunch of ruthless bounty hunters who kill everyone they are tracking down (led by giant German Raimond Harmstorf, who is most famous for crushing a raw potato in his hand on television).
A random fight with some relatives of a Yankee soldier lead to a sudden death and Gemma trying to find redemption.The only light that shines through the darkness is when Gemma and Willy try to catch frogs for dinner, because after that it's short tempered gunfights and trekking across the land, hostage situations and the spectre of the war hanging over everyone.
The stupidest thing about all this is that despite me watching The Master Touch, I was still taken aback by the ferocity of the fight between Romano Puppo and Gemma - they guys must have loved using each other's bodies to destroy things.It's a shame that the Spaghetti Western died a death, because these late-era films are amongst the best.
It's like directors like Fulci (Silver Saddle), Martino (Mannaja) and Lupo decided to pull out the stops give the best they could.
If you look at the films produced around this time that were more popular, sex comedies were top of the list.Maybe they should have put some boobs in there..
No, this Italian/Spanish production does not pretend to take place in California per se, it's just the nickname of our leading man, played by Giuliano Gemma.
The man becomes an outlaw when released from a prison camp on account of the end of the civil war (tough break!) We can tell his heart is in the right place as he defends the honour of a little white kitty (and a plate of beans) in this dreary wet town.
Young William Preston (singer Miguel Bose) also notices and being in the same predicament, keeps nagging California to take him on as a sidekick.
Naturally California resists at first, but they soon bond during a spot of leapfrog catching in the mud with some other nondescript men.
William wants to see his sister, who is actually played by the guys real sister Paola (a case of smart casting or of cheap family politics?).
As always, there is also a bounty hunter on their trail who goes by the name of Rope Whitaker (not the singer).You can tell this was made more than ten years after "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" by the fact that the three main characters are now "The Goodlooking, the Cute and the Handsome".
Just when you think the two heroes are getting a bit too close for comfort (they only have one horse between them), there is a shocking slow mo twist that I won't spoil here.
Well anyway, revenge is in order and California takes it upon himself to eliminate the bad guys one by one (as you do).
Whenever this guy gets into a fight, he literally tears the entire house down and leaves the other party lying in the rubble.
The action also includes more tiresome slow motion work that only John Woo fans can truly appreciate.
California eventually makes Whitaker sing his 'last farewell' and gets Williams' real life sister thrown into the bargain, but only at the cost of the decline of the Spaghetti Western.4 out of 10.
In the days following the Civil War, defeated Confederate Giuliano Gemma and a young traveling companion encounter various killers, low-lives and unsympathetic citizens.
When his friend is killed, Gemma stays with the boy's family and protects them from a vicious gang of bounty hunter turned outlaws.As usual, Gemma's good.
However, he's defeated by an unrelentingly depressing story, an atmosphere of doom and gloom and a grating, almost non-stop soundtrack.
One interesting thing though, are the sights of the crumbling, once great spaghetti western sets of the previous decade.One thing I didn't quite get is that early in the movie, the boy makes a big deal of how he comes from Georgia and his family lives in Georgia and how he's headed back to Georgia.
When Gemma gets to the family farm, it's in the middle of the desert!
1977:The Spaghetti Western was dying.....
