It's 1880 and a gang is terrorizing Montana. During a nightly raid on a ranch, many red shirted farmhands get killed, who instead of simply falling to the ground all jump in the air first. One guy is only shot in the arm, leading us to think he must be important. This is further made clear by the fact that when he goes inside, a spotlight seems to follow him around. But ultimately, even he gets murdered in front of his little boy Tony, starting off yet another by the numbers story of revenge. This also marks the first use of the film's inventive cross cutting (from the murder scene to a circus number in one fell swoop).
Tony is now being minded by a black butler and idolizing circus cowboy Roy Kerry. This guy already has some trauma's of his own because people are constantly trying to test his abilities. Kerry inadvertently gets mixed up with the cattle rustling gang and he does not get much respecto either, being just a circus patsy. You can tell it's just about time for the unavoidable bar brawl, complete with two sound effect. Accompanying this is a loud and overpowering score (making extensive use of a Hammond organ) that would not sound out of place in a Hammer Horror film.
Senor Roy gets bullied and humiliated like a little boy, for even in the old west, fame was fickle and guess what? He turns the other cheek and takes up drinking. This keeps up until the return of tiny Tony, for some reason dressed in a cooky kind of bus conductors uniform. Anyone who's ever seen a spaghetti Western before will realize there is a flashback coming up revealing that the kid and the gunslinger now share a common enemy. Roy finally decides to use his god given talents to break several commandments. Unfortunately the whole circus comes to Lewis Town, just in time to get in the way of the big shoot out and Shane homage.
4 out of 10
Tony is now being minded by a black butler and idolizing circus cowboy Roy Kerry. This guy already has some trauma's of his own because people are constantly trying to test his abilities. Kerry inadvertently gets mixed up with the cattle rustling gang and he does not get much respecto either, being just a circus patsy. You can tell it's just about time for the unavoidable bar brawl, complete with two sound effect. Accompanying this is a loud and overpowering score (making extensive use of a Hammond organ) that would not sound out of place in a Hammer Horror film.
Senor Roy gets bullied and humiliated like a little boy, for even in the old west, fame was fickle and guess what? He turns the other cheek and takes up drinking. This keeps up until the return of tiny Tony, for some reason dressed in a cooky kind of bus conductors uniform. Anyone who's ever seen a spaghetti Western before will realize there is a flashback coming up revealing that the kid and the gunslinger now share a common enemy. Roy finally decides to use his god given talents to break several commandments. Unfortunately the whole circus comes to Lewis Town, just in time to get in the way of the big shoot out and Shane homage.
4 out of 10