"For A Few Extra Dollars" director Giorgio Ferroni's Spaghetti western "Wanted" qualifies as a lively little shoot'em up about a lawman struggling to exonerate himself. "Grand Canyon Massacre" composer Gianni Ferrio furnishes Ferroni with a memorable orchestral western theme, and "A Bullet for the General" lenser Antonio Secchi makes everything appear larger-than-life. The austere Spanish mountains substitute splendidly for their far western counterparts. The artistic widescreen compositions look picture postcard beautiful, and the lighting has a soft-brown leathery look. The producers have made sure that all the sets look authentic. Although this may be a low-budget horse opera, the producers haven't scrimped on set design and production. Basically, this oater looks like a traditional American western about a lawman pitted against an elaborate gang of cattle rustlers. Nobody sports a poncho and collects bounty on men. This was Ferroni's third western, and he doesn't let the action bog down into vast stretches of dialogue. Scenes of hand-to-hand combat are adequately staged and there is a good shoot-out on the trail between an army of Mexican bandits and our heroes in a fleeing wagon. Our hero is a crack shot with a six-shooter, and "Wanted" generates a double-digit body count before its 107 minutes concludes. For the record, Ferroni even shows our hero reloading his revolver on two occasions. The look, the outfits, and the sets mimic American westerns. "Wanted" departs in one crucial respect from American westerns because it contains a surfeit of violence with its high body count. The bullet-riddled victims in gunfights pirouette and fall down with flourish when the lead hits them in the tradition of the Spaghetti western.
Roman actor Giuliano Gemma, who rose to fame on the "Ringo" westerns, does a good job as an innocent but wrongly accused sheriff framed for a murder he didn't commit. No sooner have the opening credits run than a mysterious assassin tries to bushwhack the heroic sheriff. The lawman plays possum until he sees his assassin leave. Sheriff Gary Ryan (Giuliano Gemma of "Day of Anger') interrupts an election controversy in Greenfield when he reports to Mayor Gold (Daniele Vargas), with his credentials as town sheriff. Ryan's appearance thwarts the mayor's plan to make Lloyd the sheriff. Ryan manages to escort a fortune in gold from one town to another. Suddenly, he falls out of favor with the mayor and his cronies. Ryan is accused of gunning down an unarmed man who started an argument with him. An unidentified hombre outside the room shoots the man down. After the authorities take Ryan into custody, Billy Baker (Benito Stefanelli of "Blood for a Silver Dollar") helps Ryan escape by smuggling a revolver into the jail cell. Serge Marquand makes an effective villain out to kill Gemma. Conspiring with him is Mayor Gold (Daniele Vargas of "The Stranger Returns") of Greenfield, Gold and he is thoroughly evil. In one scene, Gold batters a semi-conscious man on his death bed to death. Ryan rides to Mexico to find Jeremiah Prescott. Prescott shows Ryan how the rustling is done. Earlier, Gold has paid Jeremiah to create a brand that would not stand out after the skin was removed. Jeremiah forged modifications to all the neighboring brands so anybody's brand can be compromised. Not long afterward, Lloyd's men kill Jeremiah while his daughter watches in horror. Later, Ryan is captured on the trail by Lloyd and his gunmen. Happily, our hero is cleared when an eyewitness changes her testimony. Lloyd hightails it after this revelation and roughs up Mayor Gold. The villainous Lloyd takes a woman hostage and uses her to escape from Ryan, but she thwarts his plans. At fadeout, the hero and heroine are in each other's arms, and the villain is groveling in a pig pen.
"Wanted" ranks as an above-average Spaghetti western.
Roman actor Giuliano Gemma, who rose to fame on the "Ringo" westerns, does a good job as an innocent but wrongly accused sheriff framed for a murder he didn't commit. No sooner have the opening credits run than a mysterious assassin tries to bushwhack the heroic sheriff. The lawman plays possum until he sees his assassin leave. Sheriff Gary Ryan (Giuliano Gemma of "Day of Anger') interrupts an election controversy in Greenfield when he reports to Mayor Gold (Daniele Vargas), with his credentials as town sheriff. Ryan's appearance thwarts the mayor's plan to make Lloyd the sheriff. Ryan manages to escort a fortune in gold from one town to another. Suddenly, he falls out of favor with the mayor and his cronies. Ryan is accused of gunning down an unarmed man who started an argument with him. An unidentified hombre outside the room shoots the man down. After the authorities take Ryan into custody, Billy Baker (Benito Stefanelli of "Blood for a Silver Dollar") helps Ryan escape by smuggling a revolver into the jail cell. Serge Marquand makes an effective villain out to kill Gemma. Conspiring with him is Mayor Gold (Daniele Vargas of "The Stranger Returns") of Greenfield, Gold and he is thoroughly evil. In one scene, Gold batters a semi-conscious man on his death bed to death. Ryan rides to Mexico to find Jeremiah Prescott. Prescott shows Ryan how the rustling is done. Earlier, Gold has paid Jeremiah to create a brand that would not stand out after the skin was removed. Jeremiah forged modifications to all the neighboring brands so anybody's brand can be compromised. Not long afterward, Lloyd's men kill Jeremiah while his daughter watches in horror. Later, Ryan is captured on the trail by Lloyd and his gunmen. Happily, our hero is cleared when an eyewitness changes her testimony. Lloyd hightails it after this revelation and roughs up Mayor Gold. The villainous Lloyd takes a woman hostage and uses her to escape from Ryan, but she thwarts his plans. At fadeout, the hero and heroine are in each other's arms, and the villain is groveling in a pig pen.
"Wanted" ranks as an above-average Spaghetti western.