The American western had already died in the 1960s,and now it looked as if the spaghetti western was going the same way,the novelty was beginning to wear off and the die hard fans of the genre from the 1960s were moving onto more modern stuff like Sci-fi and crime flicks and films like Star Wars were gaining popularity,good things don't last forever,yes,the spaghetti western was beginning to slowly fade away.But even in it's final days,the genre tried it's hardest to entertain and be everything it had been back in the 60s,California is a fantastic example of this...California is one of the best spaghettis in my opinion,it's got brilliant action scenes,psychedelic camera-work and soundtrack,a very robust storyline and excellent acting,the storyline is this,the Civil War is over and Confederate prisoners are being released from a POW camp,the young and naive Willy Preston befriends the world weary,serious California(Giuliano Gemma)(from where the film takes it's title),at first,California sees the young Preston as a nuisence,but as the two men make their way back home,they get to know each other and become very good friends,after a close run in with some northern bounty hunters who specialise in killing Confederate soldiers and collecting the bounty money ,the two men steal a horse and narrowly escape,the bounty hunters later catch up with theme and SPOILERS,Willy is shot and later hung,a sad and bitter California survives and makes his way to Willys home to tell his family,California falls in love with Willys sister,but one day on a trip to town,another gang of bounty hunters led by Rope Whittaker spot some Confederate soldiers in the town and shoot the place up,California is wounded and Willys sister is caught in the crossfire and captured by the bounty hunters,California sets out to get revenge and reclaim his love...There are a good amount of magnificent action scenes,the fist fights are done in brutal and uber-violent fashion and shootouts are no different,the brawl between California,Willy and the bounty hunters is spectacularly staged and the final fist fight between California and Whittaker is one of the best i've seen in the genre,the two men batter each other up like nothing normal,tables are thrown and smashed and both men crash through a solid wall before tumbling down a hill(in slow-motion of course)punching it out as they go along,prior to this fight,Whittaker is drinking from a whisky bottle when California punches the bottle which smashes while still in the formers mouth(again in slow-mo),wow,such style!.The shootout in the town between Whittaker and the three Confederates is also fast paced and excellent and the scene when Willy is killed is also done in bloodcurdlingly sadistic slow motion,an effect that works to the full advantage.The camera-work is very symbolic as it shows us what war can do to a country,the bleak scenery(and this is a VERY bleak film)work to the directors advantage for once,the scenes of the ravaged towns are a perfect example of this and i really love the soundtrack,i don't know why everyone complains about it,i think it fits beautifully with these images.The storyline is also brilliant,it's split into three sections,an anti-war drama which shows us what kind of effect war has on a nation and it's people and how it destroys a person,a tender love story and a brutal revenge tale,spectacularly done.Overall,one of the better spaghetti westerns,it shows us that even when running out of energy,the spaghetti western could still be exciting and have the power to entertain,highly recommended to all fans of the genre,9/10..
Exceptional Civil War Era 'Spaghetti'.
The American Civil War often serves as a back-drop for 'Spaghetti' Westerns, 'The Good, The Bad & The Ugly' being the ultimate example.
And while this movie never reaches the heady heights of that masterpiece, this is one of the best 'Spaghetti Westerns' I've seen to date.
The first half of the movie, in particular, is outstanding.
Beginning as the war ends, we find ourselves amongst Confederate prisoners looking downbeat and dejected amidst some striking rain-lashed cinematography.
The bleak, muddy landscape is a perfect setting for the sad, broken figures that begin the process of returning to The South to begin the Reconstruction.
Amongst them is 'California' played by Guiliano Gemma, a former Captain, who befriends enthusiastic young private Willy Preston.
But their return South is hampered by renegade Union soldiers and Northern vigilantes.
When Willy is killed in a barbaric fashion, California decides to take vengeance on behalf of Willy's family.The cinematography and acting are top-notch, and the very mournful score is outstanding.
It's a pity there doesn't seem to be proper DVD release for this, but keep an eye out for it on TV, or at Movie Fairs.
It's well worth it.A small classic..
Offbeat spaghetti western - just how I like it.
"California" was one of the last spaghetti westerns to be made, the genre being all but dead by the time this movie was made.
I have the feeling that the makers of this movie knew the end was drawing near, and decided to make something really memorable.
It has an offbeat storyline, for one thing.
It starts off as a tale of two Civil War vets struggling across the countryside, then changes to a tale of one of the vets finding peace and love on a farm, then in the last half hour turns into a quest for revenge and the recovery of a kidnapped love.
These changes helped keep the story from being unpredictable, and kept me interested at every point.
Additional interest is with the production values, with eye-catching ghost towns and a ton of rain and filth in the movie's first third that help make what we see feel authentic.
If there is a problem with the movie, it's that the musical score is greatly uneven, sometimes sounding okay but other times sounding lame and cheap.
But apart from that, the movie is a very good swan song for the spaghetti western genre and will please genre fans.