European Westerns

[Yojimbo]

I love Carry on Cowboy, from the mid-period of the series when the sets were as good as those of any non-comic film! I think my favourite line comes from unlikely sex goddess Joan Sims: "The name's Belle, but you can call me 'ding dong'!"

The only other British western that comes to mind, though it has been a very long time since I last saw it, is Eagle's Wing directed by Anthony Harvey (The Lion In Winter; They Might Be Giants) and featuring Martin Sheen, Harvey Keitel, Sam Waterson, Stéphane Audran and Simon of the Desert himself, Claudio Brook!

to paraphrase Graham Taylor: "do I like that?"
but how come I don't remember it???
Kenneth Williams was a comic genius: just for his presence alone, the Carry Ons deserve their place in cinematic history
And though I loved him on 'Just A Minute', you really need to see those facial and vocal contortions on screen!

I think I taped 'Eagle's Wing' at one time; could even have got to see it in the cinema.
But I still haven't seen it!

[colinr0380]

YouTube to the rescue! (Though I misquoted it a little!)

[Yojimbo]

YouTube to the rescue! (Though I misquoted it a little!)

I love Joan's 'raised eyebrow' just before she delivers the punch-line!
Classic!

And thats a pretty mean accent ol' KW does!

[Tribe]

A most excellent "thesis" by Alex Cox on the spaghetti western genre, 10,000 Ways to Die, can be found here. It's a massive 200-plus page free pdf download. Very nice resource.

[Cold Bishop]

Mind you, it's suppose to be a completely different beast from his recent book, claiming to have rewritten it completely.

[Tribe]

Mind you, it's suppose to be a completely different beast from his recent book, claiming to have rewritten it completely.

I didn't realize Cox had finally published a volume on the topic. Regardless, I think it's hard to beat the "free" price of the download.

[admira]

CZECH Westerns
a few tips for "Czech Westerns"

Tobruk 2008, 99 min, Dir. Václav Marhoul
Lemonade Joe 1964, 99 min, Dir. Oldřich Lipský
Atentát 1964, 98 min, Dir. Jiří Sequens
Piknik 1967, 69 min, Dir. Vladimír Sís
Sekal Has to Die Dir. Vladimír Michálek
Oáza 1972, 81 min, Dir. Zbyněk Brynych
Shadows of a Hot Summer 1977, 99 min, Dir. František Vláčil

[Skritek]

What did you think of Tobruk? I haven't seen it, but at first it seemed like an imitation of mainstream war films, but it got rather good reviews it seems.

Just watch out, as most of these DVDs don't have English subtitles, the Vláčil one certainly doesn't.

[dodo]

Sorry for bringing old topic back up.

Believe it or not, but there is a couple of westerns made in Finland. Director Aarne Tarkas did Villi Pohjola (wild north) trilogy:

Villi Pohjola (1955)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049921/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Villin Pohjolan kulta (1963)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133265/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Villin Pohjolan salattu laakso (1963)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057662/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also Spede Pasanen and co did two comedy westerns. First one is the 1970 film Speedy Gonzales - noin 7 veljeksen poika. The film is sequel to 1968 Robin Hood comedy Noin 7 veljestä. And in 1971 pretty much the same people did Hirttämättömät.

Speedy Gonzales - noin 7 veljeksen poika
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0138830/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hirttämättömät
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0136997/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Still, I can't recommend any of these. But I would be very interested in knowing more info on film made by Finnish-American filmmaker Harry Manner. He did a western called Kuparimaa aka Copper Country in USA in 1962. Any information on this film would be very welcome.

[MichaelB]

The new Polish film Yuma probably belongs here - it's not technically a Western, seeing as it's set in the early 1990s on the border between Poland and Germany, but as the title suggests it's strongly influenced by Westerns: the protagonist Zyga is obsessed with Winnetou, has a dog named Cochise, and there's a running gag involving a cowboy mannequin. And the general theme of the lawless frontier town (in this case a Polish town whose inhabitants from the mayor on down believe that the newly reunified Germany still owes them war reparations and are happy to turn a blind eye to criminal smuggling gangs) is somewhat familiar.

[L.A.]

Talpuk alatt fütyül a szél / The Wind Blows Under Your Feet (György Szomjas, 1976)

Excellent western from Hungary, some pics for the film here. Also the Hungarian DVD has English subtitles.