Silver Saddle
Encyclopedia
Silver Saddle also released under the titles The Man in the Silver Saddle and They Died with Their Boots On, is a 1978
Spaghetti Western
. It is the third and final western directed by Lucio Fulci
and one of the last spaghetti westerns to be produced by a European studio. The film was based on an original story written by screenwriter Adriano Bolzoni and directed by Fulci for the Italian studio Rizzoli Film Productions.
This was also the final western film role for leading man Giuliano Gemma
, whose breakout role was in the 1965 spaghetti western A Pistol for Ringo
, although he would continue acting in other genres for more than twenty years afterwards. Along with Gemma, the film also starred Sven Valsecchi, Ettore Manni
, Gianni De Luigi, Cinzia Monreale, Licinia Lentini, Donald O'Brien
, Aldo Sambrell
, Philippe Hersent and Geoffrey Lewis. Although Gemma, Manri, O'Brien and Sambrell were all experienced veterans of the genre, for most of the cast this would be their first and only spaghetti western appearance.
bordertown
in the 1850s. A poor farmer and his young son arrive into the settlement where the farmer confronts Luke Fletcher (Donald O'Brien
), a thieving henchman employed by wealthy land baron Richard Barrett. The man complains to Fletcher that he had been cheated by Barrett claiming he had been sold a deed
to non-existent property. Fletcher finally shoots the farmer, killing the man in front of his young son, and begins laughing. His son then picks up his father's gun, uses it to kill Fletcher, and rides out of town with Fletcher's horse and a distinctive silver-trimmed saddle.
The boy is next seen several years later and has since become a hardened bounty hunter
calling himself Roy Blood (Giuliano Gemma
). He meets an elderly drifter, Two-Strike Snake (Geoffrey Lewis), who accompanies him to the frontier town of Cerriotts. Snake is a colorful character who claims that the story of the "silver saddle" and the boy who avenged his father's death is well known and that he wishes to join Blood in his travels. On the way, Snake often scavenges the remains
of those killed in gunfights by Roy Blood.
Their arrival in Cerriotts is noticed by several townspeople, in particular, a local cowboy known as Turner (Gianni De Luigi). Blood visits the town whorehouse where he meets with an old girlfriend, Shiba (Licinia Lentini), who is also its madam
. She tells Blood that she is being extorted by a man called Shep who collects the money on behalf of a Mexican bandit named Garrincha (Aldo Sambrell
). Shiba enlists Blood's help in taking care of Garrincha and his gang. Indeed, Blood confronts and kills Shep and several of Garrincha's men in a gunfight. Afterwards, Turner appears to offer Blood $2,000 to kill a man called Barrett. Blood is hesitant to take the murder contract, but accepts the offer upon recognizing the name of the land baron who had swindled his father years before.
The murder is arraigned to take place in a graveyard outside town where Barrett is expected to arrive. Blood lies in wait with a rifle until a carriage eventually pulls up. Its occupant is a young boy however, not the older land baron he had expected, who enters the graveyard carrying a funeral wreath
. Blood then sees several men who ambush the child, but before they can kill him, Blood shoots the assassins and rides off with the boy. Blood learns the boy's name is Thomas Barrett, Jr. (Sven Valsecchi), the son of his intended victim Richard Barrett. The elder Barrett has been dead for several years and Thomas, Jr. has since been cared for by his uncle Thomas Barrett, Sr. (Ettore Manni
). Angered at being cheated out of his revenge, Blood leaves the boy stranded in the hillside with only a knife and blanket.
Back at the Barrett homestead, the Thomas's older sister Margaret (Cinzia Monreale) is upset over her brother's disappearance. Thomas, Sr. discusses the search with Turner, who is revealed to be the ranch foreman, and is decided by the land baron that Roy Blood is the kidnapper and posts a $5,000 bounty. Meanwhile, Blood is rejoined by Snake who offers him a deal. Snake reveals that he took in Thomas, Jr. after he left and intends to ransom the boy back to the Barrett family. Blood is also informed that the bounty was a ploy used to kill himself and the boy, with Blood being blamed for the murder.
Blood hides out at Shiba's whorehouse, and where Thomas, Jr. is looked after, while Shiba obtains information on the Barrett family. Using her feminine wiles, she is able to learn that after the death of Richard Barrett, his fortune was divided between his children and his brother. However, Thomas gambled away his half of the inheritance while the family fortune was possessed by his children. The will provided that if Thomas, Jr. died, Margaret would inherit the entire fortune. It is presumed that is the motivating factor for Thomas Barrett, Sr. to marry his niece.
