Spaghetti westerns earned their name because they generally premiered in Italy and the studios that financed them were usually Italian, but the films were often predominantly shot in Spain. The climax of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, with its unforgettable three-way gunfight between Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, and Lee Van Cleef, was shot outside the town of Santo Domingo de Silos, Spain, in the province of Burgos, in a unique circular cemetery put together by set builders. In the script it was called the Sad Hill Cemetery. After the shoot Sad Hill was abandoned, and soon nature began to overtake the set.

That would have been the end of the story, but a group of film fans calling themselves the Sad Hill Cultural Association decided Sad Hill was a historic film treasure deserving of resurrection, and pledged to rescue it from oblivion. Toiling in their spare time, they labored with pick, hoe, and shovel to clear the site. They needed money to accomplish the work, so they set up a crowdfunding campaign with a unique enticement—those who contributed would have their names inscribed on the restored grave markers. The restoration efforts are finally complete, and the famous graveyard has been returned to its former state.

Spanish filmmaker Guillermo de Oliveira shot a documentary about the salvation efforts, and hopes to release a film titled Sad Hill Unearthed. He's now trying to raise money to pay for the rights to clips and music from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, with the plan to premiere thefinished product at film festivals and share the restorer's unique dedication with the world. Meanwhile Sad Hill will become not only a tourist attraction for people passing through the province of Burgos, but a destination for those who contributed to its renewal. As Oliveira commented, “It’s the only cemetery in the world where you can visit your own grave.”

Above, two more posters for the spaghetti western Blindman, starring Tony Anthony and Ringo Starr. We talked about the movie last month on the day of its 1972 Japanese premiere. Its Italian premiere was a year earlier, today in 1971. These two great pieces were painted by Rodolfo Gasparri, yet another top notch Italian poster artist, whose work you've seen before on his nice promo for Klute. We'll have more from him later.

There are precious few movies that truly age well, and far fewer series. But like the Clint Eastwood spaghetti western series colloquially known as the Man with No Name Trilogy, these Japanese posters have stood the test of time. From top to bottom they are for A Fistful of Dollars, aka Koya no yojimbo, For a Few Dollars More, aka Yuuhi no ganman, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, aka Zoku yuuhi no ganman. There are some who say Eastwood’s character actually has a name in these films, but we beg to differ. In the first he’s referred to once as Joe, which is a name, yes, but more likely is a tag, like calling him “hotshot,” or “buddy.” In the second he’s referred to as Manco, which colloquially means “one armed” in Spanish. And in the third film he’s referred to as Blondie. But whatever his real name was, probably everyone thought of him the same way—as trouble. 

When we saw this great poster for Chiedi perdono a Dio... non a me, aka May God Forgive You… But I Won’t, we just had to check out the film. As you might guess, it’s a spaghetti western. It features an all-Italian cast led by George Ardisson playing a character with the unlikely name Cjamango MacDonald. Cjamango and the rest of the MacDonald family reside on a ranch, but they don’t own it. They’re sort of leasing to buy from the evil Smart family and they’re behind on the payments. Eventually the Smarts and a few henchmen raid the MacDonald homestead, shooting everyone dead except Cjamango, who isn’t there at the time. That of course means he’s around to seek bloody revenge, which he does with much mayhem and cruelty. During the course of the rampage Ardisson at first seems to be as expressionless in his role as a Madame Tussaud’s wax mask, but soon we learn to read him and, beneath the gilstening sheen of 40-weight motor oil that coats his face, we begin to recognize such varied emotions as anger:


Contempt:


Vague doubt:


Possible sexual panic:


Deep existential confusion:


Doubt, but a little less vague this time since someone is shooting at him. Also some possible disappointment and hurt mixed in there:


Just trying to keep a straight face really:


Pleasure at how cool he looks in a hat:


Utter denial over the loss of his hat:


Acceptance that his hat is gone and just isn't coming back:

After seventy minutes or so of Ardisson's emotional rollercoaster we barely had enough breath remaining in our bodies for a climax, but hearts be still, we got it in the form of a machine gun massacre designed to decimate the Smart clan and their hired goons. When the smoke clears, Cjamango then demonstrates the basic principles of non-forgiveness to the most evil Smart of all in a grunting, dirt-throwing, whatever-weapons-happen-to-be-handy mano a mano. Did we mention the guy’s name is Dick Smart? So really, there’s another reason to watch the movie right there—assuming Ardisson’s acting clinic isn’t enticement enough. Final note: in case you’re wondering about the title of the movie, it comes from a snippet of dialogue, although the line as delivered actually goes, “God may forgive you… not me.” We echo that sentiment to Ardisson and director Vincenzo Musolino regarding the making of this film.