[Inspector Abberline]

A Man Called Sledge (1970)

It is always nice seeing actors play against type and just so slightly out of there comforts zone on occasions.And while James Garner is no stranger to being in westerns,in Sledge he is not his usual affable and friendly self,and is more like the charcrter he played in Duel at Diablo.Although in Sledge Garners character is definitely much more defined as the bad guy as he leads a posse of robbers and thieves. And as far as I am aware this was to be Garners only Spaghetti western,which according to the internet was not a happy experience for the actor.Also there seem to be problems with who actually directed the movie.with Vic Morrow credited as the director and Giorgio Gentili uncredited Any how its mid paced action western with all the requisite spaghetti western traits but with a more heavier American cast than usual,Dennis Weaver as Erwin Ward, John Marley as 'Old Man' and also Claude Akins as Hooker rounding out the American actors .Eye candy is supplied by the lovely Laura Antonelli who was in Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs (1966) and Venus in Furs (1969). A Man Called Sledge while nowhere near on the grand scale of say Sergio Leone's masterpieces ,it does have a rather impressive story line involving the robbery of a maximum security prison that has a gold shipment locked in its vaults for protection.It is the subsequent gold and the detrimental effect it has on the gang that take up the secound half of the film ,there is no honour among these thieves. Shame Garner never did any more of these grittier westerns as he has just as much screen presence as Eastwood and could of carved out a nice tough guy screen image just like Van Cleef did.Probably recommended for die hard Spaghetti western and James Garner devotees.