Thomas, Jr. is eventually spotted by Turner while visiting the whorehouse and Blood takes him to the San Jacinto monastery located several miles away. The gun-toting padre
of the monastery promises to protect the boy while Blood goes after Turner. He eventually confronts Turner and his men at an abandoned farmhouse where a shootout occurs and Blood kills Turner. But at the monastery, the bandit Garrincha and his gang have killed all the priests and taken Thomas, Jr. whom they plan to ransom for themselves. Blood is later arrested by the sheriff (Phillppe Hersent) who believes he is a member of Garrincha's band.
The bandit leader demands $10,000 for the safe return of the boy. Thomas, Sr., against the advice of the sheriff, agrees to pay the ransom and sends out a messenger to deliver the money to Garrincha's camp. The courier is murdered once he hands the money to the bandits.
With the help of Margaret, Blood eventually escapes from the town jail and reunites with Snake to track down Garrincha. They finally find the bandit's hideout when Thomas, Jr. flies a kite over its location. Blood and Snake arrive to find Garrincha whipping the boy after discovering his ruse. A gun battle with Garrincha and his men results in the death of the bandit, but not before Snake is killed.
Blood returns to the Barrett ranch with Thomas, Jr. and exposes his uncle's role in the kidnapping revealing that Thomas, Sr. had planned with Turner to kill his niece and nephew so that he would gain the family inheritance. Garrincha was also part of the plan, Thomas, Sr. staging a false kidnapping and ransom payment to avert suspicion from himself, and had intended to kill Turner as well as Margaret once he married her. Blood kills Thomas, Sr. with one of his ornamental pistols. The film's conclusion shows Blood riding out of town with Thomas, Jr. alongside him.
(1975), prior to Silver Saddle. With an original story written by screenwriter Adriano Bolzoni and financed by the Italian studio Rizzoli Film Productions, Fulci went to work on what would be his final spaghetti western. Fulci would later find fame as a horror film
director, specifically his gore films Zombi 2
(1979) and The Beyond (1981).
Filming between Murder to the Tune of Seven Black Notes (1977) and Zombie 2 (1979), his crew included many Fulci regulars including cinematographer Sergio Salvati, editor Ornella Micheli and composer Fabio Frizzi. The film's screenwriter Adriano Bolzoni was also top Italian writer best known for his collaboration with Ernesto Gastaldi
in Sergio Martino
’s Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (1972).
was given the lead role of Roy Blood. Gemma's breakout role had been in one of the earliest successful spaghetti westerns, A Pistol for Ringo
(1965), and secured his role as a star in the genre. Several of his co-stars were also highly recognizable character actors. Donald O'Brien
, best known for his roles in Run, Man, Run!
(1966), Keoma (1976) and Mannaja
(1977), had also appeared in Fulci's previous western Four Gunmen of the Apocalypse. O'Brien would later star in Fulci's dystopian film
The New Gladiators (1984).
Ettore Manni
had starred in Johnny Oro (1966) and both "official" and "unofficial" Sartana sequels
I Am Sartana Your Angel of Death (1969) and Django and Sartana Are Coming... It's the End (1970). Aldo Sambrell
, another early spaghetti western star, had appeared in Gunfighters of Casa Grande
(1964), Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More
(1965), Navajo Joe
(1966), A Bullet for the General
(1966), The Hellbenders
(1967), Once Upon a Time in the West
(1968) and A Fistful of Dynamite
(1971). American character actor
Geoffrey Lewis had previously appeared in Sergio Leone
's My Name is Nobody
(1973).
Sven Valsecchi was a well-known child actor
at the time of his appearance in Silver Saddle. His first role had been in The Balloon Vendor
(1974) and had recently appeared in Nenè
(1977) when he was cast in the film. This was his final role in a feature film and, after a guest appearance in the 1979 television mini-series Orient Express
, retired from acting altogether.
Cinzia Monreale had been in a few romantic comedies before her appearance in Silver Saddles although the director of her first film, Franco Rossetti, had written the screenplays for Johnny Oro (1965), Texas, Adios
(1965) and Django
(1966). Monreale would appear in several of Fulci's later horror films including The Beyond (1981), The New Gladiators (1984) and the television movie
The Sweet House of Horrors (1989).
This was the first major film role for Licinia Lentini, appearing alongside fellow Italian sex symbol
Agnes Kalpagos, and was cast in the female lead despite being relatively inexperienced. She had then been in only a few films, among these being the b-movie
science fiction film
War of the Robots (1976). Following her appearance in Silver Saddle, she had a number of supporting roles in comedy films herself. In her last film appearance, she starred in Django 2 (1986) which was the first spaghetti western to be made in over a decade since her appearance in Silver Saddle.
Philippe Hersent was a veteran actor with a career spanning forty years and had supporting roles in such films as La Garçonne
(1936), The Giant of Marathon
(1954), Scipio the African
(1971) and Conversation Piece
(1974). Hersent was also known for his roles in the James Bond
parody series
Agent 077 (Agent 077 From the Orient with Fury
and Agent 077 - Mission Bloody Mary
). This was his last film role and died four years later.
