Blindman (1971)

Blindman (1971)

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“I didn’t see a thing.”

Synopsis:
When a blind gunslinger (Tony Anthony) hired to bring 50 mail-order brides to miners in Texas learns that his business partner Skunk (Ringo Starr) has double-crossed him by selling the women to a bandit (Lloyd Batista), he travels to Mexico determined to complete his mission at any cost.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Blindness
  • Cat and Mouse
  • Ringo Starr Films
  • Westerns

Review:
Ferdinando Baldi’s Spaghetti-western homage to Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman developed cult status in part due to the presence of Ringo Starr in a co-leading role.

Anthony — best known for The Stranger Spaghetti-western-series (which I haven’t seen) — wore intensely painful contact lenses (he wouldn’t do a sequel) to embody a blind man on a last-chance mission to secure a comfortable life through a hefty pay-out.

The entire story consists of a cat-and-mouse attempts to transport objectified beauties from one set of aggressive, dirty men to another, with plenty of exploitation scenes thrown in — just, because. As DVD Savant, a fan of this film, puts it:

… parts of this show veer close to Seventies’-style exploitation cinema too. There’s nudity present in a few sequences here, most notably the sequence where the mail order brides are forced to wash before the arrival of the visiting Federales. But if this is exploitation cinema, it’s exploitation cinema as Sergio Leone might have shot it.

Personally, I grew tired of explosions and violence long before this film’s (restored) 105 minutes were over — but at least the cinematography and sets are appealing.

Notable Performances, Qualities, \and Moments:

  • Riccardo Pallottini’s cinematography

Must See?
No; skip this one unless you’re a diehard Spaghetti Western fan or a Starr groupie. Listed as a Cult Movie in the back of Peary’s book.

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One thought on “Blindman (1971)”

  1. First viewing (8/27/22). Only for spaghetti western fans.

    This is the only one of the 38 films by Bandi that Peary chose to highlight. Inspired by the ‘Zatoichi’ series, it’s by turns confusing, implausible and just plain dumb. This flick is ultimately unsatisfying because it’s consistently frustrating.

    According to IMDb, director Alex Cox – who wrote a book on this western genre, ‘10,000 Ways to Die’ – ” rightfully described it as “not a great film, but it has sadistic style and imaginative elements which recall the golden years (of the Spaghetti Western) of 1966 to 1968. It could have been worse, and for that reason alone, as the form stumbled and began to lose its way, enthusiasts still recall it fondly.”

    Fans of the film may recall it fondly (esp. if they are weirdly recognizing that “sadistic” is a memorable, um… “style”) but it’s little more than a Sergio Leone-wanna-be (complete with a score that leans toward being a Morricone wanna-be). Those lured to the film by the supporting casting of Ringo Starr may very well be disappointed as well. He’s not very good.

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