Those Dirty Dogs (1973)

Opinions on this vary among Spaghetti Western fans. It's a comparatively late entry into the genre, which means it was made at a time when comedy/farce was the dominant force in the genre (and certainly in star Gianni Garko's career, with this being his last Spaghetti Western, I think). It largely sidesteps those pitfalls—aside from a few interminable fight scenes—in favour of being a more straightforward action/adventure. I quite enjoyed it, but I don't think there's much to make it particularly stand out.

Garko plays Korano, a Muslim bounty-hunter. His religion seems slightly ill-defined and superfluous to the plot: he drinks and smokes and occasionally quotes from his Koran (I'm not terribly familiar with the content of the Koran, but I strongly suspect the quotes he uses are made up). He's quite an effective gunfighter, uses what looks to be a mortar/rifle cross-over, and occasionally resorts to less realistic gadgets (but not excessively). He's on the trail of some Mexican outlaws who've stolen some guns and a woman, and who've killed lots of US soldiers. Korano is joined by three army officers (played by Stephen Boyd, Howard Ross, and Harry Baird). There's some superficial conflict about who's going to keep the money. There's some over-the-top characterisation such as the leader of the bandits who wishes to reclaim Texas for the French in Mexico, which either adds interest or weakens the main villains depending on your point of view. There's one actually quite funny scene (made so largely by Garko's acting) where a woman the quartet have been interrogating starts throwing herself at Boyd, much to Boyd and Garko's discomfort.

Both Garko's and Boyd's English dubbing (although Boyd presumably dubs himself) seem to come from, the William, Shatner school of DRAMATIC, interpretation. The theme music is catchy, including the title song sung by Boyd detailing how one shouldn't trust women, but some of the accompaniment seems to be trying hard to rip off "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly".

The Koch Media DVD is good, as one would expect.

Other reviews

Shobary liked it for the action. This review by a member of the Spaghetti Western Database (and forum) took a more negative view, and I think had a much greater issue with the comedy bits than I did.

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