The Bloody Pit #28 - TAKE A HARD RIDE (1975)

Our series of spoiler filled shows focused on the films of Antonio Margheriti continues with one of the director's westerns. Of course, the name in the credits is his standard pseudonym Anthony M. Dawson but we all know who made this excellent combination of Spaghetti Western and Blaxploitation genres. TAKE A HARD RIDE was financed by 20th Century Fox after having great success with Margheriti's previous western for the studio THE STRANGER AND THE GUNFIGHTER (1974). Teamed again with that film's star Lee Van Cleef Margheriti is able to show his skill again by directing one of best of the very few examples of a western with a mostly black lead cast. Further, this movie has the distinction of reuniting the three male leads of THREE THE HARD WAY (1974) for the last time until Fred Williamson would take it upon himself to cast them all in his 1982 film ONE DOWN, TWO TO GO. A team this good shouldn't have had to wait seven years for another big screen adventure, but that's Hollywood I guess.

Co-host John Hudson and I take a run through this fun film discussing not just the director and stars but also the location shooting; the script's detailed characterizations; the bad guy's deep bench; a possible snake death; the horror of swinging bridges and the many joys of watching Jim Brown and Fred Williamson spar onscreen. It will be clear that we hold this film in high esteem and it will also be clear that John's cat Snowbell has some things to say as well. She makes her presence known throughout the show, so those meows you hear from time to time are not a ghost feline stalking you as you listen to the podcast.

Be warned that we start the show with a few minutes of talk about what we've been reading and watching since we last podcasted together. This time out John came prepared to list off some interesting recent viewings. I take the opportunity to relate that I've been reading an excellent crime novel by the author of 'Money Shot' but I repeatedly refer to the writer by the wrong name. The author of 'Choke Hold' and its predecessor is Christa Faust NOT Christina Faust as I call her in the first part of the show. I apologize to her and to anyone out there that might go in search of her great books and wonder why they can't find them! Sorry!

If you have any comments or suggestions you can reach us at thebloodypit@gmail.com and we'll be glad to include your email in future episodes. 

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Brief Thoughts - BARQUERO (1970)

I finally scratched this little talked about Lee Van Cleef western off my 'To See' list and I was happy to find it to be a damned good film. I'm surprised this movie isn't better known for the cast if for nothing else. The great Warren Oates plays the villainous ex-Confederate Army soldier Remy who has kept his band of violent cutthroats together after the war ended. With the help of expatriate Frenchman Marquette (Kerwin Matthews - very good here) he has arranged to rob the Union Army of thirty cases of repeating rifles that he plans to use to cement his power over an area of Mexico. The brutal robbery goes perfectly but the plan to cross the Rio Grande using Van Cleef's ferryboat goes wrong setting up a standoff that puts the two men at odds and in stalemate.

The film has some trouble establishing the proper tone in the first act with some odd comedic moments scattered among the rather violent destruction of the town that houses the Union guard post that Remy's band hits. But once Van Cleef is on one side of the river and Oates is on the other the film is remarkably surefooted and fascinating not just as an action tale but as a character study of Remy, Marquette and Van Cleef's anti-hero character as well. I was not expecting this movie to delve into the push and pull aspects of male friendship or the morality of responsible leadership but damned if Barquero doesn't go there!

Forrest Tucker also has a great role as an amusing mountain man who helps Van Cleef and the people he is protecting from Remy's murderous wraith. And I forgot to mention a solid performance from Mariette Hartley in a small role as the wife of a hostage. The deal she strikes with Van Cleef to orchestrate her husband's rescue paints both characters in shades of gray that impressed me. This isn't a cookie cutter western and is well worth seeking out. 

Favorite Spaghetti Western List

I was asked by a commenter to the blog to list my favorite Spaghetti Westerns so I decided to give it a little thought and produce a top twenty. What is odd is that I had to leave off several movies I love just to keep it from becoming a top thirty! 

