The Price of Power
Encyclopedia
The Price of Power is an Spanish
-Italian
Spaghetti Western
directed by Tonino Valerii
.
and John F. Kennedy
. It also tackles some racial issues, with many of the antagonists, bitter after being on the losing side of the American Civil War
, showing a distinctly racist attitude towards the hero's best friend, who is black.
as the hero Bill Willer who tries to get revenge against the killers of his father while at the same time trying to prevent an assassination plot against president Garfield (played by Van Johnson
, as José Suárez
played Vice President Chester A. Arthur
) in 1881.
The president ends up dying from an assassin's bullet, but Willer's further quest for revenge is ultimately more successful. Spanish actress Maria Cuadra
plays Lucreatia Garfield, the President's wife. In her role she portrays pretty much the role of Jackie Kennedy as a glamorous President's wife. Even in the assassination scene, Maria Cuadra seems to emulate much of the same actions of Jackie Kennedy's last moments with JFK in Dallas.
The score for the film was composed by the prolific Luis Enríquez Bacalov
.
, Texas
while Garfield was in actuality shot in Washington, D.C.
. In addition to taking place in the same city, the link to the assassination of another president of the United States, John F. Kennedy, is strengthened by the imagery used in the assassination scene, which imitates the Zapruder film
of Kennedy's assassination.
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
-Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
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...
directed by Tonino Valerii
Tonino Valerii
Tonino Valerii is an Italian film director, most known for his Spaghetti Westerns. Valerii started his film career as an assistant director on Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars, before moving on to direct by himself...
.
Political references
The film has many political overtures, most notably drawing similarities between the assassinations of two American presidents James GarfieldJames Garfield
James Abram Garfield served as the 20th President of the United States, after completing nine consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Garfield's accomplishments as President included a controversial resurgence of Presidential authority above Senatorial courtesy in executive...
and John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
. It also tackles some racial issues, with many of the antagonists, bitter after being on the losing side of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, showing a distinctly racist attitude towards the hero's best friend, who is black.
Plot and cast
The film stars 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 the hero Bill Willer who tries to get revenge against the killers of his father while at the same time trying to prevent an assassination plot against president Garfield (played by Van Johnson
Van Johnson
Van Johnson was an American film and television actor and dancer who was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios during and after World War II....
, as José Suárez
José Suárez
-Career:José Suárez made his debut in a short role in Altar Mayor , a very conventional film, whose director, Gonzalo Delgrás, had paid attention to him in his work as a train conductor in Asturias...
played Vice President Chester A. Arthur
Chester A. Arthur
Chester Alan Arthur was the 21st President of the United States . Becoming President after the assassination of President James A. Garfield, Arthur struggled to overcome suspicions of his beginnings as a politician from the New York City Republican machine, succeeding at that task by embracing...
) in 1881.
The president ends up dying from an assassin's bullet, but Willer's further quest for revenge is ultimately more successful. Spanish actress Maria Cuadra
Maria Cuadra
Maria Cuadra is a leading Spanish film, television and theater actress who has starred in several high profile Spanish and international productions including: Platero y yo, Ultimo Encuentro, Vuelve San Valentin, Marinai, donne e guai, and La Cancion del Olvido...
plays Lucreatia Garfield, the President's wife. In her role she portrays pretty much the role of Jackie Kennedy as a glamorous President's wife. Even in the assassination scene, Maria Cuadra seems to emulate much of the same actions of Jackie Kennedy's last moments with JFK in Dallas.
The score for the film was composed by the prolific Luis Enríquez Bacalov
Luis Enríquez Bacalov
Luis Enríquez Bacalov is a prolific Argentine, naturalized Italian, composer of film scores. Early on in his career, he composed scores for Spaghetti Western films. In the early 1970s, he collaborated with Italian progressive rock bands. Bacalov has been nominated twice for the Academy Award...
.
Historical truthfulness
While the historical president Garfield did die as a result of an assassin's bullet, the film's historical accuracy doesn't extend much further than that. While Garfield actually died from complications of the wound months after the actual event, in the film he dies shortly after the shooting. Furthermore, the film's events take place in DallasDallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
while Garfield was in actuality shot in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. In addition to taking place in the same city, the link to the assassination of another president of the United States, John F. Kennedy, is strengthened by the imagery used in the assassination scene, which imitates the Zapruder film
Zapruder film
The Zapruder film is a silent, color motion picture sequence shot by private citizen Abraham Zapruder with a home-movie camera, asU.S. President John F...
of Kennedy's assassination.
Trivia
- Some parts of the soundtrack, composed by Bacalov, are featured in the videogame Red Dead RevolverRed Dead RevolverRed Dead Revolver is a western third-person shooter video game published by Rockstar Games and developed by Rockstar San Diego. It was released in North America on May 4, 2004, for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox....
.