A Pistol for Ringo/The Return of Ringo (1965)

Both Directed by Duccio Tessari 
Both Staring Giuliano Gemma, Fernando Sancho, Nieves Navarro
98/95 minutes
Italy

1965 was an exciting time in the world of the Italian Western. Sergio Leone followed up on his mission statement, the previous years A Fistful of Dollars, with the bigger and better sequel, For A Few Dollars More, but the genre had yet to be taken to its apocalyptic apex with Sergio Corbucci's 1966 masterpiece Django. This was a time of experimentation, where Leone's films had signalled to jobbing directors that it was okay for them to innovate and subvert cliches within a genre that had previously been confined to imitating Hollywood. Enter Duccio Tessari. One of several uncredited co-writers on A Fistful of Dollars, who in 1965 would release a dulogy of films which would achieve great commercial success and launch the career of Spaghetti Western icon Giuliano Gemma (or 'Montgomery Wood', if you prefer). These films have recently been lovingly released on blu-ray on Arrow Films, and with the resurgent interest in Spaghetti Westerns in recent years thanks to a certain Mr.Tarantino, they're ripe for re-discovery. 

A Pistol for Ringo is probably the only Spaghetti Western one could make the case for being a Christmas film, as it takes place from the 23 - 25 of December. The Christmas theme never comes to the forefront, but its an interesting choice to stage the action at such a specific time of the year. The plot concerns the legendary gunslinger, Ringo "Angel Face" (Gemma) who kills four people out of claimed self defence but is arrested nonetheless. At the same time, a gang of ruthless Mexican outlaws cross the border and rob the local bank. Their leader Sancho (Fernando Sancho) is wounded when they try to escape, and so they take refuge in a local ranch, also taking the owners hostage. Sheriff Ben (George Martin) is reluctant to get involved as his fiance is among the hostages, so after a quick trial in which he is speedily acquitted, Ringo is set free and tasked with infiltrating the gang.

The character of Ringo is interesting in his subversion of the typical Spaghetti Western hero, exemplified by the likes of Django and The Man With No Name. Clean shaven, chatty, eschewing whisky in favour of milk (there is a tense scene in which the outlaws try to get him to drink with them), and with classic boyish good looks, if Tessari was looking to stand out from the ground and create his own spin on the classic western hero, he certainly succeeded, and its no wonder Gemma became such a beloved figure in Italian cinema. With a background as an acrobat, its highly entertaining to watch him leaping across the screen, giving the slip to the bad guys, and even in a dubbed performance his natural charm and charisma shines through. It's interesting that in spite of his seemingly clean-cut image, Ringo still exists in a brutal Spaghetti Western landscape, and he has the moral compass to accommodate this. After all, we're introduced to him playing hopscotch just before he brutally mows down 4 men in cold blood. When the sheriff asks him to help out, his interest is only piqued at the mention of money. "It's a matter of a principle", he tells us, "never enter into a deal for less than 30%", He may be handsome and witty, but like The Man With No Name, his primary interest is strictly money. When everything is wrapped up, he quickly rides away with his share of the deal, no time for sentimentality. As Morricone's lush theme song tells us "Ringo...now the story's told...that the only love he had...was for gold."

Ringo's great character holds up a plot which has a tendency to drag. There's a weird subplot in which one of the hostages falls in love with one of the bandits, which never really goes anywhere. Tessari seems to lack confidence as a director at this stage. He favours shots of up to four or five people in the same frame talking. This works well enough, but the domestic soap opera like squabbling can grow tiresome after a point. Thankfully he would improve.

The Return of Ringo isn't really a sequel. Though the title suggests a legendary character returning, it actually refers to Gemma's character here returning home from the Civil War. Gemma essentially plays a completely different character who just happens to also be called Ringo (no "Angel Face" this time). The film is loosely based on the ancient Greek story of Homer's Odyssey. Captain Montgomery "Ringo" Brown (Gemma) returns home from the war in which he was believed to have been killed, to find that his town and house has been overrun by Mexican bandits, and his wife engaged to one of the leaders, Paco Fuentes (George Martin). In an attempt to learn the truth, he dyes his hair and disguises himself as a peasant, gradually gaining access to his old house and discovering in the process that he has a daughter who is being used by Fuentes to keep a hold on his wife Hally (Lorella de Luca) in order to make her compliant in his desire to marry her.

Though they're difficult to compare as they have a much different plot and general tone to one other, to me this is a much stronger film than its predecessor. It has a much operatic quality which is achieved through the way in which Tessari combines Morricone's reliably excellent music with his visuals. The scene in which Ringo sees his previously unknown daughter for the first time and Tessari focuses on the heartbroken look on his face as the score builds to a crescendo is classic Spaghetti Western exuberance (the music here is so good that Tarantino used part of it for the opening scene of Inglorious Basterds). Pistol took place in the sweltering heat, Return takes place in a windy desolate town. There are some fantastic shots of Ringo sulking about the place he once called home which is now unrecognisable to him. Also striking is the shot of Ringo's silhouette in the doorway of the church as he gatecrashes his wife's forced wedding, defiantly announcing "I've come back!".

It's a shame that a somewhat dark film is slightly spoiled by Tessari's penchant for comic relief characters (which Alex Cox so disdainfully calls the "cute/funny" in his fantastic book 10,000 Ways to Die). Though in A Fistful of Dollars they fit with the films playful gallows humour, and in A Pistol for Ringo they fit with the films more lighthearted approach, they seem to clash in a film which otherwise tells the bleak story of a broken man. In particular its bad in this film because the comic relief takes the form of a florist played by Manuel Muniz, who has an extremely bright house covered in flowers in the middle of what is otherwise a ghost town. It also doesn't help that the name of this character is literally "Morning Glory". I probably wouldn't mind so much but this character is vital to the plot as he is the only man in the town who will initially give Ringo the time of day, taking him in  at his lowest and helping him to find his way back. I don't know but it's a bit jarring to me when one of the main characters in your otherwise serious film is an old man who lives in an extremely bright flower covered house and is literally named after an erection joke.

Though they aren't on the level of a Leone or an upper rank Corbucci, the Ringo films have enough cool things about them for me to recommend them to fans of both Spaghetti Westerns and cult films in general. They represent a point in a time where a genre cycle was only just reaching its peak, and jobbing directors were making exciting and unique films with their own spin on a previously thought tired genre.