Ruthless outlaw Luther Sledge (a splendidly nasty performance by James Garner in a rare change-of-pace full-blooded villain role) and his band of thieves try to figure out a way to steal a fortune in gold that's stored in a prison fortress. Sledge concocts a bold plan to get said fortune, but can he and his men successfully pull off this daring caper? Director Vic Morrow, who also co-wrote the tight and hard-hitting script with Frank Kowalski, relates the absorbing story at a steady pace, delivers a vivid and credible evocation of the 18th century period setting, ably creates and maintains a resolutely tough, gritty, no-nonsense tone throughout, and stages the thrilling shoot-outs with real rip-snorting aplomb. The robbery itself is an expertly executed set piece: tense, gripping, and extremely exciting. This film really hits its stride with an especially dark and harsh last third in which Sledge's carefully thought out plan is undone by greed and treachery. The sturdy acting from the sound cast qualifies as another major asset, with stand-out contributions by Laura Antonelli as Sledge's loyal and worried main squeeze Ria, Dennis Weaver as the laid-back, pragmatic Erwin Ward, Claude Akins as the fierce, hot-tempered Hooker, John Marley as a wily and rascally old man, and Wayde Preston as the vengeful Sheriff Ripley. Luigi Kuveiller's sharp widescreen cinematography makes striking use of artful fades and elaborate dissolves. Gianni Ferrio's twangy'n'lively score does the rousing tuneful trick. The surprise downbeat ending packs a wickedly potent punch. A very good and gutsy movie.
A Man Called Sledge
1970
Action / Western
A Man Called Sledge
1970
Action / Western
Plot summary
Outlaw Luther Sledge and sidekick Mallory pull into the town of 3 W for an overnight stay. While Sledge heads upstairs to spend the night with long-time prostitute friend Ria and a bottle of rye, his sidekick Mallory enters a game of poker downstairs in the saloon. Frustrated with loosing their money to Mallory, two of the other gamblers shoot him dead. Alerted to the downstairs gunshot noise, Sledge descends in the saloon, pretending he's drunk, catches the two gamblers unprepared and shoots them dead. An old man who witnessed the shooting offers to serve as Sledge's witness and swear it was self-defense in case of an inquiry. The next day, Sledge leaves town to meet with the rest of his gang in the hills. He notices the old man from the saloon following him on horseback some distance away. Sledge stops the old man and asks him why he is following behind. The old man explains that he is not following Sledge but rather a convoy escorting a gold shipment. Interested, Sledge takes him at the meeting with his gang. There, the old man explains that while serving a 20 year sentence in the Rockville maximum security prison he learned about the existence of a vault inside the prison where gold is kept overnight. The gold mines in the region ship their gold under heavy armed escort to the prison where the gold sits in the vault overnight until ready to be taken to the gold exchange in the city. The escort is comprised of 40 hand-picked armed guards and the gold wagon is equipped with a manned machine-gun on top of it. Attacking the convoy would surely mean suicide. The old man insists his story is true and that he was imprisoned in a cell adjacent to the bank-like vault deep inside the prison. Only six inches of steel separated him from the gold kept in the vault. At this point, Sledge realizes that attacking the gold shipment and its escort wouldn't be feasible. However, the old man's story gives him the idea of breaking into the vault inside the prison where the gold is stored overnight before being taken to the city. Sledge shares his plan with his gang and reveals his plan to pose as a prisoner in transit being escorted by a marshal to the Rockville prison for an overnight stay until the next day when the marshal would take him to the jurisdiction that posted the wanted bond for Sledge. A member of the gang, Erwin Ward, agrees to impersonate the marshal and Sledge agrees to play the captured outlaw and use his real name since he's wanted for a 5000 dollars reward anyway. Will the plan work ?
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A solid and satisfying Western
James Garner as you've never seen him before!
