Kraut slowly becomes a spaghetti western with Mario Adorf and Klaus Kinski
This German-Austrian western by Rolf Olsen (1919-1998) was created in the wake of Karl May's wave of success, but is considered a forerunner of the spaghetti western that began a year later. It was shot on Gran Canaria and the script was written by the later DERRICK (German television crime series) author Herbert Reinecker.
EUROPEAN FILM AWARD nominee Mario Adorf plays the nasty bandit Pedro Ortiz, who finally manages to break out of prison. Together with his evil cronies (Klaus Kinski, Sieghardt Rupp, Thomas Fritsch) and his classy lover Juanita (Marisa Mell), he makes his way to Santa Cruz, where he has hidden his previous prey. But first he wants to take revenge on ex-sheriff Rex Kelly (Edmund Purdom). Without further ado, the gang kidnaps his beautiful wife (Marianne Koch) and their son. In this way, the thugs force the horrified Kelly to rob the bank where he now works. But the trigger-happy Rex Kelly has forgotten nothing and does everything he can to save his family. There's also the strange piano player Woody (Walter Giller), who also fell into the clutches of the really nasty gang...
This film scores with a good and diverse cast. It's also quite rough and nasty for a Kraut Western, paving the way for harder fare in the tradition of Sergio Leone. For the German stars, learning to ride was definitely worth it. Marianne Koch, who celebrated her 90th birthday a few months ago, was hired by Sergio Leone for "A Fistful of Dollars" (1964). Top villain Klaus Kinski (1926-1991), who, according to Mario Adorf, wasn't particularly squeamish with horses, impressed as the ultra-evil bounty hunter Loco in "Il grande silenzio" (1968). And Mario Adorf, who turned 90 last year, was a regular in the Western genre anyway (Winnetou I, 1963). The main role is played by US star Edmund Purdom (1924-2009), best known as "Sinuhe the Egyptian" (1954). Marisa Mell and Sieghardt Rupp, who were welcome guests at the Roman Cinecitta in the coming years, are convincing in smaller roles.
Successful western and, above all, an interesting mixture that excellently documents the transition from cabbage to spaghetti western!
