Massacro al Grande Canyon

The court is still out on this one. The second of Sergio Corbucci's Euro Westerns that I have managed to track down lacks the punch that he would find in DJANGO and represents a genre in search of it's form. It's actually a very unique looking production, using exteriors located in the former Yugoslavia rather than Spain and existing as a sort of brooding, somber range war movie than a slick cartoon about Pistoleros and Gringos battling it out under the hot sun. James Mitchum is adequate as the Yankee imported to sway box office receipts, with genre legends George Ardisson and my hero Giacomo Rossi-Stuart adding a bit more color in supporting roles.

The issue with the film is that it's a bit of a slog compared to the hip, visually revolutionary movies like DJANGO and the Sergio Leone DOLLARS films, and still hadn't quite achieved the sense of fun & invention from contemporaneous Euro Western hits like SEVEN GUNS FOR THE MACGREGORS or FURY OF THE APACHES -- over the top examples of the Western as an exaggeration, where MASSACRE AT GRAND CANYON seems to dwell on understatement. It's a bit more enjoyable than Corbucci's followup MINNESOTA CLAY which I have a strong aversion to that cannot be put into words. I hate MINNESOTA CLAY but I merely dislike MASSACRE AT GRAND CANYON.

Yet it's historically significant, with the presence of Albert Band helping to cement the film as a transitional effort between the Karl May influenced Schnitzel Westerns of Harald Reinl et al & the full blown Spaghetti Western boon precipitated in part by Corbucci's DJANGO. By then he would have found his balance between the brooding, languid sense of pessimism and an arty flair that would become his trademark. Here he was figuring out the tune, and while I may not sing praises for the results they are certainly interesting, and spoke of greater things to come.

5/10