The Price of Power

The Price of Power
File:The Price of Power FilmPoster.jpeg Italian poster for The Price of Power
Directed by	Tonino Valerii
Written by	Massimo Patrizi
Starring	Giuliano Gemma Van Johnson José Suárez Warren Vanders Maria Cuadra Ray Saunders Fernando Rey
Music by	Luis Enríquez Bacalov
Cinematography	Stelvio Massi
Edited by	Franco Fraticelli
Release dates	18 December 1969 (Italy)
Running time	108 min.
Country	Italy Spain
Language	English

The Price of Power (Italian: Il prezzo del poterecode: it is deprecated , 1969) is a Spaghetti Western directed by Tonino Valerii. The film stars Giuliano Gemma as the hero Bill Willer who tries to get revenge against the killers of his father while at the same time trying to prevent an assassination plot against president James Garfield (played by Van Johnson, with José Suárez playing Vice President Chester A. Arthur) in 1881. The score for the film was composed by the prolific Luis Enríquez Bacalov.

Plot

The president ends up dying from an assassin's bullet, but Willer's further quest for revenge is ultimately more successful. Spanish actress Maria Cuadra plays Lucreatia Garfield, the President's wife. In her role she portrays pretty much the role of Jackie Kennedy as a glamorous President's wife. Even in the assassination scene, Cuadra seems to emulate many of the same actions from Jackie Kennedy's last moments with John F. Kennedy in Dallas in 1963.

Cast

• Giuliano Gemma: Bill Willer
• Van Johnson: James A. Garfield
• Warren Vanders: Arthur MacDonald
• Fernando Rey: Pinkerton
• Benito Stefanelli: Sheriff Jefferson
• Maria Jesus Cuadra: Lucretia Garfield
• Ray Saunders: Jack Donovan
• José Suárez: the vice president
• Manuel Zarzo: Nick
• Mike Harvey(actor)Mike Harvey: Wallace
• Julio Pena: the governor of Texas
• José Calvo: Dr. Strips
• Antonio Casas: Mr. Willer

Political references

The film has many political overtones, most notably drawing similarities between the assassinations of two American presidents, James Garfield and John F. Kennedy. It also tackles some racial issues, with many of the antagonists, bitter after being on the losing side of the American Civil War, showing a distinctly racist attitude towards the hero's best friend, who is black.

Historical accuracy

While the historical president Garfield did die as a result of an assassin's bullet, the film's historical accuracy does not extend much further than that. While Garfield actually died from complications of the wound months after the actual event, in the film he dies shortly after the shooting. Furthermore, the film's events take place in Dallas, Texas while Garfield was in actuality shot in Washington, D.C.. In addition to taking place in the same city, the link to the assassination of another president of the United States, John F. Kennedy, is strengthened by the imagery used in the assassination scene, which imitates the Zapruder film of Kennedy's assassination.

In popular culture

Some parts of the soundtrack, composed by Bacalov, are featured in the videogame Red Dead Revolver.

External links

• The Price of Power at IMDb