If you're counting, "Django, Prepare A Coffin" (1968), starring Terence Hill, was writer & director Ferdinando Baldi's second Spaghetti western. "Texas, Adios" (1966), with Franco Nero, marked Baldi's debut in the genre after years of helming sword and sandal sagas such as "Duel of Champions" with Alan Ladd and "Son of Cleopatra" (1964) with Mark Damon. Baldi would later make other westerns, such as "Rita of the West" (1968) with Terence Hill, "Forgotten Pistolero" (1969) with Leonard Mann, "Blindman" (1971) with Tony Anthony, "Get Mean" (1975) with Tony Anthony," and finally "Comin' At Ya" (1981), with Anthony again. Meantime, Corbucci's landmark western "Django" (1966) inspired countless in-name-only knock-offs galore. Eventually, Nero starred in director Nello Rossati's lackluster sequel "Django Strikes Again" (1987) that bore little resemblance to Corbucci's muddy western revenge opera. Django still has his faithful machine gun in this adventure yarn set in South America with our hero trying to become a monk. Nothing about "Django Strikes Again" has anything to do with the dusty Old West. The film seemed like another one of those Italian jungle movies about mercenaries.
One of the many "Django" westerns that followed in the dust of the original "Django" was Baldi's "Django, Prepare A Coffin." Reportedly, Franco Nero was offered the lead role, but the actor headed off to Hollywood instead to co-star with Richard Harris in the Warner Brothers' musical "Camelot." Searching for a suitable actor to replace the steely-eyed Nero, Baldi settled on blue-eyed Terence Hill, who had previously been in two German westerns based on Karl May's western novels about the Native American character "Winnetou." At this point in his career, Terence Hill had yet to poke fun at westerns with his "Trinity" movies. Indeed, Hill plays it straight without a hint of humor in this shoot'em up. Moreover, Hill's Django differs from Nero's Django. While the streets are still muddy, Django appears here as if "Django, Prepare A Coffin" were a prequel. Django's hands haven't been stomped and broken so badly that he cannot shoot a six-gun. If you recall the original "Django," the eponymous hero desperately sought to balance a six-gun on a graveyard cross in a cemetery so he could kill the villainous Eduardo Fajardo. In "Django, Prepare A Coffin," Django's hands are as good as new, and he is a crack shot with a revolver. Like Nero's Django, Terence Hill's Django is married, but he has been working for a greedy, unscrupulous politician, David Barry (Horst Frank of "The Grand Duel"), but he stops working for him so he can escort a wagon-load of money to Atlanta, Georgia. Barry dispatches a cold-blooded killer, Lucas (George Eastman of "The Unholy Four"), to ambush Django and steal the gold. Lucas also kills Django's wife (Adriana Giuffrè) during the robbery.
Five years elapse, and Django is nowhere to be found, but he has a job as a hangman. He wears black and he is unshaven. The catch is that Django refuses to hang anybody. Most of those criminals have been framed for their crimes by his own nemesis Barry. Instead, Django has fashioned a vest that enables him to fool spectators into believing that the condemned have been hanged. Essentially, Django drapes a hood over their heads so nobody can see that they haven't died. This sounds like what Blonde and Tuco did in Sergio Leone's "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly." However, Django not only allows the condemned to live, but also requires them to join his gang that he is assembling to wreck vengeance on Barry. When three ungrateful men refuse to ride along with our hero and help him against Barry, Django guns them down in a fair fight. Somewhere along the way, one of the hanged men, a poverty-stricken Indian named Garcia (José Torres), decides to rob another gold laden wagon. After Garcia and his followers get the loot, each of them begins to die. The villains turn against themselves, and Garcia convinces them that they must cross over the border to be safe. While they are crossing the river, the treacherous Garcia picks them off like sitting ducks with his Winchester repeating rifle. By this time, the villains have learned about Django's plans for Barry. Barry's men capture Django and beat him up. The treatment that he suffers at their hands isn't as awful as what Nero endured in the original. Barry wants the money, and Django leads him to a sprawling graveyard where he plans to open a grave with the money in it. Instead, the coffin contains a machine gun, but Django uses it to wipe out Barry and his army of gunslingers. This is one of the standard tropes in Spaghetti westerns where one man wields a Gatling gun or a machine gun against the villains to mow them down.
