This minor 1968 spaghetti Western stars American actor Alex Cord as Clay McCord, an outlaw on the run who is suffering from epilepsy and hopes to hang up his guns and take up an offer of amnesty from the governor of New Mexico (Robert Ryan). All he has to do is reach the town of Tuscosa before the bounty hunters catch up with him, but Tuscosa is surrounded by killers waiting to pounce on anyone with a price on his head before amnesty can be granted, so McCord heads for an outlaw refuge in the mountains. The film is directed by Franco Giraldi with all the ruthless violence expected from the genre—bounty hunters murder a priest before laying a trap for McCord—but none of the mythic style of Sergio Leone, and Cord lacks the larger-than-life presence of the genre's top leading men. Arthur Kennedy plays the town marshal who is handing out the pardons (a task he does grudgingly), and Nicoletta Machiavelli costars as an outcast woman who cares for Clay, but it is Ryan who dominates the film in his brief scenes, projecting a morality and strength of will in an underplayed performance while the rest of the cast either overacts or strives to be enigmatic. Extras include audio commentary by filmmaker and spaghetti Western fan Alex Cox, and the extended ending found on the international version. Optional. (S. Axmaker)
A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die
Kino Lorber, 99 min., R, DVD: $19.99, Blu-ray: $29.99 Volume 33, Issue 6
A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die
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