Sergio Salvati
throughout 1977 and into early 1978. This was one of the two last spaghetti westerns to be filmed in the area, the other being Monte Hellman
's China 9, Liberty 37
which was released later that year.
, Austria
and Hungary
with a recorded attendance of 887,413 for the latter country. The film was generally rated "above 15", West Germany and Norway both classifying the film as (FSK 16) and (15 År) respectively, while in other countries such as Argentina
the film was given an "above 13" rating.
It was released on VHS shortly after its original theatrical run in Italy. The film's soundtrack, composed by Franco Bixio, Vince Tempera and Fabio Frizzi
, came out that same year and featured "Two Hearts" by Ken Tobias
which later became a popular tune. Despite the film being re-released on DVD in 2001 by Madusa Video, Silver Saddle remains one of Fulci's least known films. It has generally had mixed reviews by both fans and critics, being praised in Thomas Weisser’s Spaghetti Westerns: The Good, The Bad, and The Violent (1992) and panned in Stephen Thrower
’s Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci (2002).
1978 in film
The year 1978 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 1 - Bob Dylan's film Renaldo and Clara, a documentary of the "Rolling Thunder Revue" tour premieres in Los Angeles, California....
Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western, also known as Italo-Western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's unique and much copied film-making style and international box-office success, so named by American critics because most were produced and...
. It is the third and final western directed by Lucio Fulci
Lucio Fulci
Lucio Fulci was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is perhaps best known for his directorial work on gore films, including Zombie and The Beyond , although he made films in genres as diverse as giallo, western, and comedy...
and one of the last spaghetti westerns to be produced by a European studio. The film was based on an original story written by screenwriter Adriano Bolzoni and directed by Fulci for the Italian studio Rizzoli Film Productions.
This was also the final western film role for leading man Giuliano Gemma
Giuliano Gemma
-Biography:Born in Rome, Gemma first worked as a stuntman, then was offered real acting parts by director Duccio Tessari, starting with the film Arrivano i titani . He also made an appearance in Luchino Visconti's Il Gattopardo as Garibaldi's General...
, whose breakout role was in the 1965 spaghetti western A Pistol for Ringo
A Pistol for Ringo
A Pistol for Ringo is a 1965 Spaghetti Western, a joint Italian and Spanish production. Originally written and directed by Duccio Tessari, the film's success led to a sequel, The Return of Ringo, later that year....
, although he would continue acting in other genres for more than twenty years afterwards. Along with Gemma, the film also starred Sven Valsecchi, Ettore Manni
Ettore Manni
Ettore Manni was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 107 films between 1952 and 1979. He was born and died in Rome, Italy after accidentally shooting himself.-Selected filmography:* Two Nights with Cleopatra...
, Gianni De Luigi, Cinzia Monreale, Licinia Lentini, Donald O'Brien
Donald O'Brien (actor)
Donal "Donald" O'Brien was a French-born Italian film and television actor of Irish descent. In his near 40-year career, O'Brien appeared in dozens of stage performances and in more than 60 film and television productions.O'Brien was born in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, raised in both Northern...
, Aldo Sambrell
Aldo Sambrell
Alfredo Sanchez Brell , known as Aldo Sambrell, was a Spanish film actor, director and producer who made over 150 appearances in film between 1961 and 1996....
, Philippe Hersent and Geoffrey Lewis. Although Gemma, Manri, O'Brien and Sambrell were all experienced veterans of the genre, for most of the cast this would be their first and only spaghetti western appearance.
Cast
- Giuliano GemmaGiuliano Gemma-Biography:Born in Rome, Gemma first worked as a stuntman, then was offered real acting parts by director Duccio Tessari, starting with the film Arrivano i titani . He also made an appearance in Luchino Visconti's Il Gattopardo as Garibaldi's General...
as Roy Blood — a bounty hunter who wanders the Texas frontier following the murder of his father. He eventually arrives in Cerriotts where he intends to take revenge on the land baron who is ultimately responsible for his death. - Donald O'BrienDonald O'Brien (actor)Donal "Donald" O'Brien was a French-born Italian film and television actor of Irish descent. In his near 40-year career, O'Brien appeared in dozens of stage performances and in more than 60 film and television productions.O'Brien was born in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, raised in both Northern...
as Luke Fletcher — a murderous gunman who works for Barrett. He killed the father of Roy Blood, and was in turn killed by Blood, who then acquired his horse and silver saddle. - Geoffrey Lewis as Two-Strike Snake — a colorful drifter who befriends Roy Blood and becomes his companion. He is often seen stealing the belongings of men who Blood has killed in gunfights.
- Gianni De Luigi as Turner — a blond-haired cowboy with uncertain intentions towards Blood. He initially offers Blood a murder contract which the bounty hunter accepts when he learns the target is Barrett.
