Really Surprised!

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

After three years of heavy physical labor in a hellish prison in the desert, the former Sheriff Ted Barnett (Giuliano Gemma) escapes. Barnett was framed by three men and wrongly convicted for thirty years of hard work for the murdering of his father. He looks for those that had accused him seeking revenge and the first one he meets is Gomes, who owns a barbershop, and he kills him in self-defense. Then he travels to Charleston where his former wife is married with Sheriff Douglas (Francisco Rabal). When Barnett confronts Douglas, he tells that he had killed Barnett's father. They shoot each other and Barnett kills Douglas. He finally meets the last powerful man that sent him to jail and his former wife helps him to get the evidences to prove his innocence to the judge. But the criminal does not intend to surrender to justice. "Long Days of Vengeance" is a conventional story of injustice and revenge. The plot does not offer any surprise and sooner the viewer knows who the killers are. I have just watched this film in a dreadful DVD released by the Brazilian Distributor Look Films that certainly has digitalized a common VHS to make the DVD. The DVD is dubbed in Portuguese and does not offer the original audio with subtitles; further, the framing is awful, too close. My vote is five.Title (Brazil): "Dias de Vingança" ("Days of Vengeance")

My personal favorite among the many westerns Giuliano Gemma appeared in! Gemma portrays a prisoner with a ridiculously long beard (obviously inspired by the Count of Monte Christo here) who escapes after 3 years. Nonetheless, he quickly begins to hunt the 3 villains who got him sentenced although he was innocent: the killer Gomez (who is forced with a gun to shave off Gemma's beard first!), the corrupt sheriff Douglas (who has married the prisoner's girlfriend in the meantime) and the boss of the gang, Cobb, an honorable citizen it seems... It's a straight revenge story with a great cast of supporting actors: the 4 Mexican killers sent by Gomez, the doctor (Pajarito), the funny hangman, the two beautiful ladies (Nieves Navarro and Gabriella Giorgelli)... everybody is just perfect for the part they play! The terrific musical score by Armando Trovaioli with its trumpet theme sticks to the memory, too.

The memorable main theme of composer Armando Trovaioli's sole Western score, a slow and stately trumpet soaring over acoustic guitar and rolling percussion, kicks off 1966's Long Days Of Vengeance.As 2 prisoners carry out a daring escape from a harsh, brutal military prison....we get our first look at Ted Barnett......, who, as we discover later, is serving his 3rd year of a sentence of 30 at hard labor...framed for the murder of an Army Colonel...as part of an elaborate plan involving & including the murder of his father....slave labor..gun running.. & the ownership & control of a railroad.The story quotes quite clearly from it's inspiration .... "The Count of Monte Cristo". Guiliano Gemma, as Barnett..looking very much like the imprisoned Edmond Dantes....plots revenge against those who betrayed him. After making his escape, ...and a NOT your typical day at the barber shop...he manages to find some helpers for his plan to exact revenge...from a traveling medicine show..who are VERY aware of the $10,000 bounty now on his head.The only Western directed by Florestano Vancini ........he makes use of a good plot...with definite noirish elements-- fall guy out for revenge.. the shady former lover , here played by Nieves Navarro , as the femme fatale, who may have access to evidence implicating the conspirators............greed, redemption and payback. It's a good story...one could see it used in an 40's B&W potboiler...as well as a lean, mean 50s American Western..but here it gets the Spaghetti treatment. ...there's even a bit of ninja fare thrown in..to good effect, I might add..as it plays into the final showdown..from which some will walk away unbowed, but none will walk away unbloodied.Of course no Gemma film would be complete without the former stuntman's trademark athleticism.....he shows off his gymnast roots...but this is a slightly darker Gemma...the smile & the humor are there.....but also the grit of an avenger as one by one the conspirators are confronted......as evidenced by the lengths to which he'll go as he attempts to set the sides up for a fall...and by what he sets himself up for to carry out his plan.A good supporting cast....which, atypically for most Italian Westerns, features 2 strong female supporting characters...the fetching Navarro....and a nice turn by Gabriella Giorgelli as the aptly named, sweet but feisty Dulcie...who proves equally adept w/ a guitar or rifle.The catchy & varied score contains a variety of themes & influences...ranging from Morricone to Toots Thielman's harmonica soundtracks. The stunning main theme appeared in Tarantino's "Kill Bill", during the "Origin of O-Ren Ishii" anime sequence. An interesting story..well told.. badly dubbed... nicely filmed....a nice fit somewhere in the middle of anyone's Spaghetti Western collection.Recommended.

This movie has some minor faults, but overall it is a very entertaining flick.When it comes to spaghetti westerns, it seems you can't go wrong with a Giuliano Gemma movie. I have seen most of Gemma's westerns and they have all been very good. This one is no exception.The music score is superb. It's good enough to want to buy the soundtrack (if you can find it). The credits listed on my copy say the music is by Armando Trovaioli. IMDb's listing also credits Ennio Morricone. It's no surprise that Morricone had something to do with this score, because it is definitely that good.The action is a bit slow during the first 70 minutes of the movie, but the story keeps you interested, and when the action heats up it gets even better. The acting is pretty decent overall. The dialogue is a bit confusing in a couple of places, probably due to a poor translation of the original Italian into English, but it's pretty minor, and doesn't interfere at all with ones ability to understand what's going on.IMDb lists the US version as being 90 minutes long. My copy runs for 103 minutes. Perhaps it is the UK release.Another reviewer states that this movie has a Gothic horror atmosphere. I don't really see that in this film. If it is there, it is not nearly to the extent that one sees in "Stranger's Gundown" (Django the Bastard) or "And God Said to Cain." I recommend this movie to all spaghetti western fans.