Long Days of Vengeance (1967)

A Masterpiece!

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Spaghetti with Chorizo Western starred by habitual actors , such as Giuliano Gemma , Conrado San Martin and Nieves Navarro . After three years of heavy physical labor in an infernal jail , the former Sheriff Ted Barnett -Giuliano Gemma- breaks out . Barnett was accused by three men and wrongly convicted to thirty years hard labor for the killing of his father . Ted sets out in pursuit the true murderers . He looks for those that had framed him , seeking vendetta . As Ted (Giuliano Gemma who recently died by car accident) freeing the town from a powerful owner (Conrado San Martin , a great friend to Sergio Leone , he played a lot of films for him , usually as secondary actor) and a corrupt Sheriff Douglas (Francisco Rabal , Luis Buñuel's customary's player) married to Ted's old girlfriend (Nieves Navarro or Susan Scott) , using both gunning down and shrewdness .This Tortilla/Spaghetti Western is filled with action , thrills , horse riding , brawls and crossfire . This is a decent Spaghetti starred by Giuliano Gemma , a hero who after years of hard labor in a hellish prison in the desert , escapes from jail to seek revenge on the three men who framed him . Giuliano steals the show as a merciless revenger , executing thespian skills , bounds and leaps , twists and shooting and throughly enjoys himself . Recently deceased Giuliano Gemma is very fine in his ordinary role as a gunfighter who seeks vengeance against his eternal enemies , Conrado San Martin , Francisco Rabal , and their hoodlums . Giuliano Gemma , along with Anthony Steffen and Gianni Garco , resulted to be one of the greatest stars of the Spaghetti genre . Gemma in his beginning worked as a 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¨, ¨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¨. Then he played his most significant roles in ¨Il Deserto Dei Tartari¨ and ¨Il Prefetto Di Ferro¨ . While Conrado San Martin played in ¨Winchester Bill¨, ¨In a colt's shadow¨ and various Westerns directed by his friend Sergio Leone ; furthermore , he starred several Peplum and thrillers . In the movie appears usual Western support actors as Spanish people : Nieves Navarro , Milo Quesada , Manuel Muñiz ¨Pajarito¨ ; as Italian players as Ivan Scratuglia . It's a co-production Spanish-Italian and shot on location in Zaragoza , Barcelona , Alfonso Balcazar studios and, of course ,Almeria , Spain . There are many fine technicians and nice assistant direction , excellent production design , and atmospheric cinematography by Francisco Marin , he creates a magnificent scenario on the little town and barren outdoors , dirty landscapes under a glimmer sun . The music original by Armando Trovajoli composes an agreeable Spaghetti soundtrack , being well conducted and splendid leitmotif ; it's full of enjoyable sounds and emotive score .This Western was inspired by the known and classic novel titled ¨The count of Montecristo¨ written by Alexandre Dumas . Other Spaghetti freely based on famous novels and plays are the followings : ¨The Fury of Johnny Kid¨ based on Shakespeare , being directed by Gianni Puccini with Peter Lee Lawrence and Cristina Galbo from ¨Romeo and Giuletta¨ . Furthermore : ¨Johnny Hamlet¨(1968) by Enzo G Castellari ; ¨The return of Ringo¨ by Duccio Tessari also with Giuliano Gemma and inspired on the ¨Odyssey¨, ¨John Il Bastardo¨(1967) with John Richardson , based on books from Zorrilla and Moliere ; ¨Anche Nel West Céra Una Volta Dio ¨ (1968 )by Marino Girolami based on ¨Island of treasure¨ written by Robert Stevenson and ¨Apocalypse Joe¨ with Anthony Steffen based on Macbeth and Hamlet .The flick also titled ¨Days of Vengeance" or "Long Days of Vengeance" or "The Deadliest Gunfight" or "Vendetta" was professionally directed by Stan Vance or Florestano Vancini . This Italian writer / filmmaker so consistently mixed the good with the mediocre that it became quite impossible to know what to expect from him next . His best films dealt with political events such as ¨The case Matteotti¨, ¨The long night in 43¨ and ¨Sicilian Jaque Mate ¨ . He usually worked with Giulianno Gemma , his fetish actor , such as ¨La Baraonda¨ , ¨Violenza Al sole ¨and this ¨Long days of vengeance¨ . Rating : Good Spaghetti Western , it will appeal to Giuliano Gemma fans .

This particular spaghetti western has some attributes that will be appealing to those that like the genre. First of all, it has a fantastic musical score, music that stands up to the most famous music found in movies of this genre. The look of the movie also has some offbeat touches. There are a few striking images, and some of the direction is eye-catching, ranging from a long and uninterrupted shot of the hero picking off bad guys one by one, to the fact that the hero's face isn't shown for the first twenty or so minutes of the movie.However, the movie has some problems. The story is somewhat confusing, with some key details seemingly left out. Also, the movie is way too long at 111 minutes. If it had been cut by twenty to thirty minutes, I think it would have run a lot better.Those problems, however, did not stop me from enjoying the movie... though I am a die hard spaghetti western fan. If you enjoy the genre like me, you'll probably enjoy this movie. If not... well, you most likely won't.

I first have to say I that I saw the Italian uncut (123 min.) version which is really not bad. This movie initially should have been directed by Duccio Tessari, director of the 2 Ringo movies, both with Gemma but he had'n the time to do it, so the producers took "Stan Vance". The plot is quite interesting even if it is a simple revenge story: you get little by little to know why the main character searches revenge and it's never obvious what is going to happen next. The photography and the make up of the movie are not so good, but it has nice desert landscapes and a good music score. So, for all the spaghetti Western fans this is highly recommended, but possibly in a uncut version: I even have a German version of this movie running just 100 min but it's not the same thing when something is missing, even if it's not strictly necessary.

It´s a rarely seen, unknown Spaghetti Western Classic, you might want to check out, if you are not only interested in the classics by Sergio Leone or Sergio Corbucci. This one has extraordinary camerawork and good acting by Giuliano Gemma, who is playing a character seeking for revenge in typical italian style. It´s very dark and has kind of a gothic horror atmosphere, which makes it a little bit different from other Spaghetti Westerns. So, do check it out!!