''The Price of Power'' ( it, Il prezzo del potere) is a 1969

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 ...

directed by Tonino Valerii. The film stars

Giuliano Gemma Giuliano Gemma (2 September 1938 – 1 October 2013) was an Italian actor. He is best known internationally for his work in Spaghetti Westerns, particularly for his performances as the title character in Duccio Tessari's ''A Pistol for Ringo'' (1 ...

as the hero Bill Willer who tries to get revenge against the killers of his father while at the same time trying to prevent an assassination plot against president

James Garfield James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881 until his death six months latertwo months after he was shot by an assassin. A lawyer and Civil War gene ...

(played by Van Johnson, with José Suárez playing Vice President Chester A. Arthur) in 1881.Hughes, p.106

Plot

The president ends up dying from an assassin's bullet, but Willer's further quest for revenge is ultimately more successful. Spanish actress

Maria Cuadra Maria Cuadra (born Madrid 26 December 1936) is a Spanish film, television and theater actress who has starred in productions including: Platero y yo, Ultimo Encuentro, Vuelve San Valentin, Marinai, donne e guai and I tromboni di Fradiavolo with Ug ...

plays

Lucretia Garfield Lucretia Garfield ('' née'' Rudolph; April 19, 1832 – March 13, 1918) was the first lady of the United States from March to September 1881, as the wife of James A. Garfield, the 20th president of the United States. Born in Garrettsville, Oh ...

, the President's wife. In her role she portrays pretty much the role of Jackie Kennedy as a glamorous President's wife. Even in the assassination scene, Cuadra seems to emulate many of the same actions from Jackie Kennedy's last moments with John F. Kennedy in Dallas in 1963.

Cast

as Bill Willer * Warren Vanders as Arthur MacDonald * Benito Stefanelli as Sheriff Benny Jefferson *

Fernando Rey Fernando Casado Arambillet (La Coruña (Spain), 20 September 1917 – Madrid (Spain), 9 March 1994), best known as Fernando Rey, was a Spanish film, theatre, and television actor, who worked in both Europe and the United States. A suave, i ...

as Pinkerton * Ray Saunders as Jack Donovan * Michael Harvey as Jeff Wallace * Van Johnson as James A. Garfield * José Suárez as Chester A. Arthur *

* Antonio Casas as Mr. Willer * Manuel Zarzo as Nick * Julio Peña as Governor of Texas * José Calvo as Dr. Strips

Production

The film's concept was conceived by Massimo Patrizi, Luigi Comencini's brother-in-law, and serves as an adaptation of the story of John F. Kennedy's assassination in the form of a Western. Patrizi also imposed another true story in his script, that the attempted murder of James A. Garfield in 1881. Although the opening titles of the film credit the story and screenplay only to Patrizi, the film was rewritten by Valerii and Ernesto Gastaldi. Valerii commented that he did not remember Patrizi's script word-for-word, but described it as "extremely basic, whereas Gastaldi and I deepened it. We established the essential themes to develop, introduced the character played by

, the banker who is also the assassination's mandator, and so on." Gastaldi stated that "Patrizi's treatment was simply thrown in the bin, but the producer had signed a contract with him which stated that he was to be credited as the sole author of the script. Since I didn't care about my name in the titles, I had no problem writing the script and not signing it."

Release

''The Price of Power'' was released theatrically in Italy on December 10, 1969, by Cidif. It grossed a total of 1,273,858,000 lire on its domestic release in Italy. It received a release in Spain on June 9, 1970, as ''La muerte de un presidente''.

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Price of Power, The 1969 films Spaghetti Western films 1969 Western (genre) films Films directed by Tonino Valerii Films scored by Luis Bacalov Films about assassinations Films about presidents of the United States Cultural depictions of James A. Garfield Cultural depictions of Chester A. Arthur Films shot in Almería Films with screenplays by Ernesto Gastaldi 1960s Italian films