You've probably never heard of Peter Lee Lawrence, and quite honestly, there's no reason you should have unless you are a fan of Spaghetti Westerns and Italian-Spanish films of the 1960s and 70s. But I'm here to make the case that he was a talented guy who deserves some credit, even if it is as a mere footnote in movie history.
Born Karl Hirenbach in Bodensee, Germany in 1945, Lawrence was extremely prolific during a short career, having appeared in seventeen westerns over nine years, not to mention other films. During this time, he was romantically linked to popular actress Erica Blanc, and married to actress Cristina Galbo. Unfortunately his life was cut short at the age of 29 in 1974. Although his death remains somewhat a mystery, it's been reported that he committed suicide as a result of a brain tumor.
Perhaps had he lived, Lawrence may have been more famous, because he was a fairly charismatic actor with a distinctive look. A handsome young fellow with very full head of blond hair, he resembles a slightly more rugged Bobby Sherman or Justin Bieber. He often played psychotic delinquents as in Garringo or A Few Bullets More, playing Billy the Kid. But in my opinion, he is best at playing the dandy, or to quote one character in Revenge of the Resurrected, the "fancy cupcake." Of course, he's always a fancy cupcake who is a dead shot.
Which brings us to the latest Wild East DVD double feature, pairing two PLL films, Hands Up Dead Man, You're Under Arrest and Revenge of the Resurrected. These are two later Lawrence films, neither very remarkable, but they showcase the fancy cupcake at his most typical.
Hands Up Dead Man, You're Under Arrest stars Lawrence as Confederate soldier Kid Johnson who watches helplessly as Union Captain Grayson slaughters surrendered soldiers. Later, Kid learns to be a crack shot and becomes a Texas Ranger, whose first big assignment is to stop Grayson, now a greedy land-grabber, from strong-arming ranchers into selling their land. Kid comes to town, disguised as foppish perfume salesman (really!), and enlists the aid of a black-clad bounty hunter called Dollar, played by Espartaco Santoni, and comical priest Bambo, played by Frank Augostino. Grayson, who is played by the awesome Aldo Sambrell, now has a crippled right hand, covered by a black glove, thanks to his last run-in with Kid, but strangely does not remember him! Grayson tries various means to stop Kid from spoiling his plans, including employing his beautiful red-headed minion Maybelle, played by the lovely Helga Line. Meanwhile, Kid gives the movie it's title by shooting all of Grayson's men, then handcuffing and arresting them.
Not much intricacy in the plot here, but it's the way the story is handled that makes the film memorable. The direction, credited to Spanish hack Leon Klimovsky but actually done by producer Sergio Bergonzelli, is off-kilter and strange, often resembling that of low-budget genius Demofilo Fidani. The film's opening is rough and gritty, but the rest of the film has a lighter, almost campy quality to it. This starts with inclusion of a very effeminate hotel clerk/bartender, and an odd homo-erotic subtext. Dollar and Kid seem to flirt with each other at times, and both Dollar and one of Grayson's henchmen are dressed as if they've wandered in off the set of the Al Pacino movie Cruising. To quote Seinfeld, "not that there's anything wrong with that;" it just makes for a unique viewing experience. To top thing off, the good guys lob perfume samples which are actually bombs at the bad guys during the film's action climax.
With Italian westerns, a movie can sink or swim on the basis of its musical score, and despite a less than memorable main title theme, Alessandro Alessandroni's music helps keep the action afloat. Lets face it, I'm not sure this is exactly a good spaghetti western, but it is memorable, if maybe for a lot of the wrong reasons.
Revenge of the Resurrected is a much more serious, competent affair, but unfortunately, not as entertaining as the previous film. Released two years later than Dead Man, it has a more American look and feel, as well as a much more interesting plot.
Lawrence plays Kit, a young artist, who also happens to be a whiz with a pistol, who manages to escape a stagecoach robbery in which his father is murdered by the bandits. Kit vows revenge against the bandits and wanders into the nearest town. Kit remembers small details of the bandits outfits, such as a design on a holster, and makes sketches of them. He gets a job as a stable boy, and starts to identify the killers, all who turn out to be prominent town members . Kit posts $1 bounty rewards for the men to expose them, under the name "The Resurrected," and the bad guys panic.
While the set-up and plot are solid, the execution is rather bland. Much is made of hiding the identity of the gang's ringleader, but it is easy to figure out early on. There just isn't any sense of mystery or suspense here. One of the biggest problems is that because the bad guys are all "respectable citizens"
there really isn't any sense of menacing villainy here. Once the ringleader is exposed, he just doesn't seem like much of a threat of Kit and is defeated easily.
Wild East's presentation of both films is very good, with the print quality of Hands up Dead Man being the superior of the two. A number of trailers are included in the package.
Overall, a nice two-film tribute to an overlooked spaghetti star. Wild East is promising another Lawrence double bill soon featuring two earlier films, Killer Caliber 32 and Killer Adios.
Here's the trailer for Hands up Dead Man, You're Under Arrest. Don't freak out, it's in Italian.
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