- Licinia Lentini as Shiba — Blood's ex-girlfriend and madam of the local whorehouse. She hires Blood to stop Garrincha from extorting her and later helps Blood in his feud with Thomas Barrett.
- Sven Valsecchi as Thomas Barrett, Jr. — the only son of Richard Barrett, the land baron who cheated Roy Blood's father years before. He and his sister Margaret are under the care of their uncle Thomas Barrett, Sr.
- Cinzia Monreale as Margaret Barrett — the older sister of Thomas Barrett, Jr. and niece of Thomas Barrett, Sr.
- Ettore ManniEttore ManniEttore Manni was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 107 films between 1952 and 1979. He was born and died in Rome, Italy after accidentally shooting himself.-Selected filmography:* Two Nights with Cleopatra...
as Thomas Barrett, Sr. — a ruthless and manipulativePsychological manipulationPsychological manipulation is a type of social influence that aims to change the perception or behavior of others through underhanded, deceptive, or even abusive tactics. By advancing the interests of the manipulator, often at the other's expense, such methods could be considered exploitative,...
land baron who uses Roy Blood's desire for vengeance to further his own plans. - Aldo SambrellAldo SambrellAlfredo Sanchez Brell , known as Aldo Sambrell, was a Spanish film actor, director and producer who made over 150 appearances in film between 1961 and 1996....
as Garrincha — a Mexican bandit whose gang is extorting Shiba. He becomes an enemy of Roy Blood when the gunfighter kills several of his men who are threatening Shiba. - Philippe Hersent as The Sheriff — the town sheriff, he is initially suspicious of Roy Blood and eventually believes he is in league with Garrincha. He is largely focused on breaking up Garrincha's gang and is unaware of Thomas Barrett's intentions.
Plot
The film opens in a small South TexasSouth Texas
South Texas is a region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of and including San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande River, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of this region is about 3.7 million. The southern portion of this region is...
bordertown
Border town
A border town is a town or city close to the boundary between two countries, states or regions. Usually the term implies that it is one of the things the town is most famous for. Border towns can have highly cosmopolitan communities, a feature they share with port cities...
in the 1850s. A poor farmer and his young son arrive into the settlement where the farmer confronts Luke Fletcher (Donald O'Brien
Donald O'Brien (actor)
Donal "Donald" O'Brien was a French-born Italian film and television actor of Irish descent. In his near 40-year career, O'Brien appeared in dozens of stage performances and in more than 60 film and television productions.O'Brien was born in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, raised in both Northern...
), a thieving henchman employed by wealthy land baron Richard Barrett. The man complains to Fletcher that he had been cheated by Barrett claiming he had been sold a deed
Deed
A deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, or affirms or confirms something which passes, an interest, right, or property and that is signed, attested, delivered, and in some jurisdictions sealed...
to non-existent property. Fletcher finally shoots the farmer, killing the man in front of his young son, and begins laughing. His son then picks up his father's gun, uses it to kill Fletcher, and rides out of town with Fletcher's horse and a distinctive silver-trimmed saddle.
The boy is next seen several years later and has since become a hardened bounty hunter
Bounty hunter
A bounty hunter captures fugitives for a monetary reward . Other names, mainly used in the United States, include bail enforcement agent and fugitive recovery agent.-Laws in the U.S.:...
calling himself Roy Blood (Giuliano Gemma
Giuliano Gemma
-Biography:Born in Rome, Gemma first worked as a stuntman, then was offered real acting parts by director Duccio Tessari, starting with the film Arrivano i titani . He also made an appearance in Luchino Visconti's Il Gattopardo as Garibaldi's General...
). He meets an elderly drifter, Two-Strike Snake (Geoffrey Lewis), who accompanies him to the frontier town of Cerriotts. Snake is a colorful character who claims that the story of the "silver saddle" and the boy who avenged his father's death is well known and that he wishes to join Blood in his travels. On the way, Snake often scavenges the remains
Grave robbing
Grave robbery, grave robbing, or tomb raiding is the act of uncovering a tomb or crypt to steal artifacts or personal effects. Someone who engages in this act is a grave robber or tomb raider...
of those killed in gunfights by Roy Blood.
Their arrival in Cerriotts is noticed by several townspeople, in particular, a local cowboy known as Turner (Gianni De Luigi). Blood visits the town whorehouse where he meets with an old girlfriend, Shiba (Licinia Lentini), who is also its madam
Pimp
A pimp is an agent for prostitutes who collects part of their earnings. The pimp may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing a location where she may engage clients...
. She tells Blood that she is being extorted by a man called Shep who collects the money on behalf of a Mexican bandit named Garrincha (Aldo Sambrell
Aldo Sambrell
Alfredo Sanchez Brell , known as Aldo Sambrell, was a Spanish film actor, director and producer who made over 150 appearances in film between 1961 and 1996....
