Tonino Valerii
"Western all'italiana" is a documentary produced and broadcast by the satellite broadcaster Studio Universal in 2004, on the occasion of the broadcasting of a selection of Italian western films, the so-called "spaghetti westerns". In the course of the video, the birth, evolution and conclusion of the Italian western trend is told.
Hollywood careers are full of make-or-break moments. For Clint Eastwood, one such moment came when studio powers agreed to let him make his directing debut. That story and others comprise this portrait of the famed Hollywood icon. His career is explored via an array of film clips, interviews and more.
Following the opening of a Japanese auto factory in Sicily, the head of the company is kidnapped by Sicilian mobsters. This was a co-production between Italy and Japan's Toho Studios.
Silvia belongs to a respectable family, the wife of a jeweler in Turin, but charming woman bored by marriage. One night she is alone at home and unwisely opens the door to a stranger trying to rob her and eventually decides to rape her. The police and her husband try to convince Silvia not complain, but she starts looking for the man who raped her for revenge. When he finds, however, is attracted by humiliation and violence suffered and she becomes his lover with anything.
While working for an oil company in Tunisia, Jean Ballard (Franco Nero) and his team are incensed when a terrorist attack kills one of their members. But as they pursue their attackers across the desert, the team's revenge plan transforms into a heist. Now, the terrorists will become instruments in a clever plot that could score Jean and his cohorts a cool $2 million, and the Sahara becomes a scene of sabotage and suspense in this Italian thriller.
Fabio Testi is an undercover cop doubling as the bodyguard (hence, “Gorilla”) of a cantankerous middle-aged industrialist targeted for extortion.
Jack Beauregard, one of the greatest gunman of the Old West, only wants to retire in peace and move to Europe. But a young gunfighter, known as "Nobody", who idolizes Beauregard, wants him to go out in glory. So he arranges for Jack to face the 150-man gang known as The Wild Bunch and earn his place in history.
A dishonored Union Army officer (James Coburn) leads a group of convicts to retake Fort Holman from the Confederate Army.
Following the mysterious decapitation of an insurance investigator, Police Inspector Peretti is put onto the case, but all the clues lead to an unsolved case of kidnapping and murder.
After his Western triumphs, Valerii stepped out of the shadow of Sergio Leone with this distinctly Bergmanesque sexual melodrama.Dionisio is perfect in the title role and this remains her best film, Valerii turns up along the way too. Just when the film hits a period of auto pilot John Steiner turns up in the final reel for a climax that is quite unforgettable. A bit difficult to trace but well worth the effort.
The Pinkerton detective agency uncovers a plot to assassinate President James Garfield in 1881 Texas. The film, a "political" Spaghetti, is a very overt mirroring of the JFK Assassination in 1963.
Lee Van Cleef stars as Talby, a sadistic gunfighter who rides into town and takes on a young outcast as his apprentice.
Lanky Fellow has a typical cynical SW like way to earn his living. He observes valuable transports of money or gold, but when they are robbed he doesn't intervene, but follows the robbers and then brings the loot back to collect the insurance. When his "job" brings him in conflict with the notorious outlaw Gus Kenneback, he has personal reasons to protect the money as Kenneback was once responsible for the death of Lanky's brother.
Two bounty hunters are in pursuit of "El Indio," one of the most wanted fugitives in the western territories, and his gang.
In a 15th-century feudal village, a woman is accused of witchcraft and put to death. Her beautiful older daughter knows the real reason for the execution lies in the lord's sexual desire for her mother. After confronting the lord on the matter, she, too, is killed. A much younger daughter is spared and taken in by her mother's killers. Once she is of age, as a horrible, deadly plague sweeps the land, she marries the lord's worthless son. Then, during a brutal thunderstorm, the older daughter mysteriously reappears and begins to avenge her mother's death.
Count Karnstein sends for a doctor to help his sick daughter Laura. Her nurse believes she is possessed by the spirit of a dead ancestor;Carmilla. A young woman becomes intrigued by the mysterious deaths surrounding Laura after a carriage accident outside the castle forces her to stay. They become close friends until Laura becomes convinced the spirit of Carmilla is forcing her to kill.
The Man With No Name enters the Mexican village of San Miguel in the midst of a power struggle among the three Rojo brothers and sheriff John Baxter. When a regiment of Mexican soldiers bearing gold intended to pay for new weapons is waylaid by the Rojo brothers, the stranger inserts himself into the middle of the long-simmering battle, selling false information to both sides for his own benefit.