In no particular order - 

1. THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (1966)

2. DJANGO (1966)

3. FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE (1965)

4. THE BIG GUNDOWN (1967)

5. DEATH RIDES A HORSE (1967)

6. COMPANEROS (1970)

7. A MAN CALLED BLADE (a.k.a.MANNAJA) (1977)

8. FOUR OF THE APOCALYPSE (1975)

9. KEOMA (1976)

10. THE MERCENARY (1968)

11. A BULLET FOR THE GENERAL (1966)

12. SABATA (1969)

13. JOHNNY HAMLET (1968)

14. THE GREAT SILENCE (1968)

15. AND GOD SAID TO CAIN (1969)

16. CUT THROATS NINE (1972)

17. MY NAME IS NOBODY (1974)

18. FACE TO FACE (1967)

19. A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS (1965)

20. CEMETERY WITHOUT CROSSES (1968)

And, for no good reason, here is a list of five of my least favorites- 

1. ANY GUN CAN PLAY (1967) - I generally dislike jokey, acrobatic westerns

2. ACE HIGH (1968)- often lauded but this one bored me

3. MATALO! (1970) - snooze inducing

4. THE LAST GUN (1964) - not even Cameron Mitchell can salvage this

5. DJANGO AND SARTANA ARE COMING...IT'S THE END (1970) -almost incomprehensible

TAKE A HARD RIDE (1975)

Lee Van Cleef is one of the most recognizable actors in the spaghetti western genre. If he'd done nothing more than turn in his fantastic performances in For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad & the Ugly he would have cemented his place in fans' hearts. But those two genre-defining films were just the beginning for Lee Van Cleef. A bit player in Hollywood for years, he had never been able to land any really big starring roles but a movie fan with sharp eyes can spot him in dozens of films starting in 1952's High Noon. He was the man tasked with shooting a radioactive bullet into The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, a gangster in several 1950s Noirs and seems to have appeared in at least one episode of every western television series produced in the '50s and '60s. His one starring role in 'Hollywood' was as the deluded scientist who helps an alien from Venus attack our planet in Roger Corman's It Conquered the World in 1956. I'd love to know what he thought his chances for career enhancement were when he signed on to make westerns with crazy Italians but I bet Clint Eastwood's sudden rise to stardom caused him to think big things were possible. It certainly turned out well for him! After the huge success of the Leone films worldwide LVC went on to star in at least a dozen more westerns including two Sabata films, the brilliant Death Rides a Horse, the western/mystery hybrid The Grand Duel and even a Magnificent Seven sequel. With Take a Hard Ride Van Cleef entered into another sub-genre, the western/blaxploitation combination - a bizarre amalgam that deserves a book written about it though it was woefully short-lived. This was also his second collaboration with veteran Italian director Antonio Margheriti with whom he'd made The Stranger and the Gunfighter just the year before and would work with again in 1983 for Codename: Wild Geese. While Take a Hard Ride wouldn't rank near the top of either man's resume it is a solid movie even if its flaws are all too apparent and, all too often, silly.

Since they get the lion's share of screen time one could argue effectively that the real stars of this film are Jim Brown (Black Gunn) and Fred Williamson (The Inglorious Bastards). Indeed, after a brief sequence at the very start of the film to set up Van Cleef as cold-hearted bounty hunter Kiefer, it becomes clear that the focus of the tale will be Brown's character, Pike. Pike is the trusted right-hand man of rancher Morgan (Dana Andrews), who has just gotten a herd of cattle to market. The herd was a communal project for the small Mexican town Morgan is hoping to help become a stable ranching community. Sadly, the night after the sale the old man dies of a heart attack and with his final breath asks Pike to make sure the $86,000 gets back to the town. Pike takes this responsibility seriously and sets out to keep his pledge even as every criminally minded scumbag within 100 miles starts making plans to rob him. Among these dastardly folks is professional gambler and card cheat Tyree (Williamson). Being smarter than the average crook he meets up with Pike and first helps him fight off a group of bandits before informing him he wants the money just as much as anyone else. But having formed a mutual respect the two men decide to work together until they get to Mexico when all bets will be off.

Bounty hunter Kiefer decides to make a grab for the money but after witnessing the gunplay skills Pike and Tyree possess he opts to pull most of the criminals hunting for them into a group to have a better chance. Offing the few that don't want to join up or running them off the trail he follows along while the two black men trade verbal quips and sniff after the other's possible breaking points. In their trek across the desert landscape the two partners come across a stage under attack by some bandits. Killing the bad guys they rescue ex-prostitute Catherine (Catherine Spaak) but are too late to save her good hearted husband. She elects to travel with them until a town can be reached and in tow is her servant/bodyguard Kashtok (Jim Kelly), a half-Indian mute who appears to have studied under Bruce Lee. Will this group of four be able reach civilization alive and with the money or any combination of the two?

