Sons of Ringo: The Great Spaghetti Western Heroes - Fred Blosser

I’m not sure which Spaghetti Western was the first one I ever watched, but I think it may have been A PISTOL FOR RINGO, which came out in 1964 and starred “Montgomery Wood”, actually Italian actor Guiliano Gemma. I remember watching it on TV at my sister’s house in 1969 or ’70. But whether that was the first one or not, I’ve seen plenty of ’em since then and nearly always enjoyed them. Sure, they’re not at all realistic, but neither are the American B-Westerns that I love so dearly. The Spaghetti Westerns have different but interesting sensibilities and traditions.

You won’t find a better examination of the genre than Fred Blosser’s new book SONS OF RINGO: THE GREAT SPAGHETTI WESTERN HEROES. Blosser knows these movies very well and probably has seen more of them than anyone else I know, and he writes about them extremely well, discussing the actors, writers, and directors who made them and tracing the evolution of the genre over the years of its popularity. What you get is a very readable volume that’s both informative and entertaining. This book makes me realize there are still a lot of Spaghetti Westerns out there that I haven’t seen yet and really makes me want to watch them. I suspect I’ll be doing so soon. In the meantime, if you’re a fan of these movies, you can’t go wrong with SONS OF RINGO. I give it a high recommendation.