A Stranger in Paso Bravo

• Italian: Uno straniero a Paso Bravo, Spanish: Los pistoleros de Paso Bravo, also known as Paso Bravo
• Directed by Salvatore Rosso
• March 23, 1968 (Italy)

A drifter returns to a small town to avenge the murder of his family.

Like any good Spaghetti Western, A Stranger in Paso Bravo opens with a mysterious man with mysterious motivations accompanied by some of the most stylized music that those making this could devise. It sounds closer to mariachi that Country Western.

Anthony Steffen is the mysterious Gary Hamilton. Older non-American films can give you an insight into what countries think is an average sounding American name. I don’t know why but ‘Gary Hamilton’ sounds like the fakest American name to me.  Gary has returned to town to right some wrongs and knock some heads. His family was murdered but really that is so poorly demonstrated in the film I was consistently unsure if that was the reason or it was another that caused him to travel to dusty Paso Bravo.

Steffen gives an easy charm to the character. You can see why he is able to navigate this environment and not run completely afoul of people that are taking aim at him until he wants to. He plays Gary with the body language of the cool guy but can then switch into a toughness to make the action work.

This is a kill fest. There are bodies left and right in this. I swear Gary must kill half the local population on his way through the story doing so with a bit of uniqueness not seen too often. His weapon of choice is a shotgun with a surprising number of bullets per load. A Stranger in Paso Bravo is heavy on violence but strangely fun. Dangerous people do dangerous things but like an 80s action movie you’re just having a good time.

I’m still a little confused about why Gary went to jail. Was he framed? Did he commit a crime? Whatever the reason was it made him a bit of an outsider to those that knew him. Also to the people of Paso Bravo there was the impression he was a complete stranger yet appears to have been a resident long enough to start a family and make friends. I guess that makes it one more thing poorly explained.

A surprise recurring character is a merchant called Seller of Water (José Calvo) Gary first meets in the desert doing what his name says. I cannot think of Gary ever addressing him by his actual name. Seller provides a little humor and information but interestingly a bond forms between the two with the extortion of money from each other evolving into more a mark of their friendship than a sales job.

Even with some gaps in the plot, it’s an otherwise very enjoyable movie. Good dialogue and excellent acting paired with quality ADR get you through the rough spots. This movie aims to entertain and does so in spades. It also does so with some emotion and depth.

Rosy (Adriana Ambesi) is a saloon girl with whom a romance develops. She, like others, suffers under the control of land baron Acombar (Eduardo Fajardo) who provides a very threatening evil with his final moments being largely satisfactory (for the audience) psychological torture.

There is almost no investigation before our hero learns who was responsible for his family’s death. He then spends his time waiting/lingering in the area prepping. Given that Acombar was not well liked I do not think that was too necessary. It would be easy to round up help once the baddy was weakened in any way. It would make sense to the audience.

A Stranger in Paso Bravo was an enjoyable experience. There is no dead air and it kept things moving. Fun and exciting it will entertain all fans of Westerns.