Seen It: God's Gun (1976)

Lee Van Cleef is an Anglo Spaghetti Western Superstar of the highest order. Following his star turns in both For A Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, Van Cleef became something of an industry unto himself in Europe when it came to churning out successful genre films.

Released at the tail end of the genre's heyday (generally accepted to have been between 1960 and 1975),and directed with little panache by Gianfranco Parolini, God's Gun is just one of the many, many starring vehicles for the American Tough guy produced in Europe, and currently available on inexpensive, poor quality, pan-and-scan Western DVD collections. Though viewed by many as one of the worst in the genre, I think it also serves as an excellent example of Van Cleef's relative greatness as a character actor.

Part of the appeal of any genre film, be it Spaghetti Western or Romantic Comedy, is the implied understanding on the part of the viewer that there are things (in the case of Spaghetti Westerns , events such as gunfights and the redemption of a character perceived to be "bad") that will happen. No doubt about it. It is in the context of these standard plot points and story beats that some actors find the room within which to develop a role for whom the trajectory of the character arc is already known by the audience.

When I do have the opportunity to view a Van Cleef film, it is fascinating to watch him stretch his acting skills in these "standard" roles, parts that in the hands of lesser craftsmen would be simply cash-grabs. Van Cleef takes what could be cash-grab roles like many of those portrayed by fading stars (like the many recent performances of Christopher Walken and Anthony Hopkins)and imbues them with dignity--well as much dignity as any role of this nature is capable of being given.

Van Cleef's narrative wiggle-room is provided by God's Gun's inclusion of the forever popular "opposite twins" element. Because of this, Van Cleef has the opportunity to portray not just the friendly community priest, Father John, but also his previously gun-totin' but now reformed twin brother Lewis who lives South of the Border until, that is, returning home to disguise himself as the previously murdered priest... thereby transforming into "God's Gun" as a means of exacting revenge.

The other notables in the cast play familiar roles: Jack Palance (looking somehow older and more worn than he did some twenty years later winning an Academy Award for City Slickers) is Clayton, the leader of the gang, and teen pop-star-turned-Spaghetti-Western actor, Leif Garrett plays Johnny the altar boy who travels (walks?) South to find him. Both are serviceable in their respective roles, and Palance, like Van Cleef, is an old pro who doesn't fail to help in elevating (slightly) the overall watch-ability of this film. This is no no easy task with implausible scenes during which Clayton recalls having sexually assaulted Johnny's mother, and as a result fathering Johnny!

If you choose to view this film yourself, be aware that, being a movie which was widely released (and re-released) throughout the world, it is also called both Diamante Lobo and A Bullet from God, depending on where you look.