A Pistol for Ringo

The film opens as the film's protagonist, a gunfighter known as "Angel Face" or Ringo, kills four men in a gunfight. He is then arrested for manslaughter and locked up in the city jail where he awaits trial.

Meanwhile, Major Clyde and his daughter Ruby are celebrating Christmas with several guests on their ranch. They are interrupted by a bandit gang who storm the hacienda and take them hostage. The bandits have narrowly escaped from a bank robbery in which their leader Sancho has been wounded. In a desperate attempt to deter their pursuers, they decide to hold the family hostage threatening to execute two a day until they are allowed to go free.

The house is surrounded by a posse led by the town sheriff, however he fears for the safety of the hostages, including his fiancée Ruby, if he attempts to free the hostage by force. He decides to enlist the aid of Ringo, who agrees to infiltrate the gang and free the hostages in exchange for his freedom and a percentage of the stolen money.

He manages to successfully join up with the gang, posing as a fellow outlaw on the run, however Ringo's plans quickly become complicated as Sancho begins ordering the execution of hostages as well as the tension within the house as Delores, Sancho's woman, encourages Major Clyde's romantic feelings while one of Sancho's men begins making advances towards Major Clyde's daughter, Ruby. He at first seems to double-cross the sheriff, however he succeeds in deceiving Sancho and allows the sheriff and his posse to storm the hacienda freeing the hostages and defeating Sancho and his bandits.

• Montgomery Wood as Ringo; a gunfighter who agrees to rescue a family which has been taken hostage by a Mexican bandit. His motives are often self-serving and opportunistic, having agreed in exchange for his release from prison.
• George Martin as Sheriff Ben; the local sheriff, he arranges Ringo's release in exchange for his help in rescuing the hostages. One of the hostages is Ruby, his fiancée and the daughter of the captive land baron.
• Fernando Sancho as Sancho; a Mexican bandit who has taken a local land baron's family hostage in a desperate attempt to escape from a failed bank robbery.
• Nieves Navarro as Delores; the girlfriend of Sancho. She is a seductive yet manipulative woman who manages to charm the land baron.
• Antonio Casas as Major Clyde; the land baron whose family has been taken hostage by the bandits. He later becomes romantically involved with Delores, the girlfriend of the bandit leader.
• Hally Hammond as Miss Ruby; the daughter of Major Clyde, she is the fiancée of the town sheriff however she soon develops feelings for Ringo.
• José Manuel Martin as Pedro; one of bandits and lieutenant to Sancho.
• Pajarito as Timoteo/Tim
• Pablito Alonso as Chico
• Paco Sanz as Colonel
• Juan Casalilla as Mr. Jenkinson, bank director
• Nazzareno Zamperla as Sancho henchman
• José Halufi as Sancho henchman
• Duccio Tessari as Felipe, Sancho henchman
• Franco Pesce as Storekeeper
• Alfonso Alcantara as Deputy Sheriff
• Francisco Gabarre as Townsman
• Miguel Pedregosa as Sancho Gang Member
• Carlos Ronda as Storekeeper
• Marc Smith as Ringo Angel Face
• Juan Torres as Henry, Bank Clerk

Encouraged by the success of Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars the previous year, which he had helped write, Duccio Tessari decided to produce his own western. A well-known screenwriter of horror and "sword-and-sandal" films, he had previously worked with several Spaghetti Western directors, most notably "the two Sergios", as the co-writer of Sergio Leone's The Colossus of Rhodes (1961) and Sergio Corbucci's Romulus and Remus (1961).

He had originally developed the story and co-wrote the script with Alfonso Balcázar. There is more humorous theme, and at times uses slapstick comedy, compared to usual Spaghetti Westerns. The interaction between actors was more relaxed to fully develop the effect of comedic sequences. The main character, loosely based on gunfighter Johnny Ringo, was portrayed as the antithesis of Leone's Man with No Name character — talkative, well dressed, clean-shaven and preferring milk to whiskey.

A Pistol for Ringo was a huge success on the domestic market following its release in Italy on May 12 and in Spain on December 9, 1965, grossing US$1,940,000 in Italy[2] and making over 17,379,404 ₧ (US$104,450) in Spain. The film was shown across Western Europe during early 1966; although it would not appear in Finland and Sweden until early the next year. In Scandinavia, the film generally received an "over 16" rating in Norway (16), Finland (K-16) and Sweden (15 År) while having a significantly higher rating in West Germany (FSK 18) and the United Kingdom (U).

It also did well in the United States where it premiered in New York City on November 2, 1966. The film particularly stood out from its American counterparts, mostly consisting of lower quality b-movies. Its theme, composed by Ennio Morricone and performed by Maurizio Graf, was a more traditional American western ballad compared to his previous work on Spaghetti Westerns and proved popular rising to number one on the Italian charts.

There were some scenes cut in the English-language version to make it more focused on its action and dramatic elements. One scene which was cut includes Ringo removing the bullet from Sancho's shoulder. This specific scene was originally used to explain why Filipe, one of Sancho's henchmen wears a bandage on his hand (Ringo had previously broke his hand with a goblet). Other changes included removing the Christmas carolers and the opening farce duel as well as dialogue and name changes. One example was the during the final scene when Major Clyde throws a flintlock pistol to Ringo. In the English version, Major Clyde claims his grandfather used the pistol at the Battle of Waterloo, however in the original version he states the pistol was used at the Battle of Austerlitz. Austerlitz was used rather than the French defeat at Waterloo to please European audiences. The film retained its original title for the most part, however it was also re-titled as Ballad of Death Valley in the U.S. and Ringo: The Killer elsewhere.

• A Pistol for Ringo at IMDb
• A Pistol for Ringo at the TCM Movie Database
• A Pistol for Ringo at AllMovie
• A Pistol for Ringo Trailer at YouTube
• A Pistol for Ringo at the Spaghetti Western Database