Day Of Anger

Spaghetti western superstar Lee Van Cleef once again plays it dirty and ugly when taking young Giuliano Gemma under his questionable wing in this classic of the genre that is inspired by the Greek tragedy of Oedipus.

Loosely based upon a German pulp novel called ‘Der Tod Ritt Dienstags’ (‘Death Rides On Tuesdays’) by Ron Barker, Day Of Anger centres on the tribuations of poor street sweeper and general dogs body Scott Mary (Giuliano Gemma), the son of a prostitute called Mary from the local bordello. The townsfolk treat Scott like the scum of the earth, which he appears to endure without much complaint. However, he does have one good friend, namely stable-hand Murph Short (Walter Rilla) who just happened to be at one time one of the great ‘gunfighters’ before succumbing to ill health. Enter notorious gunfighter Frank Talby (Lee Van Cleef), and we know from the moment he rides into town that here comes trouble… As the plot unfolds, we come to learn about the nature of the trouble, but hey, nobody rips off the man with the flared nostrils and Talby has come to collect his dues!

It emerges that Talby has made several enemies in this town full of scumbags, and upon realising how badly they treat young Scott, he takes his side and becomes more or less his surrogate father. Mind you, it comes at a price: $8 dollars to be precise, and a smack in the mouth for lesson Nr. 1. As the lessons continue, Scott becomes a man… a man that happens to be pretty quick on the draw. Meanwhile, Talby has his own business to attend to and it’s far from smooth riding. As we gallop towards the showdown, you can work out who is just gonna come up trumps – especially if you know your Greek tragedies!

This film boasts some real bravura moments, for example the thrilling duel on horseback between Talby and baddie Owen (Benito Stefanelli), or Talby setting the saloon and his owner on fire… executing the deed with relish!
Further mention must go to art director Piero Filippone and his almost surreal set designs, like the two great gun pillars in the saloon. Now, which saloon in the ole West could have boasted an interior design like this!
The on-screen chemistry between Van Cleef and Gemma works very nicely, and we have several cracking one-liners thrown in for good measure.

Director Tonino Valerii was assistant director to Sergio Leone on a number of films, and it tells! As for the dynamic score by Riz Ortolani, we are made only too aware that there were other composers of near equal stature to the one and only Ennio Morricone.

The dual-format edition release of Day Of Anger also boasts some interesting and eye-opening bonus material.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:

* Brand new restoration from the original 35mm Techniscope camera negative
* High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation of both versions of the film: the original Italian theatrical release, and the shortened version that was screened internationally
* Original uncompressed mono audio, with English or Italian soundtracks on the longer cut and an English soundtrack on the shorter one
* Newly translated English subtitles for Italian audio and optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for English audio
* Brand new interview with screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi
* Brand new interview with Tonino Valerii’s biographer Roberto Curti
* Previously unreleased 2008 interview with Tonino Valerii
* Deleted scene
* Theatrical trailers
* Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Reinhard Kleist
* Booklet featuring new writing on the film by Howard Hughes (author of Spaghetti Westerns), illustrated with original poster designs