In an article from The New York Times from 2004, the very first 'spaghetti western' was "A Fistful of Dollars" back in 1964. Well, a Facebook friend recommended I see "Gunfight in the Red Sands" ("Duello nel Texas") and it clearly IS a spaghetti western. First, it has a lot of Italian and Spanish actors and was filmed in Spain (like these Italian westerns). Second, it has an American in the lead...not a requirement but common in the spaghetti films. Third, most of the music is from Ennio Moricone..the same guy who made the most iconic music from the genre, including his gorgeous music from "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"!

When the story begins, three masked bandits come to the ranch owned by Gringo's father. They kill the old man, steal his money and shoot someone else. Gringo (Richard Harrison) is the dead man's adopted son...making him a white guy raised by Mexican-Americans. This also makes him REALLY irritable whenever folks make nasty comments about Mexicans!

The trail leads to a town where the sheriff insists there is no crime...none. Now considering he said this right AFTER two guys pick a fight with Gringo and try to beat him, I think the sheriff's credibility is low! And, as the film progresses, you realize that the sheriff is either incredibly stupid or a crook. After all, his response every time someone tries to kill Gringo is to lock up or threaten to lock up Gringo! To assist Gringo in his quest is his brother, Manuel. But do these two stand a chance against this crappy and corrupt town?!

The film looks like a spaghetti western in pretty much every way. My only complaints are minor. The opening song is godawful and sounds like it was recording in someone's bathroom (I am NOT exaggerating). The chase scenes on horseback are poorly filmed and very jerky. And, there are a few silly anachronisms (such as having folks gambling with 1960s US dollars and Manuel with a 1920s style .38 revolver). But the story is very involving and solid. Harrison (virtually unknown in his home in the USA) is very good as are the other actors. And, the action is very good. All in all, a very good film and better than most Italian westerns...and well worth seeing.

By the way, I tried watching this on YouTube but found they were putting commercials in the film every five minutes!! Instead, I found it on a Roku channel....with no commercials! My Facebook friend....he paid for it on Amazon Prime...which, in hindsight, he didn't have to do...but I am VERY glad he recommended the film to me.

Muscle-bound peplum star Richard Harrison dons a Stetson and buckles on spurs and six-shooters in Spanish director Ricardo Blasco's "Gunfight at Red Sands," one of the earliest examples of Continental westerns before Sergio Leone's "A Fistful of Dollars" kick-started Spaghetti westerns. Some of the people behind the scenes on this oater later on figured prominently in the Leone westerns, principally composer Ennio Morricone using the pseudonym 'Dan Savio,' "Fistful of Dollars" lenser Massimo Dallamano as 'Jack Dalmas,' veteran Euro-western bad guy Aldo Sambrell of "Navajo Joe," and another "Fistful of Dollars" actor Jose Calvo who owned the saloon between the Rojos and the Baxters in the Leone classic. Morricone cut his teeth on Euro-westerns with this Spanish-produced sagebrusher and the title tune that he composed with lyricist Dicky Jones could easily qualify as the anthem for spaghetti westerns, with lyrics like "Keep your hand on your gun/Don't you trust anyone/There's only one man you can trust/That's a dead man or a Gringo like me." Altogether, "Gunfight at Red Sands" ranks as a pretty fair facsimile of the American variety with heaps of hard-riding, fast-shooting action set against rugged desert scenery and a well-laid out western town.

Richard Harrison, who made several spaghetti westerns, such as "Gunfight at High Noon" (1963), "One Hundred Thousand Dollars for Ringo" (1965), "El Rojo" (1967), and "Between God, the Devil, and a Winchester" (1968), was just at home on the range as a western hero as he was in the peplum genre as a strongman. The character that he plays in "Gunfight at Red Sands" is the 'Gringo' referred to in Ennio Morricone's song. Before Gringo makes his appearance, scenarist Albert Band who helmed a couple of Spaghettis himself, "The Tramplers" (1966) and "The Hellbenders" (1967) and writer/director Blasco lay the ground work for the action. Manuel (Giacomo Rossi-Stuart) rides into Red Sands to drink and gamble, but he drinks too much and loses everything, including a pouch of gold. During his gambling spree, he mentions that his father, sister, and he have found more than enough gold to buy the saloon. Later, three masked gunslingers surprise his dad at home, shoot him in cold blood, and steal several bags of gold from a compartment in the floor. Meantime, Ricardo (Richard Harrison) has spent the last four years fighting alongside the revolutionaries in their desperate bid to rid their country of the oppressive political regime that makes their lives so miserable. White uniform clad soldiers by the dozens have Pedro (Jose Calvo) and Gringo on the run. In fact, Gringo barely escapes with his skin after Pedro and they splash across the Rio Grande back into Texas. Nevertheless, one of the troops fires a last shot and kills poor Pedro. Sickened by all this bloodshed, Gringo decides to settle down and live a peaceable life. His illusions are shattered when he rides home to find his father dying on the floor of their ranch. When Gringo launches his own investigation, he clashes with the local lawman who displays his bigotry for all things Hispanic as do several of the townspeople. Later, inquisitive Manuel discovers that Maria, a saloon hostess, has been keeping their stolen gold stashed in their safe. Manuel kills the saloon owner, escapes with the gold and a posse pursues him to the ranch. Gringo sends Manuel packing before the posse arrives. When they show up, Gringo proves that the stolen gold belonged to his father. An anti-Mexican deputy gets in a brawl with Gringo and our hero kills him in front of witnesses, providing the sheriff with a legitimate reason to lock him up.

