Directed by Marino Girolami; father of Enzo G. Castellari and a prolific filmmaker in his own right--counting Roma violenta and Italia a mano armata among his numerous credits--and someone usually found under the pseudonym of Franco Martinelli. In the case of the film under review here however, and due to the producers wishing to take advantage of lucrative tax initiatives, Girolami is here credited as the actually-real León Klimovsky.
Marino was something of a genre veteran by this point and had already been responsible for ushering the likes of Bullets And Flesh and Between God, The Devil And A Winchester through production, as well as helming a couple of comedic westerns before they were popularised by the likes of Terence Hill and Bud Spencer with Badmen Of The West and Two R-R-Ringos From Texas, a film that featured cameo performances from a youthful Maurizio Merli and a certain Lucio Fulci.
Reverend Colt starts promisingly, with the notorious bounty killer Miller Colt (Guy Madison) arriving in a sleepy hamlet. Upon hearing of the rogue's imminent arrival, the town's sheriff (Richard Harrison) decides to greet him personally, but is shocked to learn that Miller has hung up his guns and is now a man of the cloth! However, it's not long before the local bank is robbed and the good reverend is top of the list of suspects...
Guy Madison's performance is somewhat leisurely—which isn't necessarily a bad thing—and Richard Harrison somewhat under-used, especially given the fact that he is billed second, but this was probably a ploy on the producers' part as a way of getting a bigger name on the marquee. That said, if you are an Italian Western connoisseur it's worth a watch at the very least, but average as far as films of the genre go. There are many better spaghetti Westerns out there, but there also many that are a lot worse.
The German DVD—on the New Entertainment World label--presents the film in anamorphic 1.85:1. The picture is solid and presentable, if a little dark in places. The sound is presented in English, German and Italian Dolby Digital mono and is as functional as one would expect for a film of this age and type. The set is completed with the film's trailer and an image gallery. There are also nine trailers for other NEW releases.
All in all, a solid package for a film that's little more than standard Italian Western fare but definitely something most spaghetti aficionados will want for their collections.
(Aarron Waite)