If nothing else can be said about it, A Man Called Sledge is a slightly above average spaghetti western. It boasts James Garner,playing against type, as Luther Sledge, a brutal robber who gets involved in a plot to steal a shipment of gold stored in a prison.It's a departure from his usual easygoing roles and he gets good support from TV western stars Dennis Weaver,Claude Akins,and Wayde Preston. It's also directed by veteran TV actor, Vic Morrow. It's okay,overall, and worth a look the next time it comes on TV.
Good and violent US / Macaroni Western shot in spectacular scenarios from Almeria , Spain , as usual .,
In the Old West, a gunfighting outlaw called Sledge(James Garner) connives his way into a prison in hopes of getting his hands a cache of gold on stored there . Sledge join forces with a varied bunch of bandits (John Marley , Dennis Weaver , Claude Akins , Bruno Corazzari , among others) attempting to take a large shipment of gold into a prison fort . The misfit group of outlaws wind up battling each over a cache of gold . A quintet of unlikely partners match wills and wits and fight enemies and each other .
Entertaining Spaghetti Western with shootouts , action ,violence and amusement . It is a mainstream Western amusement with a lot of surprises , thrills and including a love story between James Garner and a whore played by gorgeous Laura Antonelli . This film realized in Spaghetti style contains action-Western , gun-play , fist-play and is pretty bemusing . Vic Morrow's spaghetti western, probably won't be making too many top ten lists, but its an agreeable flick . It's an exciting western that scrutinizes the greed and paranoia that afflicts a misfit group , including breathtaking showdown between protagonists and the enemies . The film blends violence , thrills , high body-count and it's fast moving and exciting . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing shootouts or stunts every few minutes , including a spectacular final confrontation . Although by many to be director Vic Morrow's finest film , this is a tale of fear , greed and murder , as some partners fall out over the gold they have robbed from an impenetrable safe . It also has probably the most brutal prison escape ever put on film . Underrrated by some reviewers , but till interesting to watch . It above all things mostly also remains a real characters movie, in which the five main roles are the essentials . Their dynamic together is also great and is what mostly keeps this movie going. They are five totally different characters, which is the foremost reason why they work out so great together on film . This theme about confrontation among mean people for a cache of gold has been treated in various Spaghetti such as ¨Ruthless four¨ by Giorgo Capitani with Van Heflin , Gilbert Roland , George Hilton , and ¨A reason to live , a reason to die¨ by Tonino Valeri with James Coburn , Jose Suarez and Bud Spencer . Here James Garner is superbly believable and gives a nice portrait of an increasingly unhinged thief . James Garner enthusiasts might be surprised to see the star play a villain . Furthermore , John Marley is very good as a cunning old man and remaining support cast is pretty well . There appears Spaghetti's ordinary actors such as Ken Clark , Wayde Preston , Steffen Zacharias , Fausto Tozzi , Bruno Corazzari , Angelo Infanti , Luciano Rossi , Barta Barry , among others.
The musician Gianni Ferrio composes a vibrant soundtrack and well conducted ; including a catching leitmotif and considered to be one of the best . In addition , a marvelous song at the beginning titled ¨Other men's gold¨ , with lyrics by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter , sung by Stefan Grossman . Atmospheric scenario with barren outdoors , dirty landscapes under sunny exteriors and a shimmer sun and fine sets by production designer Mario Chiari with striking cinematography by Luigi Kuiveiller . The picture resulted to be shot entirely on location in Almeria , Spain , where in the 60s and 70s had been shot innumerable Ravioli/Paella Westerns , and interiors in Dino De Laurentiis Cinematographica S.A. , Rome . The motion picture was well written by Frank Kowalski ad Vic Morrow who also directed . While Morrow was filming ¨Twilight zone : the movie¨ , he was unfortunately killed on the early morning hours of July 23, 1982 in a tragic, freak accident on the set while filming a scene involving a helicopter which crashed right on top of him and two young children . Rating : 6'5 , acceptable Spaghetti with good lead from James Garner .