Johnny Oro [Ringo and His Golden Pistol] **½ (1966, Mark Damon, Valeria Fabrizi, Ettore Manni, Franco De Rosa) – Classic Movie Review 10,851

Sergio Corbucci’s slightly stylish, typically violent 1966 spaghetti Western film Johnny Oro [Ringo and His Golden Pistol] stars Mark Damon as gold-obsessed bounty-hunter Johnny Oro or Johnny Ringo.

‘Nothing mattered to him but gold, gold and more gold! That was the man called RINGO! ‘

Director Sergio Corbucci’s slightly above routine, rather stylish, typically violent 1966 spaghetti Western film Johnny Oro [Ringo and His Golden Pistol] stars Mark Damon as Jonathan Tomadaro Jefferson Gonzales, Valeria Fabrizi as Margie, Ettore Manni as Sheriff Bill Norton, and Franco De Rosa as Juanito Perez.

Mark Damon stars as gold-obsessed bounty-hunter Johnny Oro or Johnny Ringo, who battles the remaining brother of a family he has wiped out, when the wronged Mexican bandit Juanito Perez joins forces with a band of renegade Apache to seek his revenge.

Corbucci’s film is not on the level of his Django, The Great Silence, and Compañeros but, still, it shows some strong hints of style, not least in Riccardo Pallottini’s Eastmancolor cinematography and particularly in Carlo Savina’s score. An unlikely revenge tale told at a quick lick in a short running time of 87 minutes, with the usual grandiose style and tongue firmly in cheek.

Also in the cast are Giulia Rubini, Andrea Aureli, Pippo Starnazza, Nino Vingelli, John Bartha and Vittorio Bonos.

Johnny Oro was later renamed Ringo and His Golden Pistol to cash in on the success of Duccio Tessari’s Ringo movies:  A Pistol for Ringo (1965) and its immediate sequel, The Return of Ringo (1965), both with Giuliano Gemma.

It was released in Italy on 15 July 1966.

The cast are Mark Damon as Jonathan Tomadaro Jefferson Gonzales (Johnny Oro or Johnny Ringo), Valeria Fabrizi as Margie, Franco De Rosa (as Franco Derosa) as Juanito Perez, Ettore Manni as Sheriff Bill Norton, Giulia Rubini as Jane Norton, Loris Loddi as Stan Norton, Andrea Aureli as Gilmore, Pippo Starnazza as Matt, John Bartha as Alcalde Benal, Vittorio Bonos (as Vittorio Williams Bonos) as Slim Anderson, Silvana Bacci as Manuela Rodriguez, Giovanni Cianfriglia as Sebastian, Lucio De Santis as Carlos Perez, and Ferdinando Poggi as Paco Perez.

Johnny Oro [Ringo and His Golden Pistol] is directed by Sergio Corbucci, runs 87 minutes, is made by Sanson Film, is distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (Italy, 1966), is written by Adriano Bolzoni and Franco Rossetti, based on a story by Adriano Bolzoni and Franco Rossetti, is shot in Eastmancolor by Riccardo Pallottini, is produced by Joseph Fryd, and is scored by Carlo Savina, with Art Direction and Set Decoration by Carlo Simi.

In the UK, it was released in a dubbed version by Warner-Pathé Distributors in 1967 in a double bill with A Challenge for Robin Hood.

The legendary Mark Damon

Handsome leading actor Mark Damon (born Alan Harris; April 22, 1933 – May 12, 2024) was signed in 1958 to 20th Century Fox, who cast him in inconsequential films. But he found more notable work outside the studio, winning the the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor as Philip Winthrop in House of Usher.

He moved to Italy and became a notable Spaghetti Western star, especially in Sergio Corbucci’s Johnny Oro [Ringo and His Golden Pistol] (1966) and Carlo Lizzani’s Requiescant (1967).

Damon gave up acting in the mid-1970s to become a film producer, returning to the US in 1977, where he founded Producers Sales Organization (PSO). He developed a reputation as one of the leading producers and distributors of independent films, and as the ‘legendary Mark Damon’.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 10,851

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