A Stranger in Paso Bravo Review

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This film, the only spaghetti western directed by Salvatore Rosso, is often called the inspiration for Antonio Margheriti’s (better known) And God said to Cain. Some critics have even called Margheriti’s movie a remake. The similarities are too obvious to be ignored (they even concern the names of several central characters), but some story elements are different and I would say both films keep their own quite well.

The opening of this movie is a little odd: a man called Gary Hamilton (Anthony Steffen) seems to appear out of nothing in the middle of desert, unarmed and without a horse. Luckily he comes across a man (Pepe Calvo) running a department store on wheels, selling everything a man can possibly need in the middle of nowhere, including a mule ... for one hundred dollars (in spite of Steffen’s protests that a mule is only worth twenty!). When the stranger arrives in the town of Paso Bravo, the mule is shot during a crossfire, by men who work for a certain Acombar. They offer Steffen twenty dollars in compensation, the normal price for such an animal (but Steffen utters that he has paid One hundred dollars for it!). Both Calvo and the mule are nice references to A Fistful of Dollars and contribute to the odd, often unearthly atmosphere of the movie. There’s also a saloon girl who sings (in Italian and with a smoker’s voice) a melancholic song you'd rather expect in a Parisian bar in the Latin Quarter: "Se ne va la mia vita come fosse un fiume" (My life passes as if it were a stream). She has a black-clad boyfriend who is fast with the gun and seeks trouble with everybody who makes eyes at his girl (every man in town!).

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The atmosphere of alienation makes up - to some extent - for some sloppy story-telling during the first half of the movie. We do not know who Steffen is and why on earth he’s going to Paso Bravo. He is ridiculed and almost drowned by some town bullies and it’s only when he’s visiting the graves of his wife and daughter, that we get an idea what he's up to. His loved ones died tragically in a fire while he was drunk, but Steffen presumes they were murdered. He manages to retrace the guys who ignited the fire, a trio called the Santamaria brothers, but they him they were working for no other than Acombar (Fajardo) at the time. To get even, he teams up, in true "Magnificent Seven style", with the sheriff and several other friends to attack the ranch of the local tyrant. The film’s shortcomings are obvious, but it's saved by some witty dialogue, colourful characters and good performances. Eduardo Fajardo is great as the local tyrant Acombar. This must be one of his best spaghetti western appearances, on a par with legendary performance as Major Jackson in Django. I loved the scene in which he tells his men he'd like to see Steffen’s head on a pole. Bring me the Head of Anthony Steffen – it would’ve have been quite a title.

Both A Stranger in Paso Bravo and And God said to Cain were made with a relatively small budget. Margheriti made more of the rather basic locations, especially the western town; some corresponding story elements, like the parts with Acombar’s son and the Santamaria brothers, are better integrated into his movie too. Moreover Margheriti had the brilliant idea to set his movie largely at night and during a thunderstorm, so he could suggest (with a little dust and a lot of sound effects) what he wasn’t able to show. But Rosso and his film score some points too. It's a bit sluggish during the first half, but nicely builds up to a memorable finale, with the famous Villa Mussolini (used more often in spaghetti westerns) serving as Acombar’s ranch. The scene with Fajardo being roasted in the fire (echoing the way Steffen’s relatives died), is more intense and effective (and far less protracted) than the corresponding fiery scene in And God said to Cain. Where Margheriti tried to squeeze every drop out of the situation (and ruining it instead), Rosso is content with a few hints, creating one of the best alternative death scenes in the genre.

• Corresponding Review: And God said to Cain Review

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Cast: Anthony Steffen, Eduardo Fajardo, Pepe Calvo, Giulia Rubina, Vassili Karis, Adriana Ambesi, José Jaspe, Ignazio Leone, Antonio Cintado, Corrado Olmi, Franco De Rosa, José Canalejas, Director: Salvatore Rosso - Music: Angelo Francesco Lavangnino

A Stranger in Paso Bravo (Uno Straniero a Paso Bravo / Los Pistoleros de Paso Bravo) / View Database Page

Simon Gelten is a long time contributor to the SWDb. "I'm not as old as Tom B. but I'm working on it. I hope to catch up with him by the end of the next decade.", he says. Simon saw all movies by Sergio Leone and several by Sergio Corbucci in cinema, most of the time in Eindhoven, the city where he was born. Currently, Simon is living in Turnhout, Belgium. Simon is active within the database as both Scherpschutter and his alter ego Tiratore Scelto.