Django, Prepare a Coffin
Django, Prepare a Coffin, alternatively titled Viva Django, is a 1968 Italian spaghetti Western film directed by Ferdinando Baldi. The film was produced by Manolo Bolognini, who also produced Sergio Corbucci's original film. The film stars Terence Hill in the title role, which was previously played by Franco Nero. Originally Nero was intended to star.
A piece from the film's score, "Last Man Standing", was sampled in the song "Crazy" by American soul duo Gnarls Barkley. The film's title song, "You'd Better Smile", is performed by Nicola Di Bari.
It was shown as part of a retrospective on Spaghetti Western at the 64th Venice International Film Festival.
Cast
- Terence Hill as Django
- Horst Frank as David Barry
- George Eastman as Lucas
- José Torrès as Garcia Ibanez
- Bruna Simionato as Mercedes Ibanez
- Pinuccio Ardia as Horace
- Guido Lollobrigida as Jonathan Abbott
- Spartaco Conversi as Django Gang Member
- Luciano Rossi as Yankee Jack
- Gianni Brezza as Alvarez
- Giovanni Ivan Scratuglia as Pat O'Connor
- Andrea Scotti as Lucas Henchman
- Roberto Simmi as Wallace
- Franco Balducci as Sheriff Jack
- Adriana Giuffrè as Mrs. Yankee Jack
- Lucio De Santis as Django Gang Member
- Angela Minervini as Lucy Cassidy
- Giovanni Di Benedetto as Walcott
Plot
Django is wounded and his wife is killed when the gold transport that he guards is attacked by the men of his "friend" David Barry, who wants the gold to finance a political career.Django pretends to be dead and starts working as a hangman, who spares the lives of the condemned victims of David Barry's conspiracies. He organizes them in a band to "haunt" the perjurers that sent them to the gallows. This is part of a plan to disclose Barry and bring him to justice. The "hanged" are supposed to intercept an attack on a gold transport and capture Barry's men to get evidence, but Garcia - who earlier has saved Django's life during a fight within the group - convinces the rest of the men that instead they should take the gold for themselves. Garcia then kills the others.
Django saves Garcia's wife from hanging, and she then saves Django after Barry has captured him. Garcia regrets his treachery, which he explains by the fact that he is poor, and helps Django lure Barry to the graveyard, where Django digs up his own coffin and then kills Barry and his gang with the machine gun kept in the coffin. Garcia dies in the fight. Django leaves a sack of gold to Garcia's wife "for you and the children" before he leaves.