"Gunfight at Red Sands" has several surprises and plot twists during its lean 95 minute running time. The intolerance shown toward Mexicans qualifies it as a message movie of sorts and the hero is an American who had been adopted by Mexicans and raised as one of the family. No, there are no racial epithets, but one laughing cowboy distinguishes Mexicans by their stench until Gringo roughs him up during a saloon brawl. Morricone's flavorful scores enhances the excitement and heightens the drama throughout. The dubbing appears to be rather well-done, considering that this is a Euro-western, and the performances throughout are good, too. Unfortunately, the only prints available of this landmark western are horrible public domain prints, but it is still an entertaining saga.

An avenging stranger (Richard Harrison) seeks vengeance against killers who have murdered his father . He guns down a gang of ruthless outlaws in revenge for the murder of his family . He returns a little town called Carterville where rules steadily a sheriff (Giacomo Rossi Stuart) and a Saloon owner (Barta Barri) . At the saloon the starring meets his old flame (Mikaela) .

This Chorizo Western packs violence , shootouts , high body-count and it's fast moving and quite entertaining . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing some shoot'em up or stunts every few minutes . It contains bits of campy and refreshing events with turns and twists . It's an exciting western with breathtaking showdown between the starring Richard Harrison and his enemies . Outdoor sequences shot on outskirts of Madrid , La Pedriza , Colmenar Viejo , and Hoyo De Manzanares . The producer Jose Maesso ordered to build a Western village called ¨Golden City¨ where were shot a lot of Western . Being built by Cubero and Jose Luis Galicia in charge of production sets and subsequently designed numerous Westerns . One year later , most technicians , secondary actors (Aldo Sambrell , Daniel Martin), Production ( Jolly , Constantin Film) , cameraman (Maximo Dallamano) , musician (Ennio Morricone or Dan Savio) would work in the notorious ¨For a fistful of dollars¨ that created Spaghetti. Even the main role was offered to Richard Harrison , but he turned down and explaining : Maybe my greatest contribution to cinema was not doing Fistful of Dollars, and recommending Clint Eastwood for the part.

The picture is well starred by Richard Harrison , he is top notch as the brave hero who finds many dangerous situations while attempting to avenge his family and protect his true love played by Sara Lezana . Strong and robust Richard Harrison was a magnificent muscle-man . He was one along with Ed Fury, Brad Harris, Kirk Morris, Reg Park, Mark Forest, among others, whom to seek fortune acting absurdly muscle mythological figures, but anybody topped Steve Reeves and Gordon Scott in popularity. Harrison played in Hollywood some minor roles as ¨Kronos ¨ and ¨South Pacific¨ , while shooting another inferior character in ¨Master of world (1961)¨ produced by American International , he met producer James H. Nicholson's daughter and married her within six months. Frustrated at not being able to secure meatier roles in America , Harrison jumped at the chance when offered the first character in 1961 ,¨The Invincible Gladiator¨ , which was filming in Europe along with his greatest success ¨The seven Spartans¨. He wound up settling in Italy for the next two decades. His lead role, of course, immediately typed him as another Herculean type and, to avoid being penned in too much as a muscle man, he sought characters in routine spaghetti westerns as ¨Texas the red , Gringo, Reverendo Colt, Joe Dakota ¨ , Wartime genre as ¨Leopards of Churchill and 36 hours in hell¨ and spy intrigue as ¨Master stroke and 077 challenge to the killer's¨ . Once Italy closed down film production after the muscular craze had died down, he, like others, found himself unemployed. He did manage to scrape up work in Hong Kong, but a large portion of them were bottom-of-the-barrel Ninja movies.

Screenplay with interesting premise about a gunfighter seeking justice was written by Albert Band and the same director Ricardo Blasco. The producer Jose G . Maesso with his Cia. ¨Tecisa¨ produced several Western as ¨The ugly ones , Minnesota Clay , Django , A train to Durango , Hellbenders¨ and financed various pre-Leone Western as ¨Tierra Brutal¨ and along with those Western directed by Joaquin Romero Marchent as ¨Three Implacables¨ , ¨The shadow of Zorro¨ created the birth of European Western , before Leone-boom .