Garter Colt film review

Giarrettiera Colt (Italy 1968 / Director: Gian Andrea Rocco)

Ingratitude is the world's reward

Mexico 1867: After the Austrians of Maximilian von Habsburg, the French troops of Napoleon III land. The war between the French oppressors and the partisan groups, the liberators of the Mexican hero Benito Juarez, rages on. The chaos of this war brings with it adventurers of all kinds: arms dealers, gamblers, spies, smugglers...so the introduction at the beginning of the film.

Five captured Frenchmen are tied to stakes, the Mexican revolutionary general (Walter Barnes) lights a fuse and the Frenchmen are blown up, the explosion is so violent that even parts of the Mexicans chasing away are thrown from their horses. An explosive prelude to the revolutionary adventure Giarettiera Colt.

We get to know Lulu, the lady with the garter colt (Nicoletta Machiavelli) in the very next scene. She is travelling by stagecoach and what immediately catches the eye is the beautiful dress with a plunging neckline. The coach takes two escaped French soldiers who are at the end of their tether. Two Mexicans transporting weapons on a mule, including the bandit Red (Claudio Camaso), decide to attack the carriage and shoot one of the Frenchmen, while the other, Lt Jean Martin (Gaspare Zola), engages in a duel with Red. When the 2nd Mexican tries to shoot Jean, Lulu intervenes, pulls the Colt out of her garter and shoots him, causing Red to flee as quickly as possible.

When we arrive in the next town, we see a bizarre scene: a couple of Gringos randomly grab a Mexican, put him on a horse and put a noose around his neck. As the horse gallops off, Lulu accurately shoots the rope in two and the Mexican escapes on the horse. Without reacting, the gringos grab another Mexican, Lulu meanwhile goes into the saloon, and hang him up. When the general turns up with his troops, he congratulates the Gringos on having hanged the right one!

We then also meet the mysterious Carlos (Yorgo Voyagis), who is acting with the French to prevent the arms smuggling and the virginal Rosie (Marisa Solinas) who can't decide whether Red or Martin would be the better lover. However, some questions remain:

Which trick does Lulu use to be successful at poker?
Will Lulu also fall in love?
Will light be shed on the darkness?
Why does nobleness hurt?

The film seems cobbled together, a bit of a plot muddle, a great opportunity was missed to create a female hero like Django or Sartana, Machiavelli has no chance to really shine. A scene where she sprays her horse with water on the beach and is watched by Carlos would fit better in a David Hamilton film. A talking parrot, a dwarf in a pram, a really bad saloon dancer duo, a screaming and fleeing woman who is accidentally shot due to the shooter's defective vision; are the "comic" elements, low-cut cleavages, hiked-up skirts and rolling in the hay the erotic ones. Yes, the 86 minutes are entertaining, but the expectations of a female hero were totally disappointed. The result is a small erotic spaghetti western comedy that is not lacking in hardness, but just the pretty dresses of Nicoletta Machiavelli (created by herself), who made her best appearance in Navajo Joe, is not enough. The original Italian theatrical version is said to have had a running time of 100 minutes, so at least 10 minutes of film are missing from what I watched, I wonder if that's why it was better? There is a German title by the way, but there was no German release.

The film music by Giovanni Fusco and Gianfranco Plenizio, who were not otherwise active in spaghetti westerns, has a catchy, fluted title theme that reflects the grace of the leading actress and remains in the ear. Therefore slightly below average.

Medium: Italian version, available on YouTube with a running time of 87 minutes.

Deutsche Version des Textes: Garter Colt Filmkritik

Written by Perdono