''Johnny Hamlet'' ( it, Quella sporca storia nel West, lit=That Dirty Story in the West is a 1968
Italian film
The cinema of Italy (, ) comprises the films made within Italy or by Italian directors. Since its beginning, Italian cinema has influenced film movements worldwide. Italy is one of the birthplaces of art cinema and the stylistic aspect of film h ...
directed by
Enzo G. Castellari. The film is a
Spaghetti Western
The Spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's film-making style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...
version of
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's tragedy ''
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
''.
Plot
Johnny Hamilton returns to his Texas home from the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
where he fought for the Confederacy.
He camps with a theater troupe who is rehearsing ''Hamlet''.
When they are attacked by gunfighters, Johnny defends the artists and leaves immediately.
Arriving to his Ranch
El Señor, where he finds that his father was killed by the Mexican bandit Santana and his mother Gertry has married his uncle Claude.
He is distressed by this disrespect.
His friend Horace consoles him and gives him a silver decoration found at the killing site.
He goes to a cave cemetery where he makes the grave digger to open the grave of Santana.
The skeleton wears a belt with silver decorations like the one found by Horace.
Johnny reconnects with Emily.
He suspects that lost Confederate gold is related to the killing.
The theater troupe arrive to town and Johnny sleeps with an actress.
Emily is killed by Claude.
Her body and Johnny's father's revolver are found in the river by her father, the sheriff.
The actress is also killed by Claude.
Johnny searches for Santana and finds him and Claude hidden.
They had hidden the Confederate gold.
They capture Johnny, who instills doubt in Santana about trusting Claude.
Johnny is found by the sheriff who puts him on a
decussate cross.
He is freed by Horace.
Santana and his men attack the ranch.
Gertry confronts Claude and is shot by one of Claude's henchmen.
After fighting the bandits, Claude checks his gold.
Johnny fights him and kill him.
As Johnny recovers, the Confederate gold is blown away by the wind.
Horace arrives and both friends ride away.
Cast
*
Andrea Giordana
Andrea Giordana (born 27 March 1946) is an Italian actor. He has appeared in more than 14 films, 29 television and 35 theater shows since the mostly late 1950s.
Early life
He was born in Rome, Italy to film director Claudio Gora and actress Ma ...
as Johnny Hamilton (corresponding to
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
)
*
Gilbert Roland
Luis Antonio Dámaso de Alonso (December 11, 1905 – May 15, 1994), known professionally as Gilbert Roland, was a Mexican-born American film and television actor whose career spanned seven decades from the 1920s until the 1980s. He was twice no ...
as Horace (corresponding to
Horatio
Horatio is an English male given name, an Italianized form of the ancient Roman Latin '' nomen'' (name) '' Horatius'', from the Roman '' gens'' (clan) '' Horatia''. The modern Italian form is ''Orazio'', the modern Spanish form ''Horacio''. It app ...
)
*
Horst Frank
Horst Frank (28 May 1929 – 25 May 1999) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1955 and 1999. He was born in Lübeck, Germany and died in Heidelberg, Germany.
Selected filmography
* ''Der Stern von Afrika'' (19 ...
as Claude Hamilton (corresponding to
King Claudius
King Claudius is a fictional character and the main antagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Hamlet''. He is the brother to King Hamlet, second husband to Gertrude and uncle and later stepfather to Prince Hamlet. He obtained the throne of ...
)
*
Françoise Prévost
Françoise Prévost (c. 1680 in Paris – 1741 in Paris) was a French ballerina who helped establish dramatic dance in the early world of classical ballet. She was expressive, light and dramatic in style.
In 1699, Prevost debuted at the Paris O ...
as Gertry Hamilton (corresponding to
Gertrude)
* Gabriella Boccardo as Emily (corresponding to
Ophelia
Ophelia () is a character in William Shakespeare's drama ''Hamlet'' (1599–1601). She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes and potential wife of Prince Hamlet, who, due to Hamlet's actions, ends up in ...
)
*
Stefania Careddu as Eugenia
*
Enio Girolami
Enio Girolami (14 January 1935 – 16 February 2013), sometimes credited as Thomas Moore, was an Italian film and television actor.
