Day of Anger
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| Day of Anger | |
|---|---|
Italian film poster
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| Directed by | Tonino Valerii |
| Produced by | Henryk Chrosicki Alfonso Sansone |
| Screenplay by | Ernesto Gastaldi Tonino Valerii Renzo Genta |
| Based on | Der Tod ritt dienstags by Rolf O. Becker (as Ron Baker, credit only)[1] |
| Starring | Lee Van Cleef Giuliano Gemma Walter Rilla Christa Linder Yvonne Sanson |
| Music by | Riz Ortolani |
| Cinematography | Enzo Serafin |
| Edited by | Franco Fraticelli |
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Production
company |
Sancrosiap
Corona Filmproduktion Divina-Film |
| Distributed by | Consorzio Italiano Distributori Indipendenti Film (CIDIF) |
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Release dates
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19 December 1967 |
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Running time
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114 minutes (Italy) 88 minutes (US) |
| Country | Italy West Germany[2] |
| Language | Italian English |
Day of Anger (Italian: I giorni dell'ira , lit. "The Days of Wrath"), also known by its UK titles Blood and Grit and Gunlaw, is a 1967 Italian-German Spaghetti Western film directed and co-written by Tonino Valerii. The film stars Lee Van Cleef and Giuliano Gemma, and features a musical score by Riz Ortolani.[3] The film credits the novel Der Tod ritt dienstags (Death Rode on Tuesdays) by Ron Barker (Rolf O. Becker) as its basis, although Valerii and screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi have attested that this credit was primarily included to appease the West German co-producers, and that the film is not an adaptation of Becker's novel.[4]
Day of Anger was Valerii's second film, as well as his second Spaghetti Western, following Taste for Killing. Valerii went on to film his third Spaghetti Western, The Price of Power, also featuring Gemma, in 1969.
Cast
- Giuliano Gemma as Scott Mary
- Lee Van Cleef as Frank Talby
- Walter Rilla as Murph Allan Short
- Christa Linder as Gwen
- Yvonne Sanson as Vivien Skill
- Lukas Ammann as Judge Cutchell
- Andrea Bosic as Abel Murray
- Al Mulock as Wild Jack
- Giorgio Gargiullo as Killer
- José Calvo (as Pepe Calvo) as Blind Bill
- Karl-Otto Alberty (as Hans Otto Alberty) as Sam Corbitt
- Anna Orso as Eileen, Judge Cutchell's daughter
- Benito Stefanelli as Owen White
- Nino Nini as Marshall / Sheriff Nigel
- Franco Balducci as Slim
- Virgilio Gazzolo as Mr. Barton
- Eleonora Morana as Mrs. Barton
Story
Scott (Gemma) is a young man working as a street sweeper in a small town called Clifton. Scott is looked down upon by the town people, and he has never known his father and only knows his mother's first name was Mary. When Frank Talby (Van Cleef) rides into town and kills one of Scott's bullies, Scott realizes the opportunity to change his life, and decides to prove his worth as a gunfighter to him. Talby soon leaves town to go after Wild Jack (Al Mulock), his former associate who owes him 50,000 dollars. Scott follows him and Talby reluctantly lets him tag along and agrees to teach him a few rules about gunfighting.
Talby and Scott find Wild Jack, but the man tells the pair that he does not have the money anymore, as he was double-crossed by the seemingly respectable citizens of Clifton. A gunfight ensues and Scott manages to convince Talby of his skills with a revolver. After taking care of Wild Jack's gang, the pair return to Clifton. With the help of Scott "Mary", as he was named by Talby, Talby quickly takes over the town, but Scott's fast draw has now become a threat to him. After he kills Scott's former mentor, the two decide to settle things in a shoot-out. Scott kills Talby in a duel and all of his gang by taking advantage of the rules Talby once taught him.
Releases
Day of Anger was released in Italy on December 19, 1967 and in Germany on January 12, 1968.[2]
Reception
In his investigation of narrative structures in Spaghetti Western films, Fridlund ranges Day of Anger, together with Death Rides a Horse as prime examples of a "tutorship variation" that further develops the play on age/experience between the protagonists in For a Few Dollars More, with Lee Van Cleef playing the older partner in all three films. In the "Tutorship" films a younger protagonist seeks the more or less reluctant partnership of an older one, but differences of motivation eventually bring them into conflict.[5]
Bibliography
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References
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- ↑ Hughes, p.91
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- ↑ Fridlund, Bert: The Spaghetti Western. A Thematic Analysis. Jefferson, NC and London: McFarland & Company Inc., 2006 pp. 165-7.
