zardoz-13 Review of Who Killed Johnny R.?

Who Killed Johnny R.? (1966)

A Spanish/German Western About Mistake Identity

[7/10 · 27 November 2022]

In José Luis Madrid's intriguing Spaghetti western about a mistaken identity "Who Killed Johnny R," the eponymous gunslinger Johnny Ringo escapes certain death when he is trapped in a frontier town by an army of lawmen. Caught in an upstairs hotel room, Johnny shoots it out with the law. At the last moment, Johnny's friends thunder into town on horseback and help him escape. The law tracks him down to the Conroy ranch where his men and he take Cathy Conroy (Montserrat Porta) and her young daughter and son hostage and shoot it out with the authorities. One of the lawmen is Captain Jason Conroy (Sieghardt Rupp of "A Fistful of Dollars") and tragedy strikes when a fire erupts accidentally and his family dies a horrible death. Thereafter, in the notorious outlaw Johnny Ringo vanishes into thin air. Mind you, Madrid never shows Johnny Ringo during the opening shootout as he knocks off one lawman after another during a heated gun battle. Anyway, much later, we meet Sam Dobie (Lex Barker of "Tarzan and the Mermaids") who takes a job for Cathy Carmichael (Barbara Bold of "Die Nibelungen 1 & 2") as a traveling firearms salesman. Later, Madrid and scenarists Peter A. Chilles of TV's "The Defenders," Ladislas Fodor of "Old Shatterhand" and Paul Jarrico of "Messenger of Death" introduce the second protagonist Clyde Smith (Joachim Fuchsberger of "The Green Devils of Monte Cassino"), a hard rock miner. He stumbles across Sam Dobie when Dobie is demonstrating the double-action Colt's .45 revolver dubbed "Lightning" and sells one to Smith. As it turns out, Smith wears his gun as the notorious Johnny Ringo does on the left hip and he has a burn scar on his shoulder similar to Ringo's scar. Eventually, Smith joins up with Dobie and the two men sell their consignment of Colt "Lightning" revolvers. Cathy hires Clyde to accompany Dobie. At one point, Clyde becomes an expert shot with the "Lightning" and people start calling him 'Johnny Ringo.' Clyde decides he likes the notoriety that comes with being recognized as Johnny Ringo because he has led an anonymous life. Meantime, although Dobie sells firearms, he refuses to use them. Clyde decides to tutor him in trick shooting and Dobie surprises Clyde by shooting his hat off his head during a mock duel. Madrid emphasizes Dobie's revulsion for firearms afterwards when Dobie hurls the revolver into the dirt in a close-up. By this time, the alert viewer will know that Lex Barker is the title character despite his best efforts to conceal his identity. Actually, Johnny Ringo strives as Dobie to turn over a new leaf. Nevertheless, Captain Conroy nurses revenge and has been scouring the earth for Ringo. Matters are helped at all because an itinerant balladeer who sings about Johnny Ringo encourages the rumor that Clyde is Ringo. We are left to ponder who between Dobie and Clyde is the real Ringo for 56 minutes of this 86-minute oater. This above-average Euro western features a strong cast that includes Marianne Koch as the real Johnny Ringo's girlfriend. Two years earlier, Koch had starred opposite Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone's "A Fistful of Dollars." "Who Killed Johnny R" was Madrid's second and final western after "Ruthless Colt of the Gringo" (1966). Incidentally, both of these sagebrushers were filmed back-to-back in 1966. The opening shootouts are staged with verve.