Yankee

Yankee

Genre: Spaghetti Western

Director: Tinto Brass

Year: 1966

A man referred to only as "Yankee" rides into a dying, desolate town in frontier New Mexico which is completely controlled by a man called the "Grande Concho." Almost immediately, a battle for dominance ensues.

This, like many other Spaghetti Westerns released in 1966, owes a great deal to Sergio Leone's first two spaghetti's, A Fistful Of Dollars & For A Few Dollars More. From its simple plot to its anti-hero, Yankee never strays far from what was then a successful formula.

Here the notorious Italian director Tinto Brass delivered his one & only Spaghetti Western which unfortunately is a very much floored attempt. As far as direction goes Tinto's use of visuals are pretty impressive with his quick flashy edits, unusual camera angles & close ups. He certainly showed he had the eye to present a visually enjoyable western.

Despite Tinto's noble attempt, where Yankee fails most is its cast. French actor Philippe Leroy plays the part of our anti-hero. His character, which is clearly in the style of Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name simply doesn't work. Leroy is unfortunately miscast & lacks the charisma needed to pull off this type of character, he's also not helped by the clunky dialogue he has to unconvincingly deliver throughout. 

The rest of the cast is also very forgettable except for Adolfo Celi, best known to the world as the villain, Largo, from the mid 60s Bond flick, Thunderball. Celi is also recognisable to fans of Italian cult cinema from films such as Danger: Diabolik & The Italian Connection. Here he plays the films villain, Grande Concho, a man who has taken over a small town in New Mexico & is obsessed with fire. Yankee kills a bunch of Concho's bandits & abducts his girl to which Concho responds by setting the town on alight & murdering the sheriff, telling the townspeople that they will die one by one unless they deliver yankee to him. It's the films best performance & Celi handles this larger than life, hellbent bandit with a huge ego to boot, perfectly.

The film plays out in a mildly entertaining way but unfortunately remains largely forgettable. Nothing stands out here from the other bucket load of early Leone inspired westerns. Tinto Brass disowned the film due to outside interference from the producers so you have to wonder how much of the films mediocrity came from the producers wanting another Dollars inspired picture. For that reason It is a real shame that Brass never made another western as I feel with his creative visual flair, a decent script, and a strong cast he'd of been more than capable of delivering a great Spaghetti. Unfortunately, this remains his one and only attempt at the genre & is one which is probably better best forgotten. 

Rating: ★★½