{{Short description|1969 Spaghetti Western}} {{Infobox film | name = The Price of Power | image = The Price of Power FilmPoster.jpeg | alt = | caption = Italian poster | native_name = <!-- {{Infobox name module|language|title}} or {{Infobox name module|title}} --> | director = [[Tonino Valerii]] | producer = Bianco Manini{{sfn|Curti|2016|p=195}} | writer = | screenplay = {{plainlist|*Massimo Patrizi *[[Ernesto Gastaldi]] *Tonino Valerii{{sfn|Curti|2016|p=195}}}} | story = | based_on = <!-- {{Based on|title of the original work|creator of the original work|additional creator(s), if necessary}} --> | starring = {{plainlist|*[[Giuliano Gemma]] *[[Warren Vanders]] *[[Maria Cuadra]] *Ray Saunders *[[Benito Stefanelli]] *[[Fernando Rey]] *[[José Suárez (actor)|José Suárez]] *[[Van Johnson]]}} | narrator = | music = [[Luis Enríquez Bacalov]]{{sfn|Curti|2016|p=195}} | cinematography = [[Stelvio Massi]]{{sfn|Curti|2016|p=195}} | editing = [[Franco Fraticelli]]{{sfn|Curti|2016|p=195}} | production_companies = {{plainlist|*Patry Film *Films Montana{{sfn|Curti|2016|p=195}}}} | distributor = Consorzio Italiano Distributori Indipendenti Film (CIDIF) | released = {{Film date|df=yes|1969|12|18|Italy|1970|6|9|Spain}} | runtime = 111 minutes{{sfn|Curti|2016|p=195}} | country = {{plainlist|*Italy *Spain{{sfn|Curti|2016|p=195}}}} | language = English | budget = | gross = [[Italian lira|₤]]1.273 billion }}{{For|the book about Henry Kissinger|Seymour Hersh}} '''''The Price of Power''''' ({{langx|it|Il prezzo del potere}}) is a 1969 [[Spaghetti Western]] directed by [[Tonino Valerii]] and starring [[Giuliano Gemma]]. The film's plot is set against the backdrop of the assassination of president [[James Garfield]].
==Plot== Bill Willer tries to get revenge against the killers of his father while at the same time trying to prevent an assassination plot against president [[James Garfield]]. The president ends up dying from an assassin's bullet, but Willer's further quest for revenge is ultimately more successful.<ref>Hughes, p.106</ref>
==Cast== * [[Giuliano Gemma]] as Bill Willer * [[Warren Vanders]] as Arthur MacDonald * [[Benito Stefanelli]] as Sheriff Benny Jefferson * [[Fernando Rey]] as Pinkerton * Ray Saunders as Jack Donovan * Michael Harvey as Jeff Wallace {{small|(uncredited)}} * [[Van Johnson]] as [[James A. Garfield]] * [[José Suárez (actor)|José Suárez]] as [[Chester A. Arthur]] * [[Maria Cuadra]] as [[Lucretia Garfield]] * [[Antonio Casas]] as Mr. Willer * [[Manuel Zarzo]] as Nick * [[Julio Peña]] as Governor of Texas * [[José Calvo]] as Dr. Strips
==Production== The film's concept was conceived by Massimo Patrizi, [[Luigi Comencini]]'s brother-in-law, and serves as an adaptation of the story of [[John F. Kennedy]]'s assassination in the form of a Western.{{sfn|Curti|2016|p=50}} Patrizi also imposed another true story in his script, the murder of [[James A. Garfield]] in 1881.{{sfn|Curti|2016|p=50}} Garfield is played by [[Van Johnson]], with [[José Suárez (actor)|José Suárez]] playing Vice President [[Chester A. Arthur]].<ref>Hughes, p.106</ref> Spanish actress [[Maria Cuadra]] plays [[Lucretia Garfield]], the President's wife. In her role she portrays pretty much the role of [[Jackie Kennedy]] as a glamorous President's wife. Even in the assassination scene, Cuadra seems to emulate many of the same actions from Jackie Kennedy's last moments with John F. Kennedy in Dallas in 1963.{{sfn|Curti|2016|p=50}}
Although the opening titles of the film credit the story and screenplay only to Patrizi, the film was rewritten by Valerii and [[Ernesto Gastaldi]].{{sfn|Curti|2016|p=51}} Valerii commented that he did not remember Patrizi's script word-for-word, but described it as "extremely basic, whereas Gastaldi and I deepened it. We established the essential themes to develop, introduced the character played by [[Fernando Rey]], the banker who is also the assassination's mandator, and so on."{{sfn|Curti|2016|p=51}} Gastaldi stated that "Patrizi's treatment was simply thrown in the bin, but the producer had signed a contract with him which stated that he was to be credited as the sole author of the script. Since I didn't care about my name in the titles, I had no problem writing the script and not signing it."{{sfn|Curti|2016|p=50}}{{sfn|Curti|2016|p=51}}
==Release== ''The Price of Power'' was released theatrically in Italy on December 10, 1969, by Cidif.{{sfn|Curti|2016|p=195}} It grossed a total of 1,273,858,000 lire on its domestic release in Italy.{{sfn|Curti|2016|p=195}} It received a release in Spain on June 9, 1970, as ''La muerte de un presidente''.{{sfn|Curti|2016|p=195}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==Bibliography== *{{cite book|last=Cox|first=Alex|title=10,000 Ways to Die: A Director's Take on the Spaghetti Western|publisher=Oldcastle Books|year=2009|isbn=978-1-84243-304-1}} *{{cite book|last=Curti|first=Robert|title=Tonino Valerii: The Films|publisher=McFarland|year=2016|isbn=978-1476664682}} *{{cite book|last=Hughes|first=Howard|title=Spaghetti Westerns|publisher=Kamera Books|year=2010|isbn=978-1-84243-303-4 |location=Harpenden}}
==External links== *{{IMDb title|0066105}}
{{Tonino Valerii}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Price of Power, The}} [[Category:1969 films]] [[Category:Spaghetti Western films]] [[Category:1969 Western (genre) films]] [[Category:Films directed by Tonino Valerii]] [[Category:Films scored by Luis Bacalov]] [[Category:Films about assassinations]] [[Category:Films about presidents of the United States]] [[Category:Cultural depictions of James A. Garfield]] [[Category:Cultural depictions of Chester A. Arthur]] [[Category:Films shot in Almería]] [[Category:Films with screenplays by Ernesto Gastaldi]] [[Category:1969 Italian films]]