). Shiba enlists Blood's help in taking care of Garrincha and his gang. Indeed, Blood confronts and kills Shep and several of Garrincha's men in a gunfight. Afterwards, Turner appears to offer Blood $2,000 to kill a man called Barrett. Blood is hesitant to take the murder contract, but accepts the offer upon recognizing the name of the land baron who had swindled his father years before.
The murder is arraigned to take place in a graveyard outside town where Barrett is expected to arrive. Blood lies in wait with a rifle until a carriage eventually pulls up. Its occupant is a young boy however, not the older land baron he had expected, who enters the graveyard carrying a funeral wreath
Wreath
A wreath is an assortment of flowers, leaves, fruits, twigs and/or various materials that is constructed to resemble a ring. They are used typically as Christmas decorations to symbolize the coming of Christ, also known as the Advent season in Christianity. They are also used as festive headdresses...
. Blood then sees several men who ambush the child, but before they can kill him, Blood shoots the assassins and rides off with the boy. Blood learns the boy's name is Thomas Barrett, Jr. (Sven Valsecchi), the son of his intended victim Richard Barrett. The elder Barrett has been dead for several years and Thomas, Jr. has since been cared for by his uncle Thomas Barrett, Sr. (Ettore Manni
Ettore Manni
Ettore Manni was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 107 films between 1952 and 1979. He was born and died in Rome, Italy after accidentally shooting himself.-Selected filmography:* Two Nights with Cleopatra...
). Angered at being cheated out of his revenge, Blood leaves the boy stranded in the hillside with only a knife and blanket.
Back at the Barrett homestead, the Thomas's older sister Margaret (Cinzia Monreale) is upset over her brother's disappearance. Thomas, Sr. discusses the search with Turner, who is revealed to be the ranch foreman, and is decided by the land baron that Roy Blood is the kidnapper and posts a $5,000 bounty. Meanwhile, Blood is rejoined by Snake who offers him a deal. Snake reveals that he took in Thomas, Jr. after he left and intends to ransom the boy back to the Barrett family. Blood is also informed that the bounty was a ploy used to kill himself and the boy, with Blood being blamed for the murder.
Blood hides out at Shiba's whorehouse, and where Thomas, Jr. is looked after, while Shiba obtains information on the Barrett family. Using her feminine wiles, she is able to learn that after the death of Richard Barrett, his fortune was divided between his children and his brother. However, Thomas gambled away his half of the inheritance while the family fortune was possessed by his children. The will provided that if Thomas, Jr. died, Margaret would inherit the entire fortune. It is presumed that is the motivating factor for Thomas Barrett, Sr. to marry his niece.
Thomas, Jr. is eventually spotted by Turner while visiting the whorehouse and Blood takes him to the San Jacinto monastery located several miles away. The gun-toting padre
Padre
Padre may refer to:* Partnership for Acid Drainage Remediation in Europe PADRE* An IDE for the Perl programming language, see Padre * A Military Chaplain* A member of the San Diego Padres baseball team...
of the monastery promises to protect the boy while Blood goes after Turner. He eventually confronts Turner and his men at an abandoned farmhouse where a shootout occurs and Blood kills Turner. But at the monastery, the bandit Garrincha and his gang have killed all the priests and taken Thomas, Jr. whom they plan to ransom for themselves. Blood is later arrested by the sheriff (Phillppe Hersent) who believes he is a member of Garrincha's band.
The bandit leader demands $10,000 for the safe return of the boy. Thomas, Sr., against the advice of the sheriff, agrees to pay the ransom and sends out a messenger to deliver the money to Garrincha's camp. The courier is murdered once he hands the money to the bandits.
With the help of Margaret, Blood eventually escapes from the town jail and reunites with Snake to track down Garrincha. They finally find the bandit's hideout when Thomas, Jr. flies a kite over its location. Blood and Snake arrive to find Garrincha whipping the boy after discovering his ruse. A gun battle with Garrincha and his men results in the death of the bandit, but not before Snake is killed.
Blood returns to the Barrett ranch with Thomas, Jr. and exposes his uncle's role in the kidnapping revealing that Thomas, Sr. had planned with Turner to kill his niece and nephew so that he would gain the family inheritance. Garrincha was also part of the plan, Thomas, Sr. staging a false kidnapping and ransom payment to avert suspicion from himself, and had intended to kill Turner as well as Margaret once he married her. Blood kills Thomas, Sr. with one of his ornamental pistols. The film's conclusion shows Blood riding out of town with Thomas, Jr. alongside him.
Production
Lucio Fulci had directed two other spaghetti westerns, The Brute and the Beast (1966) and Four of the ApocalypseFour of the Apocalypse
Four of the Apocalypse is a 1975 Spaghetti Western film directed by Lucio Fulci and starring Fabio Testi. It is based on two stories by western writer Bret Harte, "The Luck of Roaring Camp" and "The Outcasts of Poker Flat"....
