The story has outlaw Luther Sledge (Garner) stumbling upon an old ex-con (John Marley) with first-hand knowledge of $300,000 in gold kept in an impregnable vault deep in the bowels a heavily guarded prison. Against the advice of girlfriend/prostitute Ria (Laura Antonelli), Sledge becomes obsessed with stealing the gold. His gang of desperate criminals -- including no-nonsense Hooker (Claude Akins), quiet Erwin Ward (Dennis Weaver), and dapper Bice (Bruno Corazzari) -- first consider raiding the gold during transport to the prison. However, they're discouraged after watching 40 well organized soldiers on horseback guarding the gold. Instead, Sledge pretends to be Erwin's captured prisoner, in an elaborate plot to simultaneously break into the vault, escape and start a riot.

Despite its mostly American leads, all of whom were Western film and TV veterans, A Man Called Sledge is an Italian production from producer Dino de Laurentiis. Although the Internet Movie Database lists Giorgio Gentili as co-director, onscreen credits solely bill Vic Morrow. Morrow had directed a number of episodes of the TV series Combat, in which he also starred, and both he and Frank Kowalski, another Combat veteran, are credited with the script. Kowalski himself was a jack-of-all-trades on a number of Peckinpah films: mostly he worked either as a script supervisor or dialogue director, but sometimes as a 2nd unit director. He's also credited with the story for Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia.

For all this jumble of talent, A Man Called Sledge is a lesser Western. Although Garner is believable as a mean and ruthless outlaw, the effect isn't up to or anything like, say, Henry Fonda's surprising casting and shocking performance in Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West. Sledge is simply a foolhardy SOB and a role anyone might have played, thus Garner's unique and natural likeability is squandered. His performance may be good, but Support Your Local Sheriff! was a lot more fun.

The movie itself is nothing special. The heist elements are strictly routine, while its venture into Treasure of the Sierra Madre territory during the third act is fairly disastrous. A high stakes card game that follows is absurdly forced and illogical, as well as overly stylized with its fish-eye lens, slow-motion shots, and lingering double exposures.

Morrow's direction notwithstanding, A Man Called Sledge looks like your standard Spaghetti Western. Morrow and DP Luigi Kuveiller try to inject some life into the piece using extreme low angles, tight close-ups, and long lens shots. There are flashes of good visual concepts throughout. One gunman on horseback is shot numerous times but won't fall off his horse. A man is shot and when he falls to the ground, he creates a cloud of gold dust. A madam is bathed in light from stained-glass window. Mostly though, these details only draw attention to themselves rather than serve to make the film any better. Other aspects of the production are typical for the period. The score is unexceptional, and a song, "Other Men's Gold" is laughably bad.

An odd note: An Allan Jones is listed in the cast, but this does not seem to be the same Allan (gDonkey Serenadeh) Jones who wreaked havoc with the Marx Bros. in A Night at the Opera.

Video & Audio

Columbia/TriStar's DVD of A Man Called Sledge is presented in a fine 16:9 transfer of its original Techniscope ratio. The opening titles and bits here and there show their age, but mostly this presentation is sharp and clean, with good color and a minimum of dirt and scratches. Par for the course with Italian films from the period, the entire show was looped in postproduction (the leads dub their own voices though), and the mono sound is unimpressive. Sound effects and music are flat, and dialogue has a slightly disembodied feel. Optional English subtitles are offered, but there's nothing in the way of Extras, not even a trailer.

Parting Thoughts

Though Garner may have wanted to flex his acting muscles, the movie itself offers little beyond that one, atypical performance. Though competently made, A Man Called Sledge is mostly flat and uninteresting.

Stuart Galbraith IV is a Los Angeles and Kyoto-based film historian whose work includes The Emperor and the Wolf -- The Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune. He is presently writing a new book on Japanese cinema for Taschen.