God's Gun

Last updated

God's Gun
Diamante Lobo (1976 Film).jpg
Italian theatrical release poster
Directed by Gianfranco Parolini (as Frank Kramer)
Screenplay by
  • John Fonseca
  • Frank Kramer
Produced by Menahem Golan
Starring
CinematographySandro Mancori
Edited byManlio Camastro
Music bySante Maria Romitelli
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release date
  • March 1977 (1977-03)(US)
Running time
94 minutes
Countries
  • Italy
  • Israel
Language
  • English

God's Gun (also known as Diamante Lobo) is a 1976 Italian-Israeli Spaghetti Western directed by Gianfranco Parolini (credited as Frank Kramer) and starring Lee Van Cleef, Jack Palance, Leif Garrett and Sybil Danning. Palance plays the head of a malicious group of bandits and Van Cleef plays a double-role of brothers: a priest and a reformed gunfighter. Leif Garrett plays the main character in the film as Johnny, a fatherless kid who brings the reformed gunfighter to town to avenge his brother's murder.

Contents

Synopsis

One day Sam Clayton (Jack Palance) and his gang arrive in the small town of Juno City where Father John (Lee Van Cleef) is the priest of the local church. The gang wreak havoc in town, raping a woman and knifing a man in the back. They leave town, only to be caught by the fearless but unarmed Father John. After that, the gang member responsible for the murder is broken out of jail.

Vowing revenge, the gang ambushes and guns Father John down on the steps of his church, and then take over the town while waiting for the arrival of the next stagecoach. However, Johnny O'Hara (Leif Garrett), a local boy, manages to escape with a couple of their horses and rides off to Mexico in the hope of finding the priest's gunfighter twin brother (also Van Cleef). They meet and set off back across the border to clean up the town.

Meanwhile, Sam Clayton discovers that he is Johnny's father. Also, it is revealed that some fifteen years earlier, during the American Civil War, Jenny O'Hara (Sybil Danning) had been one of Clayton's victims, adding to the mystery of Johnny's paternity. [1]

Cast

Production

God's Gun was filmed in 1975 in Israel.

Richard Boone walked off the film before it was completed, leaving his role to be dubbed by another actor. In an interview with Cleveland Amory in Israel in May 1976, Boone told Amory: "I'm starring in the worst picture ever made. The producer is an Israeli and the director is Italian, and they don't speak. Fortunately it doesn't matter, because the director is deaf in both ears." [2]

Home media

God's Gun was released on Blu-ray Disc in the Region A format by Kino Lorber on February 8, 2022.

A prior VHS release carried the title A Bullet from God. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Van Cleef</span> American actor (1925–1989)

Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef Jr. was an American actor. He appeared in over 170 film and television roles in a career spanning nearly 40 years, but is best known as a star of Italian Spaghetti Westerns, particularly the Sergio Leone-directed Dollars Trilogy films For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966). He received a Golden Boot Award in 1983 for his contribution to the Western film and television genre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spaghetti Western</span> Film genre

The spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's filmmaking style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most of these Westerns were produced and directed by Italians.

<i>High Noon</i> 1952 American Western film by Fred Zinnemann

High Noon is a 1952 American Western film produced by Stanley Kramer from a screenplay by Carl Foreman, directed by Fred Zinnemann, and starring Gary Cooper. The plot, which occurs in real time, centers on a town marshal whose sense of duty is tested when he must decide to either face a gang of killers alone, or leave town with his new wife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leif Garrett</span> American actor and singer (born 1961)

Leif Garrett is an American actor, singer, and television personality. He worked as a child actor, then in the 1970s became famous as a teen idol in music. He later received much publicity for his drug abuse and legal troubles.

<i>Have Gun – Will Travel</i> American Western television series

Have Gun – Will Travel is an American Western television series that was produced and originally broadcast by CBS on both television and radio from 1957 through 1963. The television version of the series starring Richard Boone was rated number three or number four in the Nielsen ratings every year of its first four seasons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gunfighter</span> Gun wielders in the American Old West

Gunfighters, also called gunslingers, or in the late 19th and early 20th century, gunmen were individuals in the American Old West who gained a reputation of being dangerous with a gun and participated in shootouts. Today, the term "gunslinger" is more or less used to denote someone who is quick on the draw with a handgun, but this can also refer to those armed with rifles and shotguns. The gunfighter is also one of the most popular characters in the Western genre and has appeared in associated films, television shows, video games, and literature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Boone</span> American actor (1917–1981)

Richard Allen Boone was an American actor who starred in over 50 films and was notable for his roles in Westerns, including his starring role in the television series Have Gun – Will Travel.

