Review of The Big Gundown (1967) by John S — 25 Jul 2012

The plot of "The Big Gundown" is a little thin, centered on a sharpshooting lawman (spaghetti-western stalwart Lee Van Cleef) in pursuit of a Mexican peasant (Tomas Milian) accused of raping and killing a 12-year-old girl. Their passive-aggressive rivalry, bordering on friendship, is the heart of the film. A wealthy man of dubious principle (Walter Barnes) and an icy German marksman (Gerard Herter) are also in the mix, but female characters are in short supply. The incomparable Ennio Morricone supplies the score, though it's mostly variations on a single theme. Otherwise, his most interesting move is a twisted repurposing of Beethoven's "Fur Elise.".

The Italian version is about 20 minutes longer than the American version. I saw a less-than-optimal edit where the Italian scenes were inserted back into the film, undubbed. (Predictably, most of the cuts fall within the first half-hour or so.) I'd like to see a fully dubbed version someday.