"...burnt up like well done steaks..."
Who loves Spaghetti Westerns, baby?

Thankfully I had the hour I needed last night to finish the last Spaghetti Western that I had received in the mail some time ago.

After having gone for so long with famine in that arena, it's so strange that I've had such an on-going feast of them now. Everything that I found for rental in Austin, which was more than I had found anywhere else, tended to be second generation bootlegs off of European tapes. Most were widescreen, and unedited, but usually those unedited scenes were either untranslated and unsubtitled, and of a quality less than an already poor image.

Still, anyone who loves this stuff knows: You take what you can get if you really want to see it.

Anyhow, I finally took in one of the final major Sergio Corbucci's I still needed to see. Those left, for those interested: The Specialists, The Hellbenders and Navajo Joe. I'm not as interested in Grand Canyon Masscare (his 2nd Western), Johnny Oro, or Samurai unless someone informs me differently.

J & S: Criminal Story of an Outlaw Couple (1972)

The Story: Robin Hood-like bandit Jed (Tomas Milian) continues to terrorize the Southwest while being pursued by relentless Sheriff Franciscus (Telly Savalas). In a close shave with Franciscus, Jed is saved by Sonny (Susan George) who wants to follow him and become an outlaw herself. Eventually the two find love and lust while together on the run.

The Review: If Bonnie & Clyde and Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid had a bastard movie child, it would be the story of Sonny & Jed. Unfortunately, it lacks the psychological depth of the former, enough of the charismatic humor of the latter, and the coherency of both. But somehow, Corbucci always seems to pull it off.

First Note: Most of the reviews I found of this film seemed stuck on the fact that it featured the occasional use of the word 'f*ck'. I assume it was just surprising because it was a western. However, you'd think that any review written after about 1985 wouldn't think twice about. I only noticed it because people talked about it. Other than that it was...um...irrelevant.

The first thing that carried this movie was of course Tomas Milian. The funny thing was that this is the same character I've seen him play in I don't recall how many Spaghetti's. Jed is equal parts Vasco of Compañeros and Cuchillo of Run Man, Run amongst others. Probably the only really different one I've ever seen for him was Chaco in Four of the Apocalypse. Ok, there was his turn as Django in Django Kill!, but what can you really compare that one too? My point though is that Milian is always fun to watch. He's raunchy and obnoxious, but ultimately repugnant in a weirdly endearing way. This one's got him acting particularly bad, but he'd still not completely without redemption.

Susan George on the hand doesn't have the believability of the scamp who's obsessed with her bad guy like Natalie Portman in The Professional. She spends too much of the movie quiet and timid after her first outburst that saves Jed. After they marry and finally start their crime spree together, their chemistry does pick up, but it's a little too long in coming. Maybe I've been spoiled by the Corbucci chemistry pairing of Franco Nero and Milian (Compañeros) or Franco and Tony Musante (The Mercenary). The only nice difference was that there was a little romance which is usually way outside the scope of the Spaghetti.

Our final character is Franciscus, the relentless sheriff. Savalas specialized in essentially playing two parts: slimy villains and smarmy heroes. Either way, the man was gonna exude some serious smugness. The problem is, Corbucci didn't seem to know what exactly to do with him. He wasn't a bad villain, he just wasn't quite there; however, it seemed like he should hvae been. The man has screen presence. So in some ways he's a villain left out on the tangent much like Palance's Curly in The Mercenary. Jed briefly explains why Franciscus wants him so badly, but it wasn't enough. His only major character change is being blinded while trying to catch Jed in a fiery barn. After that he becomes a spectral character which makes him more interesting but only further alienates him from the story.

So I mentioned some pretty critical stuff at the top, and I feel I should talk about it...at least, briefly. Bonnie & Clyde actually took the time to explore the why's behind the attraction and the violence. As I mentioned above though, I like Jed as a character, but I couldn't really see anyone falling love with him. He doesn't have the cool factor like Martin Sheen in Badlands, another similar outlaw pairing. He's more of a gruff ragamuffin. From Jed's point of view, a character asks him why he allows Sonny to tag along, and he answers "I don't know." I agree with him, I don't know either, but I already explained why above. Once they're together they have some solid together moments, but getting there seems wholly unbelievable. Because of that, though the movie tries for a strong humor factor, but just can't hold it up. (Not that it's entirely without laughs.)

Finally, though the movie moves along at a decent pace, has enough spiky dialogue, and a few good shootouts, it's the story that lacks in pacing. If the events of the first half were shortened and the latter half lengthened, I think it would have worked...or at least worked better. Nothing in particular dragged for too long on it's own, but various scenes or moments hurt it in the bigger picture.

Still, the movie wasn't totally without merit. I kept watching it. I'd probably watch it again some time.

For the Corbucci enthusiast: Anyone who has seen a Corbucci western or two knows that someone at some point is gonna do some crimes with a machine gun. Minnesota Clay and The Great Silence are the only exceptions I've seen (though I guess Silence's Mauser is a machine gun of sorts). It's not quite like spotting Hitchcock, but I'd say it's something of a trademark. The hilarious thing about J&S is that you see Milian give the gun to some villagers at the beginning of the film, but you don't see it used for an hour and a half at the end of the film. Amazingly, once again, everyone's standing in a straight line next to each other when the mow down gets underway.

I gotta run, but I gotta copy of Arizona Colt with Giuliano Gemma on the way. We'll see how that one turns out. I'm always on the lookout for more. Also scored another Japanese and another Korean flack. We'll see what's worth commenting on.

You be good.

Cheers.