(1975), prior to Silver Saddle. With an original story written by screenwriter Adriano Bolzoni and financed by the Italian studio Rizzoli Film Productions, Fulci went to work on what would be his final spaghetti western. Fulci would later find fame as a horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
director, specifically his gore films Zombi 2
Zombi 2
Zombi 2 is a 1979 zombie horror film directed by Lucio Fulci. It is the best-known of Fulci's films and made him a horror icon. Though the title suggests this is a sequel to Zombi Zombi 2 (also known as Zombie, Island of the Living Dead, Zombie Island, Zombie Flesh Eaters and Woodoo) is a 1979...
(1979) and The Beyond (1981).
Filming between Murder to the Tune of Seven Black Notes (1977) and Zombie 2 (1979), his crew included many Fulci regulars including cinematographer Sergio Salvati, editor Ornella Micheli and composer Fabio Frizzi. The film's screenwriter Adriano Bolzoni was also top Italian writer best known for his collaboration with Ernesto Gastaldi
Ernesto Gastaldi
Ernesto Gastaldi is an Italian screen writer.Born in Graglia, province of Biella, he has written under the pseudonyms Julian Berry, Julyan Perry and Ernst Gasthaus....
in Sergio Martino
Sergio Martino
Sergio Martino is an Italian film director and producer, notable for his contributions to the giallo genre.Martino is the brother of producer Luciano Martino. They collaborated frequently in their respective professions...
’s Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (1972).
Casting
Giuliano GemmaGiuliano Gemma
-Biography:Born in Rome, Gemma first worked as a stuntman, then was offered real acting parts by director Duccio Tessari, starting with the film Arrivano i titani . He also made an appearance in Luchino Visconti's Il Gattopardo as Garibaldi's General...
was given the lead role of Roy Blood. Gemma's breakout role had been in one of the earliest successful spaghetti westerns, A Pistol for Ringo
A Pistol for Ringo
A Pistol for Ringo is a 1965 Spaghetti Western, a joint Italian and Spanish production. Originally written and directed by Duccio Tessari, the film's success led to a sequel, The Return of Ringo, later that year....
(1965), and secured his role as a star in the genre. Several of his co-stars were also highly recognizable character actors. Donald O'Brien
Donald O'Brien (actor)
Donal "Donald" O'Brien was a French-born Italian film and television actor of Irish descent. In his near 40-year career, O'Brien appeared in dozens of stage performances and in more than 60 film and television productions.O'Brien was born in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, raised in both Northern...
, best known for his roles in Run, Man, Run!
Run, Man, Run!
Run, Man, Run! is is an Italian Zapata-themed spaghetti western movie. It is the second movie of Sergio Sollima centered on the character of Cuchillo, again played by Tomas Milian, after the two-years earlier successful western The Big Gundown. It is also the final chapter of the...
(1966), Keoma (1976) and Mannaja
Mannaja
Mannaja is an Italian western film from 1977 directed by Sergio Martino. The main role, Blade, is played by Maurizio Merli...
(1977), had also appeared in Fulci's previous western Four Gunmen of the Apocalypse. O'Brien would later star in Fulci's dystopian film
Dystopia
A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four...
The New Gladiators (1984).
Ettore Manni
Ettore Manni
Ettore Manni was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 107 films between 1952 and 1979. He was born and died in Rome, Italy after accidentally shooting himself.-Selected filmography:* Two Nights with Cleopatra...
had starred in Johnny Oro (1966) and both "official" and "unofficial" Sartana sequels
Sartana
Sartana is the name of a spaghetti western character first played by Gianni Garko and later by George Hilton. Other characters were unofficially called Sartana in unrelated films to capitalize on the success of the official films....
I Am Sartana Your Angel of Death (1969) and Django and Sartana Are Coming... It's the End (1970). Aldo Sambrell
Aldo Sambrell
Alfredo Sanchez Brell , known as Aldo Sambrell, was a Spanish film actor, director and producer who made over 150 appearances in film between 1961 and 1996....
, another early spaghetti western star, had appeared in Gunfighters of Casa Grande
Gunfighters of Casa Grande
Gunfighters of Casa Grande is a 1964 Eurowestern film, co-produced by the United States and Spain. Based on a story by Borden and Patricia Chase, it was later developed into a screenplay with the assistance of screenwriter Clark Reynolds and directed by Roy Rowland, one of the last films he...
(1964), Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More
For a Few Dollars More
For a Few Dollars More is a 1965 Italian spaghetti western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Gian Maria Volonté. German actor Klaus Kinski also plays a supporting role as a secondary villain...
(1965), Navajo Joe
Navajo Joe
Navajo Joe is a 1966 Italian/Spanish Spaghetti Western, directed by Sergio Corbucci. It was filmed in Spain.Navajo Joe stars Burt Reynolds in his second leading role in a feature film, as the titular character, a Navajo Indian opposing a group of bandits responsible for killing his tribe.The film's...
