The Grand Duel (1972)

A high-quality “minor” spaghetti Western. Like many successful lower budget films it succeeds by choosing a small scope and interesting characters to tell a focused store. Here Lee Van Cleef plays (former) Sheriff Clayton who is working to protect the younger gunfighter Phillip Vermeer (Alberto Dentice). Vermeer has been wrongly convicted of the murder to a prominent businessman (the father of the three main villains), has escaped, and is largely looking to go out seeking revenge in a blaze of glory.

A highlight is the dark-comic opening, set town besieged by a large horde of bounty-hunters, all with itchy trigger-fingers and all looking to kill Vermeer.

On the (slightly) negative side, I felt it went on for a little too long. The first half was definitely the best half, and by the last 20 minutes or so it seemed like we’d mostly figured out the remaining plot twists so some of the interest had gone. The camp, syphilitic villain also doesn’t play too well to modern eyes, I think.

All in all though, it’s a good late-period Spaghetti western that’s worth seeking out. I’ve yet to see a version with good image quality, but hopefully it exists somewhere.