Tonight with Friends: The Dumbest-Titled Western Ever Made!

Come for the title, stay because you’ve never witnessed such a budget-strapped Western! Perfect for an evening with friends who are all in agreement that you’re watching a bad movie together, and in a spirit of true camaraderie, tune in to Prime Video to watch: Sartana, if your left arm bothers you, cut it off!

A Misplaced, Yet Referential Title

The story kicks off with the kidnapping of a wealthy landowner’s daughter by a gang of outlaws, and the team-up of Django and Sartana to rescue her. The gang leader is portrayed by Gordon Mitchell, a former peplum hero turned Western and B-movie actor, with Jack Betts playing Sartana and Franco Borelli as Django.

The French title references a Biblical passage: “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed”, but in Italy, the original title translates to “Django and Sartana are coming… It’s the end”. Interestingly, the film does not feature any actual left arm inconvenience, unless symbolically considering Django as Sartana’s left arm, but that interpretation is likely more in-depth than what the film actually shows.

Why “It’s the end”? Because the director, Demofilo Fidani, had created four films featuring the character Sartana (one of the recurring heroes of the Italian Western post-Sergio Leone), and he evidently wanted to move on to other projects.

Not Just a Western, But a Test of Endurance

Only die-hard fans of spaghetti Westerns can watch this film at face value, which is a display of profound amateurishness. Although “Sartana… If your left arm bothers you, cut it off!” had more resources than other Fidani films, it unfortunately lacks creativity to make up for it – falling far short of the ingenuity of something like “Evil Dead”, for example.

Still, Demofilo Fidani remains a beloved director for a couple of reasons. First, he consistently worked with the same team of actors and technicians and filmed his projects in a Western town he had built. Additionally, watching his films gives the impression of a child making their first movies. Granted, this was Fidani’s seventh film, but that’s a different conversation.

With its continuity errors, over-the-top stunts, caricatured characters, simplistic plot, and filler scenes, the film reeks of amateurism, but that’s also the essence of cinema. These are flawed films made with a lot of goodwill or opportunism. So settle into your couch, start this Western, and reminisce about a time when what you’re watching was honored with a theatrical release thanks to local cinemas.