(1966), A Bullet for the General
A Bullet for the General
A Bullet for the General , is a 1966 film which stars Gian Maria Volonté, Klaus Kinski, Lou Castel and Martine Beswick. Originally entitled El Chucho, quién sabe?, it is the story of El Chucho, the bandit, and Bill Tate who is a counter-revolutionary in Mexico...
(1966), The Hellbenders
The Hellbenders
The Hellbenders is a Spaghetti Western directed by Sergio Corbucci in 1966.-Plot:...
(1967), Once Upon a Time in the West
Once Upon a Time in the West
Once Upon a Time in the West is a 1968 Italian epic spaghetti western film directed by Sergio Leone for Paramount Pictures. It stars Henry Fonda cast against type as the villain, Charles Bronson as his nemesis, Jason Robards as a bandit, and Claudia Cardinale as a newly widowed homesteader with a...
(1968) and A Fistful of Dynamite
A Fistful of Dynamite
Duck, You Sucker! , also known as A Fistful of Dynamite and Once Upon a Time… the Revolution, is a 1971 Zapata Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Rod Steiger and James Coburn....
(1971). American character actor
Character actor
A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
Geoffrey Lewis had previously appeared in Sergio Leone
Sergio Leone
Sergio Leone was an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter most associated with the "Spaghetti Western" genre.Leone's film-making style includes juxtaposing extreme close-up shots with lengthy long shots...
's My Name is Nobody
My Name Is Nobody
My Name is Nobody is a 1973 Spaghetti Western comedy film. The film was directed by Tonino Valerii and, in some scenes, by Sergio Leone. It was written by Leone, Fulvio Morsella and Ernesto Gastaldi. Leone was also the uncredited executive producer...
(1973).
Sven Valsecchi was a well-known child actor
Child actor
The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion, the latter is also called a former child actor...
at the time of his appearance in Silver Saddle. His first role had been in The Balloon Vendor
The Balloon Vendor
The Balloon Vendor is a 1974 drama film directed by Mario Gariazzo and starring Lee J. Cobb.-Cast:* Alfredo Adami - Alfredo* Gianni Agus - Circus manager* Giordano Albertoni* Maurizio Arena - Romolo* Adolfo Celi - Professor...
(1974) and had recently appeared in Nenè
Nenè
Nenè is a 1977 Italian drama film directed by Salvatore Samperi. The film is a historical drama, set in post-war Italy in 1948 during the first free elections after the war. It tells of a romance and a coming-of-age amid a difficult family life and amid national political tensions.The film was an...
(1977) when he was cast in the film. This was his final role in a feature film and, after a guest appearance in the 1979 television mini-series Orient Express
Orient Express
The Orient Express is the name of a long-distance passenger train service originally operated by the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits. It ran from 1883 to 2009 and is not to be confused with the Venice-Simplon Orient Express train service, which continues to run.The route and rolling stock...
, retired from acting altogether.
Cinzia Monreale had been in a few romantic comedies before her appearance in Silver Saddles although the director of her first film, Franco Rossetti, had written the screenplays for Johnny Oro (1965), Texas, Adios
Texas, Adios
Texas, Adios is a 1967 film directed by Ferdinando Baldi and starring Franco Nero. It is often referenced in connection with Django, also starring Nero, and although was referred to as "Django 2" in some countries, it is not considered a sequel...
(1965) and Django
Django (film)
Django is a 1966 Italian spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Corbucci and starring Franco Nero in the eponymous role. The film earned a reputation as being one of the most violent films ever made up to that point and was subsequently refused a certificate in Britain until 1993, when it was...
(1966). Monreale would appear in several of Fulci's later horror films including The Beyond (1981), The New Gladiators (1984) and the television movie
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
The Sweet House of Horrors (1989).
This was the first major film role for Licinia Lentini, appearing alongside fellow Italian sex symbol
Sex symbol
A sex symbol is a celebrity of either gender, typically an actor, musician, supermodel, teen idol, or sports star, noted for their sex appeal. The term was first used in the mid 1950s in relation to the popularity of certain Hollywood stars, especially Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte...
Agnes Kalpagos, and was cast in the female lead despite being relatively inexperienced. She had then been in only a few films, among these being the b-movie
B-movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
science fiction film
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
War of the Robots (1976). Following her appearance in Silver Saddle, she had a number of supporting roles in comedy films herself. In her last film appearance, she starred in Django 2 (1986) which was the first spaghetti western to be made in over a decade since her appearance in Silver Saddle.
Philippe Hersent was a veteran actor with a career spanning forty years and had supporting roles in such films as La Garçonne
La Garçonne (1936 film)
La Garçonne is a 1936 French black-and-white film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Victor Margueritte...