Although it isn't as great as the original "Django," "Django, Prepare A Coffin" qualifies as an above-average, dramatic, straight-faced Terence Hill western with little comedy, but plenty of action.
One of the many "Django" westerns that followed in the dust of the original "Django" was Baldi's "Django, Prepare A Coffin." Reportedly, Franco Nero was offered the lead role, but the actor headed off to Hollywood instead to co-star with Richard Harris in the Warner Brothers' musical "Camelot." Searching for a suitable actor to replace the steely-eyed Nero, Baldi settled on blue-eyed Terence Hill, who had previously been in two German westerns based on Karl May's western novels about the Native American character "Winnetou." At this point in his career, Terence Hill had yet to poke fun at westerns with his "Trinity" movies. Indeed, Hill plays it straight without a hint of humor in this shoot'em up. Moreover, Hill's Django differs from Nero's Django. While the streets are still muddy, Django appears here as if "Django, Prepare A Coffin" were a prequel. Django's hands haven't been stomped and broken so badly that he cannot shoot a six-gun. If you recall the original "Django," the eponymous hero desperately sought to balance a six-gun on a graveyard cross in a cemetery so he could kill the villainous Eduardo Fajardo. In "Django, Prepare A Coffin," Django's hands are as good as new, and he is a crack shot with a revolver. Like Nero's Django, Terence Hill's Django is married, but he has been working for a greedy, unscrupulous politician, David Barry (Horst Frank of "The Grand Duel"), but he stops working for him so he can escort a wagon-load of money to Atlanta, Georgia. Barry dispatches a cold-blooded killer, Lucas (George Eastman of "The Unholy Four"), to ambush Django and steal the gold. Lucas also kills Django's wife (Adriana Giuffrè) during the robbery.
Five years elapse, and Django is nowhere to be found, but he has a job as a hangman. He wears black and he is unshaven. The catch is that Django refuses to hang anybody. Most of those criminals have been framed for their crimes by his own nemesis Barry. Instead, Django has fashioned a vest that enables him to fool spectators into believing that the condemned have been hanged. Essentially, Django drapes a hood over their heads so nobody can see that they haven't died. This sounds like what Blonde and Tuco did in Sergio Leone's "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly." However, Django not only allows the condemned to live, but also requires them to join his gang that he is assembling to wreck vengeance on Barry. When three ungrateful men refuse to ride along with our hero and help him against Barry, Django guns them down in a fair fight. Somewhere along the way, one of the hanged men, a poverty-stricken Indian named Garcia (José Torres), decides to rob another gold laden wagon. After Garcia and his followers get the loot, each of them begins to die. The villains turn against themselves, and Garcia convinces them that they must cross over the border to be safe. While they are crossing the river, the treacherous Garcia picks them off like sitting ducks with his Winchester repeating rifle. By this time, the villains have learned about Django's plans for Barry. Barry's men capture Django and beat him up. The treatment that he suffers at their hands isn't as awful as what Nero endured in the original. Barry wants the money, and Django leads him to a sprawling graveyard where he plans to open a grave with the money in it. Instead, the coffin contains a machine gun, but Django uses it to wipe out Barry and his army of gunslingers. This is one of the standard tropes in Spaghetti westerns where one man wields a Gatling gun or a machine gun against the villains to mow them down.
Although it isn't as great as the original "Django," "Django, Prepare A Coffin" qualifies as an above-average, dramatic, straight-faced Terence Hill western with little comedy, but plenty of action.