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Storm Rider

Storm Rider

Movie · 1972 · 16 people

Il grande duello, also known as Storm Rider, is a 1972 Italian-language spaghetti Western, also released as The Grand Duel and The Big Showdown. It turns the search for justice and revenge into a story of a man wrongly accused. In Germany it played as Drei Vaterunser für vier Halunken and was at one point marketed as Rache unter roter Sonne. It first screened there on 29 December 1972. Produced by Terra Film and Société Nouvelle de Cinématographie, it is a co-production between Italy, West Germany and France and runs about 90 minutes.

Young Philip Vermeer (Alberto Dentice) is accused of a murder he did not commit and becomes the target of the dead man's vengeful children. The one person who believes him is Clayton, a former sheriff played by Lee Van Cleef, who sets out to keep Philip alive and prove his innocence. Antonio Casale, Alessandra Cardini, Horst Frank and Gastone Pescucci also appear in the cast.

Director Giancarlo Santi had earlier served as assistant director to Sergio Leone on The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Once Upon a Time in the West. Ernesto Gastaldi wrote the screenplay.

DirectorGiancarlo Santi
Production companyTerra Film

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Cast

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Gastone Pescucci Gastone Pescucci Actor · died at 73 Borghese Jess Hahn Jess Hahn Actor · died at 76 Bighorse Lee Van Cleef Antonio Casale Alessandra Cardini Anna Maria Gherardi Salvatore Baccaro Remo Capitani Franco Fantasia Bob Clark Memè Perlini Luigi Antonio Guerra Furio Meniconi Horst Frank Klaus Grünberg Giovanni Cianfriglia Giovanni Cianfriglia Actor · died at 89 Bounty Hunter

Also in the cast: Alberto Dentice

Titles sharing this cast

Through different eyes

Action & Thriller Fan Puts pace, tension and set pieces first; little patience for slow drama.

Lee Van Cleef, a young man accused of a murder he didn't commit, and the dead man's children out for revenge: all the tension ingredients you want from a spaghetti western are in place. The wrongful-accusation set-up turns the road to the showdown into a personal chase, a solid frame for keeping the pace up. Coming from a director who worked alongside Leone, it fairly raises expectations for the duels.

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

That Giancarlo Santi had been assistant director on Leone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Once Upon a Time in the West before this film is the key to reading Il grande duello. It looks like the work of an apprentice who knows the master's language from up close: it leans on the genre's sturdiest motifs, wrongful accusation, revenge and proving innocence, and Ernesto Gastaldi's script fits them into a tidy dramatic frame. But in my view there is no point looking for anything new here; this late phase of the spaghetti western is content to repeat its own patterns competently. A worthwhile link in the chain for genre fans; newcomers would do better to start with the sources.

Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humour and heart.

This is a spaghetti western built on revenge: a murdered man's children are trying to kill an innocent young man. In my view it is not suitable for small children. For parents who like westerns and their teenagers, though, it can be engaging. At its centre is a former sheriff trying to protect an innocent young man, which makes it a good chance to talk together about justice and injustice.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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