BOOT HILL

Italy, 1969, 100 minutes, Colour.
Terence Hill, Woody Strode, Bud Spencer, Eduardo Ciannelli, Victor Buono, Lionel Stander.
Directed by Giuseppe Colizzi.

Boot Hill is one of the many films made with Terence Hill and Bud Spencer. They were very popular in Italy and then internationally with the spoof western They Call Me Trinity. They made a sequel, Trinity Is Still My Name. This film tries to capitalise on that popularity by having a subtitle: Boot Hill: Trinity Rides Again.

The couple made westerns but also a whole range of action adventure films and comedies during the late 60s and during the 1970s. The film is of interest as one of the many spaghetti westerns made during that period, using Italian stars (with American-sounding names) and having some veteran American character actors in supporting roles. This reached a peak with the films of Sergio Leone with Clint Eastwood, A Fistful of Dollars, A Few Dollars More, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Leone also made at this time Once Upon a Time in the West with Charles Bronson and Henry Fonda.

1. A good Western? Was it a conventional Western? Was it merely an entertaining Western?

2 How important were the director’s styles for this film, his use of colour, close ups, the use of the circus atmosphere, colour, subjective shots, etc.? Were these done well or overdone? Did they contribute to or distract from the film? The use of the circus for the film - how did it make the film different? Was it effective? The circus master, the dwarfs, the acrobats etc.?

3. The use of the Shakespearean mime at the end. Was this used well? How did the serious side of the film receive its focus in this mime? How well did the director use audience understanding of Hamlet for this device? Why did the film exploit modern trends in Westerns, especially violence?

4. The theme of vengeance - where was justice administered in this kind of West? Who had the responsibility for law and order? How important was revenge? Was it ever justified? What right did the miners have to turn on their exploiters?

5. The fights - were they humanely and genuinely portrayed? Were they merely sensationalistic?

6. Even though this was a spaghetti western, did it make some point?