Writer & director Giovanni Grimaldi was certainly no Sergio Leone, but his first Spaghetti western "In A Colt's Shadow" amounts to an entertaining shoot'em up that takes place amid scenic, sun-drenched Spanish vistas, with a flavorful Nico Fidenco score, and a cast of familiar faces. Mind you, you won't find any marquee stars in the leading roles; Stephen Forsyth gave up acting after making then European films that did little to bolster his career, while Conrado San Martín kept on making films. Nevertheless, if you've seen enough European westerns, you will recognize the faces of Spaghetti stalwarts Aldo Sambrell, Franco Ressel, Tito García, and José Calvo in supporting roles. Basically, this above-average, but low-budget, 79-minute horse opera recycles the traditional themes of American westerns from the 1950s about reformed gunslingers who sought to forsake their six-guns, settle down with their sweethearts, and turn to either ranching or farming. Stephen Forsyth and Conrado San Martín are the virtuous protagonists, while Franco Ressel and Franco Lantieri are the conniving dastards that want our heroes dead. The gunfight in the confines of Providence that caps this western makes it worthwhile. The title sequence differs from the usual Spaghetti fireworks; watercolor style prints accompany a song with a man who utters the lyrics as if he were reciting them. If you enjoy austere Spaghetti westerns, you should relish "In A Colt's Shadow." Steve Blaine (Stephen Forsyth of "Fury in Marrakesh") and Duke Buchanan (Conrado San Martín of "Legions of the Nile") are riding their horses through a rock-strewn wilderness discussing their future. Duke assures Steve the life of a gunslinger is no life for a married man. "A life like ours is tied to a pistol," Duke reminds him. "Grab one in your fist once and you've got to keep on using it forever. Killing so as not to be killed. And then sooner or later some young pistolero will come along and he'll flush you out from wherever you go to bury your past, and then he will be able to boast that he gunned down the famous Steve Blaine." Duke hopes Steve will be successful, but he doesn't want him to embark such a life with his daughter Susan. It seems that Duke lost his wife when a gunman shot her instead of him. Our heroes ride into an apparently deserted Mexican village. As it turns out, they have been paid to eliminate a bandit gang led by Ramirez (Aldo Sambrell) who arrive to die in the first of several action-packed shoot-outs. The interesting thing about this Mexican village scene is that our heroes take an additional precaution to protect the villagers from the wrath of the gang that they are supposed to eliminate. Duke tells them that in case Steve and he bite the dust, they are going to tie them up so that it will appear to all intensive purposes that they robbed the villagers. Of course, our sharp-shooting gunmen wipe out the gang. One survivor wounds Duke before Steve polishes him off. The sequence is naturally a homage to John Sturges' "The Magnificent Seven." Anyway, a veterenairn has to treat Duke's wounds, while Steve rides off to rendezvous with Duke's daughter and marry her against Duke's wishes. Eventually, Duke and Steve reunite for the big gundown in Providence. Interestingly enough, this duel on main street anticipates similar gunfights, such as the opening and concluding scenes in Sergio Corbucci's "The Mercenary" as well as Giulio Petroni's 1966 the final showdown in the revenge-themed sagebrusher "Death Rides A Horse."

I knew nothing about this spaghetti western before putting the disc into my DVD player, but that's how I often like my mind to be before watching entries in this genre - I hope to be pleasantly surprised. While I didn't find this movie to be a forgotten classic, it did deliver enough to satisfy me. Certainly, the movie has its share of flaws. The plot unfolds in a fairly slow fashion, even though the running time is only seventy eight minutes long. The central figure is kind of dumb at times, enough to make him unsympathetic at times. And the movie is so low key at times that you will wish that there was more excitement in the middle section. However, the low key direction does build some genuine atmosphere here and there. The atmosphere is also aided by a sometimes eerie musical score. And while the movie could have used more action, it compensates by a really great and lengthy action sequence in the last part. I think there's enough here to satisfy fans of Euro westerns. Oh, and for fun, see if you can spot the time in the movie where you can see the shadows of the camera and the film crew jutting into the frame :-)

A young pistolero leaves his wounded partner and runs off with the man's daughter to get married. Attempting to settle down outside a very crooked town, he's soon forced to defend his new spread against vicious land-grabbers and himself from his angry father-in-law.A short and colorful spaghetti western, there's a lot of fun to be had here. However, the main character is pretty naive for an ultra-cool hired gun!Heroes are appropriately heroic and villains appropriately villainous. The Morricone-like score isn't bad either, all making this pretty watchable for casual viewers and spaghetti western fans alike.Once again, bankable stars are nonexistent, relegating this to near obscurity, though a few familiar European faces show up, most notably the late Aldo Sambrell, who appeared in nearly every one of the era's great Italian westerns.

This 1965 Italian western has many familiar faces among the cast; all do a good job, particularly Conrado Sanmartin as the elder pistolero, Duke, who forbids his friend Steve Blane from courting his daughter. Complications ensue, and eventually Duke and Steve are face to face on the main street of Providence (the same town Clint Eastwood cleaned up in A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS). Most of the fun in this one is picking out the locations and identifying stock performers like Franco Ressel and Jose Calvo. Aldo Sanbrell shows up early as a bandido, and Tito Garcia is cast as the barkeep with a full head of hair for a change. The action is good, with the stuntmen earning their keep by crashing off of roofs and through remadas, and Blane's horse gives probably the best performance in the history of equine acting. Nico Fidenco's score is outstanding, although the vocal over the titles are a bit off-putting. The titles themselves are particularly flamboyant for a spaghetti, luridly painted cartoons that flirt with a fine art look. Overall I liked this one, I think seeing it in a nice widescreen print helped a lot.