(1936), The Giant of Marathon
The Giant of Marathon
The Giant of Marathon is a 1959 Italian sword and sandal film. It was directed by Jacques Tourneur and Mario Bava...
(1954), Scipio the African
Scipio the African
Scipio the African is a 1971 Italian comedy film directed by Luigi Magni.-Cast:* Marcello Mastroianni - Scipione l'Africano* Silvana Mangano - Emilia* Vittorio Gassman - Catone il Censore* Ruggero Mastroianni - Scipione l'Asiatico...
(1971) and Conversation Piece
Conversation Piece (film)
Conversation Piece is an award-winning 1974 film by Italian director Luchino Visconti.The film features an international cast including the American actor Burt Lancaster, the Austrian Helmut Berger and the Italians Silvana Mangano and Claudia Cardinale and the French actress Dominique Sanda in a...
(1974). Hersent was also known for his roles in the James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
parody series
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
Agent 077 (Agent 077 From the Orient with Fury
Agent 077 From the Orient with Fury
Agent 077 From the Orient With Fury or Agent 077 Fury in the Orient or Agente 077 dall'oriente con furore is a 1965 Italian action spy adventure film of the Secret Agent 077 film series directed by Sergio Grieco...
and Agent 077 - Mission Bloody Mary
Agent 077 - Mission Bloody Mary
Agent 077: Mission Bloody Mary or Agente 077: Missione Bloody Mary is a 1965 Italian action spy adventure film. The first of the Secret Agent 077 film series directed by Sergio Grieco.-Cast:*Ken Clark... Dick Malloy...
). This was his last film role and died four years later.
Filming
Principal filming took place in Almería, Spain under the direction of longtime Fulci collaborator cinematographerCinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
Sergio Salvati
Sergio Salvati
Sergio Salvati is a cinematographer who is famous for his collaborations with Italian horror film director Lucio Fulci. Such films include Seven Notes In Black , Zombi 2 and The Beyond ....
throughout 1977 and into early 1978. This was one of the two last spaghetti westerns to be filmed in the area, the other being Monte Hellman
Monte Hellman
Monte Hellman is an American film director, producer, and film editor.Hellman is among a group of directing talent mentored by Roger Corman, who produced several of the director's early films...
's China 9, Liberty 37
China 9, Liberty 37
China 9, Liberty 37 is an Italian-Spanish 1978 western film directed by Monte Hellman, starring Warren Oates, Jenny Agutter, and Fabio Testi. The film was shot in locations in Spain and Italy by cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno. Pino Donaggio composed the musical score...
which was released later that year.
Reaction
The film proved moderately successful following its release in Italy on April 20, 1978, eventually earning 237,000,000 £ (US: 162,462) in its initial run. Silver Saddle was shown throughout Europe during the next two years, and was especially popular in West GermanyWest Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
with a recorded attendance of 887,413 for the latter country. The film was generally rated "above 15", West Germany and Norway both classifying the film as (FSK 16) and (15 År) respectively, while in other countries such as Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
the film was given an "above 13" rating.
It was released on VHS shortly after its original theatrical run in Italy. The film's soundtrack, composed by Franco Bixio, Vince Tempera and Fabio Frizzi
Fabio Frizzi
Fabio Frizzi is an Italian musician and composer.Born in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, he is best known for his film scores. A frequent collaborator with famous horror director Lucio Fulci, his scores have become some of the most widely known in the genre.-Partial filmography:*Zombi 2 *Contraband *City...
, came out that same year and featured "Two Hearts" by Ken Tobias
Ken Tobias
Kenneth Wayne Paul Tobias is a Canadian singer-songwriter. He is noted for penning a chart-topping hit for The Bells and for several top-selling recordings of his own.-Early career:...
which later became a popular tune. Despite the film being re-released on DVD in 2001 by Madusa Video, Silver Saddle remains one of Fulci's least known films. It has generally had mixed reviews by both fans and critics, being praised in Thomas Weisser’s Spaghetti Westerns: The Good, The Bad, and The Violent (1992) and panned in Stephen Thrower
Stephen Thrower
Stephen Thrower is an English musician and author.Formerly a member of the music group Coil , his current music project is Cyclobe, with Ossian Brown...
’s Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci (2002).
Further reading
- Matuszak, David F. The Cowboy's Trail Guide to Westerns. Redlands, California: Pacific Sunset Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0-9633582-5-1
- Palmerini, Luca M. and Gaetano Mistretta. Spaghetti Nightmares: Italian Fantasy-Horror as Seen Through the Eyes of Their Protagonists. Key West, Florida: Fantasma Books, 1996. ISBN 0-9634982-7-4
- Weisser, Thomas. Spaghetti Westerns: The Good, The Bad, and The Violent: A Comprehensive, Illustrated Filmography of 558 Eurowesterns and Their Personnel, 1961-1977. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 1992. ISBN 0-89950-688-7