LA FURIA DE JOHNNY KIDD/THE FURY OF JOHNNY KIDD

1967

Technicolor, Techniscope

Notes: Naschy, at the time still Jacinto Molina, played a small role as "Blackie." Some reports indicate his scenes may have been cut from the final print or at least an export foreign version, but others confirm that he is in the picture. (A video of this film has yet to show up.) The story line is also unclear. According to one reference work (Thomas Weisser's SPAGHETTI WESTERNS--THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE VIOLENT), the plot has to do with Johnny tracking down the killers of his parents, while Monster Bis' guide to Naschy indicates more of a Romeo and Juliet angle with warring families.

In a VIDEOOZE interview, Naschy stated that he helped Puccini, a descendant of the famous composer, in directing the film. After the film was done, Puccini asked Naschy to come over to Italy to assist him on more films, but as Naschy was getting prepared to leave, he found out that the director had had a fatal heart attack. For Naschy, who has admired westerns all his life, this is his only appearance in the genre thus far.

Thanks to the fine folks over at the Spaghetti Western Message Board, there's more info about this film. Bootlegs of this film, in Spanish and Japanese versions, are available. Naschy appears in an arm-wrestling scene for about a minute. This confirms Naschy's autobiography, in which he relates an amusing anecdote concerning this scene. Naschy also mentions taking over for another Italian actor as a gunman. Over to the right is a picture taken off a TV monitor of Naschy from the arm-wrestling scene. A thanks to "Fatman" for this capture!