A Minute to Pray, A Second to Die (1967)

A Minute to Pray, A Second to Die (Italy, 1967) 118 min color DIR: Franco Giraldi. PROD: Albert Band. SCR: Louis Garfinkle, Ugo Liberatore, Albert Band. DOP: Aiace Parolin. MUSIC: Carlo Rustichelli. CAST: Alex Cord, Arthur Kennedy, Robert Ryan, Enzo Fiermonte, Mario Brega, Nicoletta Machiavelli, Aldo Sambrell. (Cinerama Releasing)

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Once upon a time in the East, Italian producers started making their own westerns, shot in Spain for their rugged locations, with screenplays full of nihilism that were contrary to the wholesome oaters of America, featuring second-tier American stars for marquee appeal (or at least, a European actor with an anglicized name in the credits), as Italian moviegoers were enamoured with Hollywood actors. Conversely, the Spaghetti Western caught on in North America, too, and indirectly revitalized the Hollywood western (paving the way for such works as The Wild Bunch). Sergio Leone will rightfully remain the King of the Spaghetti Western, but many dismiss most of the other 600 hundred titles produced in the 1960s and 70s.

A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die is a good example for those who want to search for additional Italian westerns, and has all the right ingredients to explain their appeal. Spaghettis are curious homages and similar bastardizations of the Western genre- at once spoofy and surreal (the European cast members, awkward dubbing, striking atmosphere and godforsaken locations), they create an otherworldliness that makes the genre seem almost Old Testament, certainly mythological, where cowboys are more akin to super warriors. 

This offering features a second-tier star in Alex Cord (fresh from the decent though ill-fated 1966 remake of Stagecoach) as outlaw Clay McCord, who journeys to a town that is offering amnesty for all outlaws, but must avoid the bullets of the scummy bounty hunters who want to make a quick buck by staying outside city limits to kill desperadoes while they’re still wanted men. The cowboy super warrior in this film however has an Achilles heel- sometimes his right arm seizes up, which could be deadly inconvenient during a gunfight. McCord feels that his infliction is inherited from his father, who had crippling bouts of epilepsy (as revealed in the flashback sequences, which also explain the dawn of his outlaw career). 

Sheriff Colby (played by Arthur Kennedy, early in his long career in Italian genre pictures) is the one making damn sure that the hopeful outlaws never reach his town for amnesty, as he is responsible for the bounty hunters bivouacked outside of town to ambush the outlaws on the way to renewal. After a sneaky and ill-fated attempt to achieve amnesty after hours, McCord holes up in the outlaw town of Escondido, where a billboard on the city limits reads: “If you ain’t wanted Mister, you ain’t wanted.” The desperate villa is run by Krant (played by brawny spaghetti western stalwart Mario Brega), who soon begins to lock horns with our “hero”.

Meanwhile, Arizona’s governor (Robert Ryan!) wants to make damn sure that McCord does get amnesty, which will look great for his image that such a high-profile hardcase will get a clean slate under this programme. Once Krant and his cronies come gunning for McCord, the governor is revealed to be no slouch in gunplay either. 

On paper, the plot of this spaghetti western may not appear too different. One scholar had mentioned that this genre has basically two themes: money and/or revenge. This is mostly true, yet for this picture, there is also a prevalent theme of loyalty. Those whom McCord tries to help (such as his partner Fred), or those who help McCord in his plight usually end up putting themselves in great danger. This is most dramatically illustrated in the scene Clay is found in Escondido, where he has been secretly cared for by a widowed woman (the beautiful Nicoletta Machiavelli), and her attempts to rescue him from Krant’s brood meet an ill fate. This is also a rare Italian western to feature a major female role. 

But most of all this film is distinguished because a lot of care went into its making. Director Franco Giraldi has a talent for staging action sequences, and developing suspense with properly placed cut-ins. Watch how the mood builds in the barber shop scene, in which McCord is about to be shaved by a vengeful barber whose relative received one of his bullets, and in the doorway, someone begins relating the tragic story of Clay’s father. Also notable is a fine sequence early in the picture when McCord and Fred have a shootout with two would-be assailants in a church steeple. As well, the cinematography (by Aiace Parolin) is often breathtaking. And what’s a spaghetti western without a cool score (here courtesy of Carlo Rustichelli)? Those rockish guitars, whistlers and choral backgrounds sure go a long way.

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Originally published in Vol. #1, Issue #6, “The Second Annual Summer Drive-In Issue”.