Great Film overall

A Major Disappointment

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Find a Place to Die is a spaghetti western from director Giuliano Carmineo, who later on helmed the excellent giallo The Case of the Bloody Iris. This western is definitely less enjoyable than that thriller though. In it a woman seeks the help of a gun-fighter to avenge her husband's murder and to retrieve her stolen gold.It's a fairly bog standard entry in the Italian western sub-genre with little to recommend it to anyone beyond spaghetti western fanatics. It is, however, graced by the presence of former Miss Italy Daniela Giordano, who appeared in a few interesting movies, most notably Mario Bava's fun sex comedy Four Times That Night. But she isn't really in this one enough, although she does feature in perhaps the most memorable scene in the film where she sings a song while strumming a guitar. This moment was at least a little different to the norm for these types of flicks but otherwise this one is business as usual spaghetti style. It's solid but nothing too great.

This is not a bad Spaghetti Western, marking one of Jeffrey Hunter's last roles: he's a discharged Army officer, slumming it in Mexico trading guns destined to a notorious band of cut-throats, who sees an opportunity to better his prospects when New Orleans belle Pascale Petit turns up with an offer of gold for the man who'll help save her husband (trapped in a mine cave-in, thus making the film something of a GARDEN OF EVIL [1954] rehash).Hunter assembles a motley group for the job, which is soon at each other's throat over both the promise of gold and the shapely lady herself!; one of them even joins the bandits – and usurps their leadership to boot! Also involved is Mexican prostitute Daniela Giordano (who mimics the melancholy title tune – the score for the film, by Gianni Ferrio, is another good one): the stunning-looking actress was a former "Miss Italy" contest winner, whose best opportunity came with her starring role in Mario Bava's FOUR TIMES THAT NIGHT (1969) – which, incidentally, also featured Petit. Her pimp (the first time I've heard a man being referred as such in a Western!) is one of Hunter's associates, who ultimately turns out to be a good guy. Not so a lecherous and sadistic doctor-cum-priest (Alfredo Lastretti), who's not even trusted by the traitorous and power-hungry group member when he tries to join his ranks! The gray-haired Hunter is pretty good in what he has to do (his short-term career didn't fulfill its initial promise); the action here – supervised by B-movie specialist Hugo Fregonese – is certainly competently handled, and the film itself seems to me to be an under-appreciated entry (I, for one, hadn't heard of it before) in this popular genre...

This entry into the spaghetti western genre of the 1960's could have used a little more sauce. A married pioneer couple who have struck gold in their mining endeavors, is attacked by bandits. When the husband is pinned under a wagon, the wife (Petit) must ride for help to a nearby settlement. (Oddly, though Petit will be gone for roughly four days, the husband only asks for a gun and a jug of whiskey to sustain him!) Arriving at the settlement, Petit comes across dour ex-Confederate soldier Hunter and a passel of shady types. After a scuffle, and for a fee, Hunter and a few other men agree to go back to rescue Petit's husband even though the territory is teeming with bandits. Along the way, naturally, one of the men makes a play for Petit while she's bathing. It all comes to a head in an abandoned (apparently real) ruin before settling on a moderately happy ending. Hunter, a gifted and handsome actor, is slumming here. He has the distinction of missing out on two of the most beloved and iconic TV shows of the 1960's. He starred in the pilot for "Star Trek", but his wife at the time made him demand a salary that took him out of the running for the series. She preferred to be married to a movie star versus a TV star (even if the movies were like this one??) He was later denied the chance to play Mike Brady on "The Brady Bunch" because the producers didn't believe an architect would be that handsome! So he wound up in some really sub-par features until an accident led to his eventual death. He is okay here, his glorious eyes still sparkling, but the film gives him little or nothing to work with. Petit, an actress with an extensive foreign resume, is adequate, but poorly dubbed. Her brief semi-nude scene is tame by today's standards. Lastretti has his screen debut heralded in the credits, though he provides no particular interest as a reverend of questionable virtue. He did go on to a dozen or so years of film work, however. It's one of dozens and dozens of spaghetti westerns and has very little of distinction to recommend it, save some occasionally interesting settings. The familiar (and grating) type of music score is quite distracting at times.

Though somewhat standard "gang hunts for gold" spaghetti western fare, it is well-directed and has solid performances. The score is also well-done, one of the better non-Morricone ones I've heard. Fast-paced with several nice action scenes, with a couple of great, cold-blooded sudden shootings. The VCI DVD is ok, letterboxed but the transfer is soft and rather noisy throughout, with a lot of grain in dark scenes. The mono sound, though, is rich and well-recorded. The film is definitely worth a look for anyone looking for an entertaining, obscure western.