dorado films

In the second half of the 20th century, Italian filmmakers were merciless rip-off artists. Box office success meant a green-light for hundreds of copycat pictures hoping to capitalize on audience interest in any way possible: rampant retitling (Django anyone?), imported American stars (you’re welcome, Mr. Eastwood) and ample amounts of sex and violence. And while very few of these plagiarized productions are true classics, upstart DVD label Dorado Films knows there’s still an audience out there. And, boy, do they deliver…with pulp poster cover art packaging, actor biographies and gobs of trailers promising more to come.

Thought Goldmember was the most blatant 007 title rip-off? How about FROM THE ORIENT WITH FURY starring American Ken Clark as Agent 077 Dick Malloy, a rock ‘em-sock ‘em playboy / spy on a mission to rescue a kidnapped nuclear physicist. Malloy might not have Bond’s expense account, but he gets into more fistfights than Connery had in the first three Ian Fleming adventures combined! Fury knows it can’t compete with elaborate sets and production values, so director Sergio Grieco makes the most of Clark’s rugged good looks (the guy would’ve made a good Bond!) and keeps the plot zipping along with car chases, double-crosses and a laser-riffic finale. The gadget selection is sparse: a pair of Morse suspenders and a crotch camera that looks more embarrassing than useful. But Fury works the formula fairly well…even lifting the suspenseful auction sequence from North By Northwest, Ian Fleming’s original inspiration for the Bond series. Dorado has more Agent 077 in the hopper.

GATLING GUN is a secret agent / spaghetti western crossover, an unusual combination even by Italian standards. Roberts Woods stars as Cpt. Chris Tanner, a Pinkerton agent sent west to retrieve Richard Gatling’s newly invented machine gun before it – or it’s inventor – can be turned over to the Confederates. Working undercover, Tanner has to compete with agents from both sides of the Mason-Dixon line, seduce a Southern belle and dodge gunfire from a quick-tempered half-breed (John Ireland). Name-dropped by director Quentin Tarantino on several occasions, Gatling Gun certainly has the right idea by doing something different with the traditional saloon showdowns. But it gets tripped up by a slowly developing plot and unappealing characters. Woods makes for a rather bland hero and while director Paolo Bianchini offers a few technical flourishes, the film’s pace is as slow as a stagecoach with square wheels.

Much more successful is THE MAN FROM OKLAHOMA which on the surface is nothing more than your typical “new sheriff in town” scenario. But that surface is polished to a high sheen and no one stands out more than star Rick Horn (real name: Anton Geesink…but have you ever heard of a cowboy named Anton?) Produced two years before Fistful of Dollars, the film works wonders with the conventional western ingredients. Oklahoma Dan’s new rules don’t sit well with the local rancher and his men, who may have been responsible for a high profile murder of a rival not long ago. With the help of his lame deputy and the reformed town drunk, Dan sets out to right some wrongs and enforce the law of the land…his way! Not quite as aloof as Eastwood or as stiff as The Duke, Rick Horn makes for a very entertaining and supercool lawman who knows no fear. There’s more than a little Rio Bravo in this hand-me-down recipe, but it makes for a satisfying early spaghetti western meal all the same.