His Name Was Pot... they Called Him Allegria film review

Il suo nome era Pot... ma... lo chiamavano Allegria (Italy 1971 / Directors: Demofilo Fidani, Lucio Giachin)

At the end you can all kiss my a......

The two brothers Pot (Peter Martell) and Ray (Gordon Mitchell) ride through the fields for fun and with completely irrelevant and meaningless small talk. Their destination is a bank, and they make a really cool and (almost) funny joke relief of the money in the safe. On the run, however, Pot is stupid enough to fall off his horse and get caught. However, his time behind Swedish curtains is very short (in contrast to the long riding scene during the escape) and he manages to get away. As he then thinks he has to help the waitress against three rude contemporaries in a saloon, Steve (Lincoln Tate) helps him out of a jam. As the two are very friendly, they decide to rob a bank, but one of a much higher calibre. How do you blow open the vault without anyone hearing? Right, you blow up the general store opposite with an even bigger explosion at the same time! However, this requires a real dynamite expert, so it's a good thing there's an old gravedigger, Jonathan, in the neighbourhood who blows the final resting places into the ground with dynamite! Fortunately, his brother Ray crosses his path, so that he can also join in. Steve's gang then create a distraction with a large-scale saloon brawl. The coup is a success, of course, but the division of the spoils is not much fun for anyone involved, as everyone feels disadvantaged. That's why Steve's gang first wants to get Ray's money back and lay an ambush for him at Painted Pass, and after a really muddy brawl, they finish him off. However, Steve has concealed the fact that he is co-operating with the Mexican bandit Lobo (Xiro Papas), who feels ripped off, locks him up and tortures him. Somehow, Pot has also gathered a gang around him and, as he is still unaware of the cowardly attack on his brother, he decides to free Steve.

Will Pot succeed in freeing Steve and rendering Lobo harmless?
How does Pot react when he finds out who is responsible for his brother's death?
Who grabs all the loot from the robbery?
Why does Pot take a bath in the river, to wash off the stench?

Fidani has probably tried to make a real effort again (in one of his last westerns), but hasn't created anything really new; long riding scenes, which probably only serve to drag the film out, as well as the overlong saloon brawls are well known from the director's other "works", nevertheless, he seems to have reached the peak of his career. Peter Martell is allowed to deliver a really likeable Pot and tries desperately to imitate the tired Joe (constant scratching of certain parts of his body, worn, tattered clothes), which he almost became, but you wait in vain for Hallelujah (Pot is called in the movie by his nickname Cheerful, this is the meaning of Allegria). But looking at the film as a whole and ignoring the holes in the logic, it's a lot of fun anyway, especially because of the "loser" Pot, who is left empty-handed at the end and can at least laugh heartily about it. And the viewer too gets a reward at the end!

Oh yes, the film music is great, I've heard it before (and it gave me goose bumps) when the soldiers start the song at the campfire and then the whole orchestra slowly swells in: John il bastardo by Nico Fidenco is recycled here, so at least the music is right.

All in all, this results in a likeable 6/10 stars, but with the warning that it is only for spaghetti western enthusiasts!

Medium: The German DVD from T&G Vision Film in good picture and sound quality.

German translation: Sein Name war Pot aber sie nannten ihn Halleluja Filmkritik

Written by Perdono