<i>Hard Target</i> 1993 film by John Woo

Hard Target is a 1993 action film directed by Hong Kong film director John Woo in his U.S. debut. The film stars Jean-Claude Van Damme as Chance Boudreaux, an out-of-work homeless Cajun merchant seaman and former United States Force Recon Marine who saves a young woman named Natasha Binder from a gang of thugs in New Orleans. Chance learns that Binder is searching for her missing father, and agrees to aid Binder in her search. They soon learn that Binder's father has died at the hands of hunt organisers Emil Fouchon and Pik van Cleef, a ruthless businessman and his right-hand mercenary, who arrange the hunting of homeless men as a form of recreational sport. The screenplay was written by Pfarrer and is based on the 1932 film adaptation of Richard Connell's 1924 short story "The Most Dangerous Game".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gene Evans</span> American actor (1922–1998)

Eugene Barton Evans was an American actor who appeared in numerous television series, television films, and feature films between 1947 and 1989.

<i>The Grand Duel</i> 1972 film by Giancarlo Santi

The Grand Duel, also known as Storm Rider and The Big Showdown, is a 1972 Italian-language spaghetti Western film directed by Giancarlo Santi, who had previously worked as Sergio Leone's assistant director on The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Once Upon a Time in the West. The film stars Lee Van Cleef as a sheriff who seeks justice for a man accused of murder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden Boot Awards</span>

The Golden Boot Awards were an American acknowledgement of achievement honoring actors, actresses, and crew members who made significant contributions to the genre of Westerns in television and film. The award was sponsored and presented by the Motion Picture & Television Fund. Money raised at the award banquet was used to help finance various services offered by the Fund to those in the entertainment industry.

<i>Death Rides a Horse</i> 1967 film by Giulio Petroni

Death Rides a Horse is a 1967 Italian Spaghetti Western directed by Giulio Petroni, written by Luciano Vincenzoni and starring Lee Van Cleef and John Phillip Law.

<i>Any Gun Can Play</i> 1967 film by Enzo G. Castellari

Any Gun Can Play is a 1967 spaghetti Western starring Gilbert Roland, Edd Byrnes and George Hilton. The film is directed by Enzo G. Castellari. The film revolves around a group of cowboys in search of gold, leading to double-crosses as they continually change allegiances and gain the upper hand, only to be thwarted by fellow outlaws, mysterious insurance investigators, and each other.

<i>Lawman</i> (TV series) American TV series or program

Lawman is an American Western television series originally telecast on ABC from 1958 to 1962, starring John Russell as Marshal Dan Troop and Peter Brown as Deputy Marshal Johnny McKay. The series was set in Laramie, Wyoming, during 1879 and the 1880s. Warner Bros. already had several Western series on the air at the time.

<i>Jesse James Rides Again</i> 1947 film by Thomas Carr, Fred C. Brannon

Jesse James Rides Again is a 1947 American Republic Western film serial.

<i>Day of Anger</i> 1967 film by Tonino Valerii

Day of Anger is a 1967 Spaghetti Western film directed and co-written by Tonino Valerii and starring Lee Van Cleef and Giuliano Gemma, and features a musical score by Riz Ortolani. The film credits the novel Der Tod ritt dienstags by Ron Barker as its basis, although Valerii and screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi have attested that this credit was primarily included to appease the West German co-producers, and that although some scenes are partially borrowed from it, the film is not an adaptation of Becker's novel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myron Healey</span> American actor (1923–2005)

Myron Daniel Healey was an American actor. He began his career in Hollywood, California during the early 1940s and eventually made hundreds of appearances in movies and on television during a career spanning more than half a century.

<i>Star in the Dust</i> 1956 film by Charles F. Haas

Star in the Dust is a 1956 American Technicolor Western film directed by Charles F. Haas and starring John Agar, Mamie Van Doren and Richard Boone. It was based on the 1953 Lee Leighton novel Law Man.

<i>The Lonely Man</i> 1957 film by Henry Levin

The Lonely Man is a 1957 American Western film directed by Henry Levin and written by Harry Essex and Robert Smith. The film stars Jack Palance, Anthony Perkins, Elaine Aiken, Neville Brand, Robert Middleton, Elisha Cook, Jr., Claude Akins and Lee Van Cleef. The film was released on June 21, 1957, by Paramount Pictures.

References

  1. "God's Gun". Kino Lober. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  2. p.29 Rothel, David Richard Boone: A Knight without Armor in a Savage Land. Empire Publishing, 2000
  3. A Bullet From God (VHS film). MNTEX Entertainment. 1991. VHS 5746.