Reeling Backward: God's Gun (1976)
A new Blu-ray issue of the spaghetti western is lacking in fun but is still intriguing as an international oddity.
On paper, “God's Gun” is an oddity in the western genre. Like the spaghetti westerns of the mid-1960s through early 1970s, it has an international cast (including American actors of note) and the dialogue was dubbed. However, instead of being filmed in Italy or Spain, “God's Gun” was filmed in Israel and produced by Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, two years before they bought Cannon films.
Kino-Lorber has released the film on Blu-Ray, which includes a very good commentary track from film director and western connoisseur Alex Cox (“Repo Man,” “Sid & Nancy”).
Even before buying Cannon films, Golan-Globus was known for combining casts of up-and-comers with stars past their prime. “God's Gun” has a cast that is a step above your average international western. Your newcomers are eventual teen heartthrob and “Behind the Music” cautionary tale Leif Garrett as Johnny. He works at a saloon run by his mother Jenny (Sybil Danning, in gorgeous western madam garb). Johnny is also under the guidance of the town priest Father John (Lee Van Cleef).
All is well until Sam Clayton (Jack Palance) and his gang of nephews come into town to drink any liquid within reach, grope any female within reach and stab a man to death. Father John is so good that, without a weapon, he brings the man who did the stabbing back to town to stand trial.
With a priest like that, who needs the Sheriff? Even if he is played by Richard Boone, who does very little.
The gang go back to town to break out their fellow hell-raiser and in the process kill the priest. Then they take over the town. Richard Boone's sheriff lets the gang run wild. One wonders if it was due to Boone leaving the film before it was completed and was dubbed by another actor. Boone called “God's Gun” the worst film he ever made.
Now if you think the film pulled a Janet Leigh in “Psycho” (Van Cleef co-headlines this affair with Palance, above the title), we find out Father John has... a twin brother named Lewis who also a gunfighter and also played by Van Cleef. Two Lee Van Cleef performances for the price of one. There's not much difference between the two performances although the gunfighter wearing his brother's priest garb to mess with the minds of the gang is a good move.
I wanted “God's Gun” to be more fun. Director Frank Kramer (aka Gianfranco Parolini) is best known for directing the “Sabata” trilogy. Kramer has good use of the wide-angle lens, a few rotating camera shots that are unique and enough bullets to the head and face to earn an R-rating. The saloon gals even get their own revenge.
The idea of a film with Jack Palance and Lee Van Cleef in a scowling, growling face off is the big selling point of this film and it doesn't quite deliver. The problem is not enough screen time together. “God's Gun” is not “Frankenstein vs. The Wolf Man” or most Japanese monster film endings where the clash of two titans last a mere minute or two.
Since the film was shot in Israel with an Italian crew, those films were dubbed in post-production. Plus they used other actors to dub the voices. I knew all this going in, but still... “God's Gun” has the great Jack Palance (who delivers, even in cinema garbage) and (sucks air through teeth), “We-ah... don't get-ah... to hear that famous Jack Palance voice-ah. (Pause) Believe it-ah... or not!”
Palance has some good energy in this film. Sam Clayton is having a grand time owning the town and there's a plot point near the film's end that gives Palance more to work with than the average western baddie. “God's Gun” has a Ferrari of an actor that was dubbed by a Smart Car. Major disappointment.
The film's climax is clever enough and there's the satisfying gunplay taking the gang out one by one. Young Johnny loses his voice when Father John is killed. Don't worry, the script is a voice specialist so wait until the end. Then again less is more helps with Leif Garrett's performance. Garrett and Van Cleef would team up the following year with Jim Brown for another western, “Kid Vengeance.”
The year 1976 was the last gasp of the western genre. That same year brought John Wayne's final western and final film, “The Shootist” (also featuring Richard Boone) and the great Clint Eastwood epic, “The Outlaw Josey Wales.” Clint's next western would come almost a decade later (“Pale Rider”) and his masterpiece “Unforgiven” would come 16 years later.
Even if Richard Boone was in a better mood and if all the actor's voices were actually on the soundtrack, “God's Gun” would still be a distant third.
Trivia — “God's Gun” was the third western filmed in Israel. The prior two were the Gregory Peck film “Billy Two-Hats” (1974) and “His Name Was Madron” (1970, starring Leslie Caron and Richard Boone.
Matthew Socey is host of the Film Soceyology podcast for WFYI 90.1 FM in Indianapolis