Monday, April 9, 2012

LUCKY JOHNNY: BORN IN AMERICA


Arde baby arde – Mexican title
Serpente a sonagli – Italian title
Lucky Johnny – German title
Der Fluch der Klapperschlange – German title
Arde – Spanish title
Death Rattler – English title
Dead Aim – U.S.A. title
Lucky Johnny: Born in America – English title

A 1970 Mexican, Italian co-production [Jaguar Productions (Mexico City), Regina (Rome)]
Producer: Juan Abusaid Ríos
Director: José Antonio Bolaños
Story: José Antonio Bolaños
Screenplay: José Antonio Bolaños, Pedro Miret
Cinematography: Alex Philips [Deluxe Color, Panavision]
Music: Luciano Michelini, Luchi de Jesus (Louis De Jesus)
Song: “Where’s Love” sung by Mel Carter
Running time: 98 minutes

Cast:
Johnny – Glen Lee
John Applebee – James Westerfield
Kelly/Maria St. John – Venetia Vianello
Lucius – Evaristo Márquez
Sonny – Granville van Deusen (Sonny Vandeusen)
Jack Poggin – Virgil Frye
Deek – Carlos East (Ismael Carlo)
Sara – Barbara Angely (Barbara Mueller)
District Commissioner – George Russek (Jorge Russek)
Prison wagon driver – Tony Monaco
Prisoner – Billy Joe Roucke (Billy Joe Rouck)
Townsman – Eduardo Bonada (Max Stromberg)
With: Marcela Lopez Rey, Paul Frenett, Joanne East, Linda Vickinson, Billy Joe Ivor, Pancho Cordova, Arturo Alvarez Limon


A baby named Johnny is found in the desert by Appleby a gravedigger and becomes his adopted son. At one point Johnny starts picking fights to give himself an excuse to shoot people. He does this to drum up business for his adopted father. The elder undertaker and Johnny one day come across a massacre and Appleby calls the corpses "beautiful" and tells Johnny "We’ve found gold!" Their dream is to open a fancy funeral parlor and cemetery. Everything goes well until Johnny finds a woman and a generation gap develops. Johnny must make a choice between staying with the man who raised him or his lust for the woman. The woman, a prostitute, is abandoned by her outlaw partner after a robbery attempt on a gold wagon goes bad. Johnny eventually leaves the gravedigger to find her.


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