"Between God, the Devil and a Winchester" certainly has an intriguing title and even an interesting premise. The film is an Italian Western adapted from the novel "Treasure Island," with the role of Long John Silver and the other pirates replaced with cowboys. Like the source material, this film version also has a little boy character. To see this movie today, you probably are going to watch a poor VHS rip whether on DVD or youtube.
Perhaps it's the boy which makes the tone so uneven. The opening third takes place before the treasure hunt in a bar where he lives with his mother. A fat man enters town seeking a guide to a buried treasure. The bar has the typical tough guy visitors you would expect to see. What I didn't expect was for the place to be burned to the ground! The fire appears to be real (not crazy given the time this was filmed) and the actors walk through the burning set. It's a tense, thrilling moment in this otherwise lackadaisical film. My only complaint here is the lovely Dominique Boschero who plays the barmaid-mother is permanently removed from the story. She doesn't do anything except look beautiful so why dump her?
The rest of the film is an "adventure" if you could really describe it as such. I jest because not a lot happens. The story plays out more like a hiking documentary with the occasional lackluster shoot out.The boy and his chaperone, a priest played by the stone-faced Richard Harrison, are crossed and doubled crossed regularly by bandits they encounter. The bandits agree not to bother them until the treasure is found. The best character is this film's Long John Silver: Gilbert Roland's brigand who plays both sides for his own reasons. The priest and Roalnd are eventually holed up in a cabin area while the bandits attempt to starve them out. Of course they get away, kill the bandits and get the treasure.
I can't figure out who this movie wanted its audience to be. Harrison and the boy have moments you would expect in a live action family movie yet the film is far too violent for a family audience. Likewise, the adult audience wanting an adventure is probably going to get bored. Coupling the weird tone with the bland cinematography and you would expect the movie to be a stinker. Yet, I don't think it is. There are a few scenes that are genuinely intriguing from a visual perspective and the character interaction isn't cheesy like some other Westerns with kids. I think of the film as similar to True Grit in that both are too sentimental to be profound yet entertaining.
Perhaps it's the boy which makes the tone so uneven. The opening third takes place before the treasure hunt in a bar where he lives with his mother. A fat man enters town seeking a guide to a buried treasure. The bar has the typical tough guy visitors you would expect to see. What I didn't expect was for the place to be burned to the ground! The fire appears to be real (not crazy given the time this was filmed) and the actors walk through the burning set. It's a tense, thrilling moment in this otherwise lackadaisical film. My only complaint here is the lovely Dominique Boschero who plays the barmaid-mother is permanently removed from the story. She doesn't do anything except look beautiful so why dump her?
The rest of the film is an "adventure" if you could really describe it as such. I jest because not a lot happens. The story plays out more like a hiking documentary with the occasional lackluster shoot out.The boy and his chaperone, a priest played by the stone-faced Richard Harrison, are crossed and doubled crossed regularly by bandits they encounter. The bandits agree not to bother them until the treasure is found. The best character is this film's Long John Silver: Gilbert Roland's brigand who plays both sides for his own reasons. The priest and Roalnd are eventually holed up in a cabin area while the bandits attempt to starve them out. Of course they get away, kill the bandits and get the treasure.
I can't figure out who this movie wanted its audience to be. Harrison and the boy have moments you would expect in a live action family movie yet the film is far too violent for a family audience. Likewise, the adult audience wanting an adventure is probably going to get bored. Coupling the weird tone with the bland cinematography and you would expect the movie to be a stinker. Yet, I don't think it is. There are a few scenes that are genuinely intriguing from a visual perspective and the character interaction isn't cheesy like some other Westerns with kids. I think of the film as similar to True Grit in that both are too sentimental to be profound yet entertaining.