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A Man Called Sledge

A Man Called Sledge
A Man Called Sledge.jpg
Directed by Vic Morrow
Produced by Dino De Laurentiis
Written by Vic Morrow and Frank Kowalski
Starring James Garner
Dennis Weaver
Claude Akins
John Marley
Laura Antonelli
Wayde Preston
Ken Clarke
Music by Gianni Ferrio
Cinematography Luigi Kuveiller (Technicolor, Techniscope)
Edited by Renzo Lucidi
Production
company
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date
  • 9 June 1970 (1970-06-09)
Running time
93 minutes
Country Italy
Language English

A Man Called Sledge is a 1970 Italian Technicolor spaghetti western starring James Garner in an extremely offbeat role as a grimly evil thief, and featuring Dennis Weaver, Claude Akins, and Wayde Preston. The film was written by Vic Morrow and Frank Kowalski, and directed by Morrow in Techniscope.

Luther Sledge (Garner), a wanted outlaw, is visiting his prostitute girlfriend, Ria (Antonelli), when one of his gang is shot over a poker game. Sledge kills the murderers, and is recognized by an old man (Marley), who follows him. Sledge waylays the old man, who then relates a tale of a periodic, gold shipment that is heavily guarded by forty riders, but stops at a prison where the old man was incarcerated for years.

Sledge assembles his regular gang (including Joyce, Bice, Gutherie, Beetle, Kehoe, and Hooker), they investigate the story, and equip themselves for the endeavor. The local sheriff (Preston) recognizes the old man from the prison, causing a shootout, and Sledge and his gang flee.

The gang begins observing the gold guards and testing their defenses. Seeing how difficult it is to approach, the gang decide to get into the prison, turn the prisoners loose, and steal the gold in the ensuing havoc. Sledge is taken to the prison by Ward (Weaver), who poses as a US Marshal needing to lock up his prisoner for the night. The warden (Garrone) is reluctant to incarcerate Sledge because he thinks it is the sheriff's business, but the sheriff arrives and attacks Sledge for killing a deputy earlier, convincing the warden to allow them to stay in a cell for the night. Later, Sledge, Ward, and nearby prisoners overpower the warden, killing him in the process. Taking his keys, they free the remaining prisoners, who begin to take over the rest of the prison. Sledge's gang dynamites the prison gate, creating enough noise to be heard in town, and the gold guards head to the prison.

The gold is held in a safe in a cell, but only the warden knew the combination. Sledge locks the old man up in his former cell, adjoining the cell with the safe, which he heard being opened for years. By sound, the old man guides Bice (Corazzari) through opening the safe. The gold guards arrive and encounter armed, rioting prisoners and Sledge's gang. Ward is killed in the battle with the gold guards. The sheriff arrives again, and is killed in a running, horseback rifle-fight with Sledge.


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