At one point Fred Williamson's character Tryee says, "Everybody has a sad story in their past." As Take a Hard Ride goes on we learn some of these sad stories and how they made the people we are traveling with tick. Pike is a formerly bad man trying to maintain his dignity even as Tyree asks him repeatedly why he would want to keep his word to a white man. Tyree is a man all too aware of the restrictions his black skin places on him and while keeping a smile on his face plots to get what he wants. Catherine is a sad lady unsure of her future and afraid she'll not be able to leave her past behind. Kashtok is a man of two different cultures who doesn't fit into either. And Kiefer is a black-hearted, intelligent and rational man pursuing money with little thought as to why. Placed into this scenario all the flaws and strengths of these people come out leading to some surprising actions. Even if certain sacrifices are never going to be understood by the survivors the influence these people have on each other will last a long time.

But I'm making this out to be a glum tale and its not. Besides the banter between Brown and Williamson there are some great chases, fantastic gun battles and some well choreographed fights. Hollywood legend Hal Needham was the stunt coordinator for the film and it shows in the exciting and believable actions scenes. Director Margheriti has all the elements in place to make a good western and does a damned good job with the material. Margheriti's westerns never reach the mindbending highs of Leone or Corbucci but he also never seems to be aiming for those highs. His westerns are more low-key, less arch with their pleasures usually more subtle in their effect. I almost always enjoy a Margheriti western more the second and third time I watch it. I fear this is because I'm so used to Spaghettis being such 'big' entertainments that, when I see one that aims at a different target, I have to adjust my expectations to notice what's in front of me. That's not to say Margheriti's films aren't entertaining — they're just not entertaining in the same way that the often tongue-in-cheek spaghettis sometimes are. I think this stylistic difference accounts for the general low regard fans of the genre have for his westerns, which is a shame. Watching this film more than once shows an intelligence behind the camera that is easily missed on first impression. Nearly every shot is framed with a skilled eye to position each character in relation to the others for an effect. Someone will be foregrounded at the beginning of a scene as the character tries to argue against something and then advance into frame becoming smaller as they lose the argument until they are smallest object in the scene. This kind of thing occurs repeatedly in Take a Hard Ride, and even if you don't notice it these techniques have their intended effect. That's just excellent filmmaking and it's rarely talked about in this genre with its focus on action and violence. Westerns can be artistic even if most hardcore aficionados would sneer at the idea.

Another great thing about this film is the beautiful location work. Filmed in the Canary Islands off Morocco's coast, the movie looks fantastic and forbidding at the same time. Being an Italian/American co-production, there are more Hollywood players in the cast and crew than most spaghettis usually sport. Besides the short performance from Dana Andrews (Curse/Night of the Demon), there's a small part for the great Barry Sullivan and juicy bad guy roles for recognizable character actors Harry Carey, Jr. and Robert Donner. The score is by the brilliant Jerry Goldsmith (Planet of the Apes), who turns in a damned good suite of music that I think I'll have to obtain on CD eventually.

Not that the film is without problems. Most viewers will enjoy the rousing, explosive final battle but will be unsatisfied with the fate of Lee Van Cleef's Kiefer. I loved this odd, poetic turn but its 'scorpion-stinging-itself' aspect will turn off those looking for a more conventional ending for such a bad guy. Another troubling element is Kashtok the mute halfbreed played by athlete Jim Kelly (Enter the Dragon). Kelly does what he can with the role but the inclusion of a martial arts bad ass makes it hard to take some scenes seriously. High kicking like a Navajo Jackie Chan, it becomes silly and throws off the tone of a few of the fight scenes. The truth is that the film would have been just as good and maybe better without this character at all. A simple rewrite of a few scenes could have eliminated him altogether and made Catherine's predicament in the desert even more troubling.

THE GRAND DUEL (1972)

I have been a big fan of Lee Van Cleef for a lot of years. I can’t remember if I first saw him in FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE, THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY or ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK but his presence in any movie means I’m going to be more interested than average. Of course, his casting by Sergio Leone in two of his classic Spaghetti Westerns gave Mr. Van Cleef’s career new life and he went on to star in more than a dozen Italian and Spanish oaters throughout the late 1960s and 1970s. I have been slowly trying to catch up with all of them as I can and have been thrilled to find that I am rarely unhappy with the movies in which LVC stars. Even the lesser works like EL CONDOR (1970) are entertaining and often give him the chance to play something other than his usual stoic gunfighter/lawman/bounty hunter role at which he was so good.

