Watch Day of Anger For Free

You won't be disappointed!

I wanted to but couldn't!

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

A scruffy garbage boy becomes the pupil of a famed gunfighter, and the stage for confrontation is set when the gunman becomes unhinged and overruns the boy's town through violence and corruption.The film credits the novel "Death Rode on Tuesdays" by Rolf O. Becker as its basis, although director 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.This is an interesting western, not just because it has a young man going from janitor to gunfighter, but it has the audience questioning whom to trust. There is sort of the classic theme of a hero being mentored by a villain, and how that can complicate alliances.

DAY OF ANGER is a solid addition to the spaghetti western genre, shot in attractive Almeria (as with so many films of this genre) and with fine performances from two leads who made the genre their own. The director behind this one, Tonino Valerii, also handled the popular likes of MY NAME IS NOBODY and A REASON TO LIVE, A REASON TO DIE.The plot is different to most standard spaghetti western stories. Giuliano Gemma stars as a down-on-his-luck young cleaner who falls in with an infamous gunslinger, played with relish by Lee Van Cleef. Together, the two men quickly clean up the town, but the stage is set for conflict when the pupil outgrows his former master.DAY OF ANGER has plenty of well-shot action to recommend it, and the cinematography is colourful and lush. The milieu is rather small scale, but the assured performances from the two likable leads make this a film that's hard to dislike overall. In some places it becomes pretty iconic, and it's certainly above average for the genre.

Day of Anger (1967) is considered a top 20 by most fans and critics. I definitely agree this is a great SW movie with good music and acting by Lee Van Cleef, and Gemma. The story is great about a simple man with dreams to have respect and to own his own colt, but unfortunately Scott Mary (Gemma) is treated like dirt by the townspeople of Clifton and verbally and physically abused and it is a revenge style theme about a man name Talby (Van Cleef), who gets out of jail and goes to collect 50,000 from Wild Jack, who in return was lied and double crossed by some of the good old folks of Clifton so Talby goes to collect and helps mentor Scott, who becomes a side kick. It all changes when Talby kills someone close to Scott and then he gets a reality check and faces off with his mentor. Movie is overall fast paced with good action and story.

I've been trawling through the spaghetti western back catalogue lately, and it seems I've missed quite a few hidden gems. Day of Anger is one of them. Tonino Valleni's western is more American in its approach, although the staples of the spaghetti genre are still here. Close ups, violence (altough not as glorifying as you'd expect from your typical spag), a languid jazzy score by Riz Ortolani (a departure from the typical operatic Morricone scores), and great performances by Lee Van Cleef and Giulliano Gemma.Giulliano Gemma is Scott, the garbage boy for the quite peaceful town of Clifton, a town where the sheriff wanders about without his gun and residents are surprised to hear the sound of gunshots. Scott is constantly pushed around and ridiculed, until gunslinger extraordinaire Talby strides into town. Van Cleef is typically superb as Talby, who takes Scott under his wing and teaches him the art of gunslinging by laying out the 9 rules of the gunfigher. Talby and Scott will come back into Clifton to get the 50,000$ a crook called Wild Jack owed him. Wild Jack was sold short by Clifton's higher class citizens, so Talby will have to get the money back in his own way.The story follows both Talby's gradual usurping of the city and Scott's progress from a green boy to a man who stands his ground. The interaction between old experienced gunslinger and enthusiastic apprentice is executed very well. All in all a solid, if a little predictable, spaghetti western, that eschews the conventions of your typical spag for characterization. It's well worth tracking down in its uncut 109 minutes version. It's a shame that quite a few spags were lost amidst the truckloads of similar flicks churned out by the Italian studios in the genre's hayday. This is among the best. And it's one, even the American horse opera fans, will love.