Review of Two Brothers, One Death

Spanish director Rafael Romero Marchent's "Ringo, The Lone Rider" ranks as an above-average oater. Initially, the title for this Spanish/Italian western made greater sense: "Two Brothers, One Death." If you've seen this movie, you'll know why title is more suitable. Whereas "Ringo, The Lone Rider" is somewhat inappropriate since our hero works alongside another hero. Of course, it matters little that nobody in the film is named Ringo. Presumably, the producers used "Ringo" in the title because Ringo was a popular Spaghetti western protagonist. Similarly, many European westerns were retitled "Django" because of the success of Sergio Corbucci's masterpiece. Basically, in this law and order horse opera, scenarists Eduardo Manzanos of "Pistol for a Hundred Coffins" and Mario Caiano of "Seven Pistols for a Massacre" have our heroes tracking down and shooting it out with an unscrupulous gang of murderers. Meantime, the villains constitute a rather ruthless bunch, but this shouldn't come as a surprise since it chronicles the depredations of Bloody Bill Anderson's Confederate renegades. In real life, notorious 'Bloody Bill' died during the American Civil War. Nevertheless, he is the leader of a vicious, cutthroat gang of killers in Missouri that terrorize the small town of Springfield. Spaghetti western stalwart Peter Martell plays a former Union Army officer from Tennessee who now works for the Pinkerton Detective Agency. It seems the infamous outlaw 'Bloody Bill' (Armando Calvo of "Duel at the Rio Grande") has been marauding in the state of Missouri, specifically the town of Springfield. The city fathers hire the Pinkerton Detective Agency to dispatch an undercover operative into to thwart these outlaws. Known variously as either Captain Bly or Don Blake, our hero is a swift-shooting, hard-riding protagonist. The Anderson gang outnumbers our valiant hero, until Ringo crosses trails with Daniel G. Samuelson (Piero Lulli of "My Name Is Nobody"), and the two form an alliance. Samuelson has no qualms of shooting unarmed men. He is a duplicitous character as he explains at one point to Blake. During the American Civil War, he sold horses to the Union and information to the Confederacy. About half-way through this 80-minute oater, the bad guys decide to hightail it out of Missouri. They fall in with a wagon train of Mormons made up of strictly guys without any women. They tell 'Bloody Bill' about a tract of land and a ranch that they have bought. The catch is nobody knows what these Mormons look like, so 'Bloody Bill' and his bunch wipe them out, including a child, too. Interestingly enough, "Ringo, The Lone Rider" came out in general release before "Once Upon a Time in the West," where Henry Fonda murdered a child. Fonda committed the killing because one of his henchman had called him by name and the teenage boy had to die since he knew his identity. Here, the Mormon kid dies because Anderson's gang cannot afford to leave any witness behind who might testify against them in court. One of the gang, however, refuses to participate in this mass execution. Earlier, before the outlaws left Missouri, Blake shot one of them when they tried to hang two members of a Springfield posse. 'Bloody Bill's' men captured Blake, but 'Kid' Michael (Paolo Herzl of "The Stranger") insists that 'Bloody Bill' cannot kill Blake, because Blake saved the Kid's life during the Civil War and he is indebted to him. They turn Blake loose, and the Kid fakes the deaths of the two posse riders. Similarly, the Kid refuses to participate in the mass murder of the Mormons, and 'Bloody Bill' allows him to sit out the mass execution. Later, Bill and his brigands ride to the ranch and claim it. This indicates how difficult it was to determine the basis for an individual's identity in the Old West as well as how easy it was for somebody to steal identities. 'Bloody Bill's' elaborate plan is to raid by night as outlaws and farm the property by day as Mormons. Our heroes pursue the Anderson gang, and a huge showdown ensues. The villains here are interesting because they are ambitious. The complexity of the villainy in "Two Brothers, One Death" is reflected in a secondary villain, Judge Grant (Ángel Menéndez of "Night of the Walking Dead"), who is conspiring with 'Bloody Bill.' Judge Grant takes Bill's loot that he has stolen and launders it by sending it across the Mexican border in the hands of Gonzalez. Our heroes kill not only Gonzalez but also the treacherous Judge. Eventually, Blake and the Kid square off against each other in a showdown. The major surprise of the film occurs during this confrontation because Samuelson makes the mistake of trying to intervene. You'll have to see this movie to learn what is so surprising about this showdown. The depth of the villainy sets "Two Brothers, One Death" apart from most westerns. The orchestral soundtrack by Manuel Parada and Francesco De Masi adds to the grandeur of this sagebrusher.