The Hills Run Red

The Hills Run Red (original title: Un fiume di dollari) is a 1966 Italian spaghetti western directed by Carlo Lizzani, the first of his two films in the genre. Lizzani co-wrote the screenplay with Piero Regnoli, Luigi Carpentieri produced, and Ennio Morricone composed the score. Thomas Hunter plays the heroic lead, supported by veteran American actors Henry Silva and Dan Duryea.

Right after the American Civil War, two men steal government money and flee toward Mexico; when soldiers close in, one escapes with the loot while the other is captured and spends five years in prison. On his release he learns that his former partner has built a ranch on the stolen fortune and terrorizes local landowners with hired gunmen, so he conceals his identity and infiltrates the gang to prepare his revenge. The 89-minute film premiered in Italy in September 1966 and in Germany in February 1967, with interiors shot at the Dino De Laurentiis studios in Rome and exteriors on a purpose-built town set at Dinocittà.