There are only a few ‘big’ LVC western titles that have yet to see and this week I crossed off a highly regarded one- THE GRAND DUEL (1972). I actually saw it under another title (and it has plenty) but the good news was that it was also the first of his westerns I’ve seen on Blu-Ray. Its available on a very cheap Mill Creek Blu paired with the brilliant (if irritatingly scored) Franco Nero western KEOMA (1976) and for about five dollars you can NOT go wrong with this disc. I’m not going to say the movie looks as sharp as it could possibly look but the clarity of the picture is noticeably better than a typical DVD image. The soundtrack was off a few seconds at points in the film but that is unfortunately a problem that crops up often in Italian genre cinema from this era so I’m not going to blame the disc. As long as Lee Van Cleef dubs his character I consider everything else negotiable and luckily he does provide his voice in this one.

As for the film itself I found it to be very good and I can recommend it to fans of the genre. It lived up to its strong reputation with a good story, interesting villains and some very well played gunfights. There is a fun mystery element to the plot which isn't too hard to figure but the slow reveal of information through flashbacks is well done giving the final revelation pretty effective heft. THE GRAND DUEL isn't LVC's best western but it is better than average.

As is typical in the Spaghetti west the motivations of several characters are mysterious and their gun fighting skills are superhuman making the real question for me “will the director craft a silly film or a serious one”. Often, in poor hands, these movies become overly pleased with their own cleverness and end up playing fast and loose with not just logic but physical reality. I wince when I’m watching a western in which someone starts jumping around on hidden trampolines in the action scenes or acting like they can levitate to pull off some impressive feat. Early on I feared director Giancarlo Santi had chosen this route but luckily there was only one instance of acrobatic excess early on after which the film settled down to play things pretty straight. Thank goodness.

Lee Van Cleef- The Midas Man?

Made in the early 1980s this is part of a series of Canadian commercials featuring Lee Van Cleef and others playing off their spaghetti western persona. This is my favorite of the lot as it reunites the two stars of the great DEATH RIDES A HORSE. Now there's a film in need of a good DVD release.

It Conquered Corman (or vice versa)

In response to Tim Lucas' call to blog about Roger Corman today in celebration of his 80th birthday I attempted to dash this off in my spare moments at work. I managed to get this blog done before lunch so by Corman standards I should have been able to get another one finshed before 6PM. I guess I'm just a slacker!

I am a major fan of Mr. Corman with his Poe inspired series of films in the 60's being the best stuff he ever produced as director. But I would like to focus on one of my all time favorite Corman directed films from the 1950's- IT CONQUERED THE WORLD (1956). It's 50 years old this year which means he made it when he was 30! I AM a slacker!


In this epic we have one of the greatest character actors ever, Lee Van Cleef, collaborating with Venusians to take control of our fair planet. Convinced by the alien creatures that they have only the most benign intentions Van Cleef's scientist character goes along with what he thinks will be the advancement of mankind. Instead they, of course, slaughter everyone in their way and enslave the survivors. The mighty Peter Graves uses his trowel-like voice to try to reason with Van Cleef but its not until hot, sweater wearing wife Beverly Garland is menaced by the evil scum that he comes around and kicks some alien ass! Shot in black & white with a budget that could best be described as miserly (if you were being) the film still manages to convey a good amount of suspence and has somevery well acted scene especially early on. Van Cleef and Graves throw themselves into their roles beautifully and Miss Garland is much better than a simple piece of eye candy needs to be.
There is plenty of creepiness as we build to the climax with the alien sending out it flying bat-like minions to attack the cast. One of the most memorable aspects of ICTW is unfortunately the one that always gets the most attention. At the end of the film Van Cleef attacks one lone (THIS is an invasion?) Venusian so the hideous monster comes rolling out of its cave hiding place. And it looks like an inverted cone on wheels. With some stubby arms. And silly eyes. And did I mention the pointed head? Its hysterically stupid looking and whats even worse is that it worked great as long as it was hidden in shadows and speaking in a threatening, deep voice. Designed by Paul Blaisdel with the knowledge that it would not be shown except in shadows it is a pretty amazing critter. If it had remained in the cave as originally intended it would have gone down as one of the great monsters of the 50s. But then Roger was the director you see. He felt that since hed paid good money for this sucker it had better get trotted out for a good view. (You can almost hear Blaisdel crying over the laughter as his beast rolls clumsily across the open ground.) That's one thing about Corman- there may not be a lot of money invested but every damned penny goes up in that screen. So the Venusian rolls out to be burned by the late comer military men and the world is saved. Roll credits!

I really love this movie and not just for the good parts either. I love it warts and all. Its a perfect Saturday afternoon flick that I never tire of watching. Roger made many better movies but today on his 80th birthday I'd like to thank him for this one. You made a bad decision that will be there for the ages but you got your moneys worth. And so did I.

Happy birthday Mr. Corman and many happy returns of the day!