California (1977)

One of a set of films made well after the heyday of the Spaghetti Western, often termed "Twilight Spaghettis". These were characterised by a bleak, slightly mournful, feel and often dilapidated sets (partly an artistic choice and partly just due to decay) which are used effectively here. Although a bit of a mixed bag, they were generally better than the some of the comedies which preceded them and they've been a series of films which I've largely enjoyed. At very least, anyone doing a Spaghetti Western in this era must have been doing it out of some love of the genre.

This is one of two later twilight Westerns made by Giuliano Gemma (the other being Silver Saddle) and I think this ranks as some of the better of Gemma's outings. He's a little older and grittier than in his earlier films and I think that helps dispel some of the criticism that he was too clean cut for the genre.

The story deals with Gemma's character (using the assumed name "Michael Random") returning from the Civil War having fought for the Confederacy (this was a common theme for Italian Westerns). There are two rather sharp changes in the story (I'm afraid spoilers are a necessity here): first his new friend and travelling companion is killed off rather abruptly, so he returns to the friend's house to tell his family. Second his new love interest (the friend's sister Helen, whom he meets following the friend's death) is kidnapped by the villains of the piece—some murderous bounty hunters who are chasing down former Confederate soldiers—and Gemma must set out to rescue her. The distinct parts of the story all work quite well, but do give it a slightly disjointed feel.

The acting is generally of a high standard for the genre. This is certainly one of Gemma's best (and most natural) performances, showing an effective transition from a slightly lost and aimless civil war veteran, to someone beginning to settle down and build a new life for himself, then finally to someone forced to take up arms to recover his new life (in the shape of his love interest). Gemma's friend, played by Miguel Bose is perhaps a bit naive and chipper, but is killed off early enough that it doesn't really grate and serves his purpose well for the plot. William Berger was always one of my favourite Spaghetti Western actors (although he wasn't necessarily too selective about his choice of films), and doesn't have a huge amount to do here, but is convincing in what he does. Raimund Harmstorf is not someone who I've seen in many other films but is excellent as the villain, hitting just the right mark of between rouge-ishly likeable (sort of) and obviously completely evil. Paolo Bose, as Helen, the love interest, has much less to do, and does sport some ridiculous combinations of wrap-round headwear which don't seem entirely suited to her role as a farmer's daughter.

The choice of locations and atmosphere is also noteworthy. The perpetual fog and rain gives the prisoner of war camps at the start a realistic and gritty feel (and probably served to hide small sets...). The dilapidated El Paso set from "For A Few Dollars More" (complete with craters in the middle of the street) looks fantastic as an abandoned ghost town. There's a couple of points that perhaps slightly show the limited budget: (as is often the case) the transitions between the (presumably?) Italian and the Spanish locations are sometimes a bit abrupt, and also I get the feeling the El Paso town was used for two different locations in the second half of the film (or possibly this was just ambiguous in the script).

Having been largely positive, there are a few complaints. First, the slightly bitty nature of the plot which I've already mentioned. Second, the filming takes a slightly "arty" approach with odd angles, objects in the foreground, and perpetually looking through the orange curtains of the farmhouse, which honestly seems slightly forced and unnecessary. Third, an ill-advised comedy scene involving frogs.

In general however, this remains a good example of the twilight spaghetti (second only to Keoma probably), and a film with a lot to recommend it, even if it doesn't hit the mark with everything it was trying to do. The Koch Media DVD (part of the second volume of their Italowestern collection) looks as good as you might expect, and provides a decent sounding English dub.

Other reviews

A couple of reviews which which I think are well written (and which largely share my views):

• The Spaghetti-western database – I particularly agree with the point at the end about "trying too hard".
• http://sonofdjango.blogspot.co.uk/2008/08/california.html

One further review:

• Shobary's Spaghetti Westerns – I don't always agree with the criteria Shobary uses to review films, but it's always an useful site and opinion.

Pictures