Born in Rome, son of director Marino Girolami and brother of director Enzo G. Castellari, Girolami made his ...
as Ross (corresponding to
Rosencrantz
Rosenkranz is the German word for rosary.
Rosenkranz, Rosenkrantz, Rosencrance, Rosencrans or Rosencrantz may refer to:
* Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two characters in Shakespeare's ''Hamlet''
* ''Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead'', a 1966 ...
)
*
Ignazio Spalla
Ignazio Spalla (best known as Pedro Sanchez; 5 May 1924 – 9 February 1995) was an Italian film actor.
Born in Siena, Spalla was mainly active in Spaghetti Westerns, usually playing roles of Mexicans, gunfighters and outlaws. His first roles ...
as Guild (corresponding to
Guildenstern
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are characters in William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Hamlet''. They are childhood friends of Hamlet, summoned by King Claudius to distract the prince from his apparent madness and if possible to ascertain the cause of ...
)
* Manuel Serrano as Santana
*
Franco Latini
Franco Latini (September 12, 1927 – February 2, 1991) was an Italian actor and voice actor. He was considered to be one of the top voice dubbers for many animated films and cartoons for audiences across Italy.
Biography
Born in Pomezia, which ...
as The Gravedigger (corresponding to
the Gravediggers
The Gravediggers (or Clowns) are examples of Shakespearean fools (also known as clowns or jesters), a recurring type of character in Shakespeare's plays. Like most Shakespearean fools, the Gravediggers are peasants or commoners that use thei ...
)
* Giorgio Sammartino (as Giorgio Sanmartin) as Sheriff (corresponding to
Polonius
Polonius is a character in William Shakespeare's play ''Hamlet''. He is chief counsellor of the play's ultimate villain, Claudius, and the father of Laertes and Ophelia. Generally regarded as wrong in every judgment he makes over the course of ...
)
*
John Bartha
János Bartha (6 February 1915 – 1991), better known as John Bartha, was a Hungarian film actor who appeared primarily in Spaghetti Westerns in the 1960s and 1970s. He is probably most recognizable in western cinema for his role as the Sheriff ...
as Acting Troupe Leader
Production
![Ciudad-encantada-cuenca-sep-2019-j-convento](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Ciudad-encantada-cuenca-sep-2019-j-convento.jpg)
According to director
Franco Rossetti
Franco Rossetti was an Italian film director and screenwriter .
Life and career
Born in Siena, Rossetti started his career as a film critic, then in the early 1950s he entered the film industry as an assistant director. With the rise of the S ...
, after finishing filming ''
The Dirty Outlaws
''The Dirty Outlaws'', also known as ''Big Ripoff'', ''King of the West'' and ''The Desperado'' (in original Italian, ''El desperado''), is a 1967 Italian Spaghetti Western starring Andrea Giordana.
Quentin Tarantino ranked the film 13th in his ...
'' he was offered to do another Western which was a reinterpretation of ''Hamlet'' by
Sergio Corbucci
Sergio Corbucci (; 6 December 1926 – 1 December 1990) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed both very violent Spaghetti Westerns and bloodless Bud Spencer and Terence Hill action comedies.
He is the older bro ...
. Rossetti stated that after he turned down the offer to direct it feeling that he thought Shakespeare in a Western setting was absurd. Rossetti stated that Corbucci was to direct the film after, which the film's eventual director,
Enzo G. Castellari stated he was not sure if that was the situation.
Castellari said he was contacted by the producers to direct the film and accepted after liking Corbucci's script. Castellari however later disliked the films Italian title which translated to "The Dirty Story in the West" stating that "Nobody went to see it. If they'd kept ''Johnny Hamlet'', the response of the public would have been different."
Release
''Johnny Hamlet'' was first distributed in 1968. It was distributed by Interfilm in Italy.
References
Sources
*
*
External links
*
1968 films
Films directed by Enzo G. Castellari
Spaghetti Western films
Films based on Hamlet
Films scored by Francesco De Masi
1968 Western (genre) films
Films shot in Almería
1960s Italian films
{{1960s-Western-film-stub